Bishop Salazar succumbed to death on Sunday, Solemnity of All Saints, at 5:30 in the morning. The funeral mass took place at 2:00 in the afternoon of November 2, coinciding with the Feast of All Souls, at the Sacred Heart Parish, Manizales City, Colombia. His remains will be transferred to the capital, Bogotá, in order to be later buried in the convent of El Desierto de la Candelaria in Raquira (Boyaca).
Love for the Church and for the Order
Arturo Salazar was born in Salamnina (Caidas) on April 11, 1921. He did his primary studies in Aranzazu (Caldas), and proceeded to the seminary of the Augustinian Recollects in La Linda for his secondary. He took the habit in El Desierto on October 5, 1936, and made his profession of religious vows on October 6, 1937. His ecclesiastical studies were done in El Desierto, Manizales and Bogotá. He made his final profession on April 12, 1942 in El Desierto. He was ordained priest by Bishop Nicasio Balisa, Apostolic Vicar of Casanare, in the Church of Candelaria in Bogotá on February 6, 1944. He specialized in Philosophy and Letters in the Xaverian University of Bogotá.
He was ordained to the episcopate on January 9, 1966, in the Cathedral of Bogotá, from the hands of Bishop Jose Paupini. He took the headship of the Vicariate of Casanare on February 18, 1966 and stayed in the position until he was transferred as resident Bishop of Pasto in 1977. He kept this Episcopal seat until 1995 when his resignation due to failing eyesight was accepted. Since then he has resided in two communities of the Augustinian Recollects: La Linda and Manizales. During the last years of his life he was completely blind.
Bishop Arturo Salazar was known for his love of the Church and the Order, for being a kind shepherd, welcoming and close to the people. During the last years of his life he was so thankful to his confreres and he bore his illness in the spirit of faith and with admirable patience.