Why Rutilio Grande's Struggle with Mental Health Matters

AMDG: A Jesuit Podcast

This Saturday, January 22, Father Rutilio Grande, SJ – along with laymen Manuel Solórzano and Nelson Rutilio Lemus – will be beatified in San Salvador, El Salvador. All three men are martyrs, killed in 1977. Fr. Grande, though, was the first priest assassinated before the Salvadoran Civil War began. And, he was a close friend of Archbishop and saint, Óscar Romero. Fr. Arturo Sosa – the superior of the Society of Jesus – wrote about Fr. Grande and his upcoming beatification: “Father Grande, born in the small town of El Paisnal on 5 January 1928, was a Jesuit of unsuspected religious and human depth. In his weakness he found his greatness. He lived much of his life in the silence and humility of those who are becoming, step by step, companions of Jesus.” Fr. Sosa goes on to describe the circumstances in El Salvador during Grande’s time: “The growing awareness of the need to promote a transformation of the inhuman circumstances of life of the peasant majority, a situation caused by the unjust structures of Salvadoran society, sparked the social and political struggles of this convulsive period in the history of this Central American country. Many members of the ecclesial communities participated actively in the social and political struggle. For Father Rutilio, his team, and his close collaborators, who were committed because of their faith to the struggle for the justice of the Gospel, there was a clear distinction between pastoral work and partisan political militancy.” Finally, Fr. Sosa writes: “The Church, in recognizing the martyrdom of Rutilio, Manuel, and Nelson, judges that their lives were taken because of the faith that gave their lives meaning, the faith to which they gave witness by shedding their blood.” Today, to help commemorate the life and legacy of Fr. Rutilio Grande, author and poet and Jesuits.org columnist, Cameron Bellm, is back on the podcast. She’s just finished a new devotional entitled, “No Unlikely Saints: A Mental Health Pilgrimage with Sacred Company.” In it, she devotes a chapter to Fr. Grande and his struggles with mental health. She shares what she learned about him in preparing this book, as well as why it’s important to weave this part of his story into his lasting legacy. Find her book here: https://brickhouseinthecity.com/product/no-unlikely-saints-a-mental-health-pilgrimage-with-sacred-company/