On October 14, Pope Francis received a group of El Salvadoran pilgrims who were in Rome to give thanks for the January beatification of Blessed Rutilio Grande and three other martyrs.

“The message of these martyrs calls us to identify with their passion which, as we have said, is the actualization of Christ’s passion in the present moment, embracing the cross that the Lord offers to each one of us personally,” the Pope said. “And this project of a journey, of a spiritual journey, of prayer, of struggle, must sometimes take the form of denunciation, of protest, never political, but always evangelical.”

“As long as there is injustice, as long as the just demands of the people are not met, as long as a country shows signs of not maturing on the path of the fullness of the People of God, our voice against evil, against a lukewarm attitude in the Church, against everything that leads us away from human dignity and the preaching of the Gospel, must be heard,” the Pope added.