Known affectionately as Don Goyo, the man chosen to be El Salvador’s first cardinal embodies the Church of the Poor that Pope Francis is determined to create. He moved out of the bishop’s residence several years ago into a ramshackle presbytery in a run-down part of the capital city / By Clare Dixon

“Agift from God which I don’t deserve” were the words of San Salvador’s Auxiliary Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chávez (pictured) on hearing that Pope Francis had announced that he would be one of five new cardinals to be appointed in a consistory scheduled for 28 June.

Bishop Rosa Chávez will become the first ever cardinal for El Salvador. The Pope made his unexpected announcement in the Vatican at the end of the Regina Coeli prayer at midday last Sunday. The first that Bishop Rosa, affectionately known as Don Goyo, knew of his elevation was a knock on his door at 5 a.m. on Sunday to tell him he had a telephone call from Rome. “It was a total surprise,” Bishop Rosa told reporters. “I thought it was a joke.”