Newswise — OMAHA, Neb. – In recently announcing the beatification of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, the Vatican also opened the sainthood process for Fr. Rutilio Grande, S.J., a key collaborator of Romero's. Creighton University Theology Professor Thomas Kelly provides insight into Grande’s life in his books When the Gospel Grows Feet, released in 2012, and Rutilio Grande, S.J.: Essential Writings and Homilies, to be released in September 2015.

Grande was the first Jesuit to be assassinated in El Salvador leading up to the country's more than decade-long civil war. He was gunned down on March 12, 1977, along with two passengers in the car he drove. When the Gospel Grows Feet details Grande’s life and assassination, exploring his impact on Archbishop Romero and the Catholic Church in Latin America and throughout the world.

“When the Gospel Grows Feet provides a historical and situational context for the life of the Catholic Church in El Salvador and Grande’s sacrificial struggle to shine the light of the Gospel on the systemic injustices faced by the majority of its citizens,” Kelly said. “What Grande exposed continues to have powerful implications for the Catholic faith today throughout North America and globally.”

Kelly’s forthcoming book, Rutilio Grande, S.J.: Essential Writings and Homilies, will paint an even clearer picture of Grande’s significance to the Catholic Church. The book compiles and translates to English several of Grande’s works, illustrating how he applied the social and ecclesial teachings of the Second Vatican Council in his ministry with the poor and marginalized of El Salvador.

When the Gospel Grows Feet and Rutilio Grande, S.J.: Essential Writings and Homilies are available for order or preorder through Liturgical Press.

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