Fernando Sáenz Lacalle

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Msgr. Fernando Sáenz Lacalle (born 16 November 1932) is the tenth Bishop and sixth, and current, Archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador. He is the successor of Msgr. Arturo Rivera y Damas. Archbishop Sáenz holds the post once held by Archbishop Óscar Romero, who was assassinated in 1980.

In the years following his installment, Sáenz was accused by critics of eviscerating the "preferential option for the poor" of his predecessors, notably Romero, by clamping down on progressive church movements affiliated with Liberation Theology with a series of personnel movements, closing of programs, and changes to seminary curriculum.^[1] Sáenz has defended his stances by saying that the Church must speak on behalf of the poor and defenseless, but never become involved in activism or politics.^[2] Sáenz is a member of the Opus Dei order. He has supported the canonization cause of his predecessor, Romero.

Sáenz also was critized for accepting the honorary title of brigadier general from the Salvadoran armed forces after he became archbishop. Liberal Catholic commentators called the move "highly questionable, and even more so when dealing with armies like this one, which still carries the weight of tens of thousands of people tortured, disappeared and murdered."^[3] Sáenz, who was the apostolic administrator over the Salvadoran military prior to being appointed archbishop, viewed the honor as a positive gesture.

Sáenz presided over the completion of the Metropolitan Cathedral on March 19, 1999.^[4] Sáenz seemed to find his voice after two deadly earthquakes struck El Salvador a year apart in 2000 and 2001, with the archbishop springing into action to marshal international relief.^[5] In more recent years, Sáenz has advocated conservative Catholic views on sex and contraception, called for civil cooperation with police authorities to combat gang violence, and criticized labor strikes in the health sector as an unjustifiable denial of service to hospital patients.^[6]