 Sáenz presided over the completion of the Metropolitan Cathedral on March 19, 1999.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.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.