The Rt. Rev. Martín Barahona, former archbishop of the Anglican Church in the Central America Region (IARCA: Iglesia Anglicana de la Region Central de America), has died of cancer. He was 76.
Bishop Barahona served as a Roman Catholic priest for 11 years before becoming an Anglican. He was Bishop of El Salvador from 1992 to January 2015, and was archbishop of IARCA from 2003 to 2011.
An IARCA statement said Bishop Barahona will be remembered as a campaigner for justice, the poor, human rights, and ecumenism. He was a member of the National Council for Citizen Security and Coexistence in El Salvador and played a significant part in peace talks that ended the civil war in 1992.
In March 2010, as the country was preparing to mark the 30th anniversary of Abp. Óscar Romero’s martyrdom, an unidentified man shot at Barahona’s car. The bishop was not injured, but his driver, Francis Martínez, was struck in the stomach and arm.
Félix Ulloa, vice president of El Salvador, described the bishop as “a tireless fighter for human rights and the social causes of our people.”
Barahona’s successor as Bishop of El Salvador, the Rt. Rev. Juan David Alvarado, described him as “a happy and sensitive pastor” who “had a life given in faith to Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy People.”
Adapted from ACNS
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
