Agenzia Fides

San Salvador (Agenzia Fides) - At last, the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador has been given back to the local Church. Yesterday the protesters who for more than three months, since 11 January 2012 (see Fides 16/01/2012), entered in the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador occupying it, have left the Church, after a meeting with the Attorney for the Defense of Human Rights (PDDH), Oscar Luna and His Exc. Mgr. Gregorio Rosa Chavez, auxiliary Bishop of San Salvador. With the ringing bells and a visit to the crypt which treasures the tomb of Mgr. Oscar Arnulfo Romero, the act of returning the keys to the temple was completed, situated in the center of the city of San Salvador.
To leave the church, protesters have asked the PDDH to intervene with the Government, so that their demands are met and not forgotten, as Mgr. Rosa Chavez said in the note sent to Fides. The protesters ask for the reinstatement of certain employees of the National Civil Police (NCP) that were removed without due process, and also the reintegration of Luis Alberto Ortega in the Legislative Assembly, a family allowance (or food) to pensioners of war or their families. These requests will be studied by a commission created ad hoc, made up of Church representatives, the executive power and protesters. The date of the first meeting has not yet been announced.
Since the occupation had taken place in the Cathedral, Masses or other moments of prayer were not celebrated. Even during Holy Week and Easter it was closed and the celebrations were held at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, always in the center of the city of San Salvador. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 17/4/2012)