The 1977 murder of Father Rutilio Grande sent shock waves through El Salvador. The 48-year-old Jesuit priest was an outspoken champion of the poor in the deeply divided central American nation. In the immediate aftermath of his murder, the Archbishop of San Salvador, Oscar Romero, took the unprecedented step of holding just one single mass, ordering all other churches in his archdiocese to cancel theirs. Romero also refused to attend any government functions.

Father Grande was one of the first priests to be killed by security forces in the years leading up to the bloody Salvadoran civil war.

His murder marked a turning point as the church became increasingly involved in promoting social justice, and other priests became more outspoken against the government’s repression of dissent.

Mike Lanchin has been hearing from Gabina Dubon, who worked with Father Grande in his rural parish, and to theologian and author, Sister Ana Maria Pineda.