Remembering St Oscar Romero:
40 years after his assassination
On 24 March 1980, in El Salvador, Archbishop Oscar Romero
was murdered while celebrating Mass. Recognizing him as “a martyr for the
faith”, Pope Francis canonized him in 2018.
By Seàn-Patrick
Lovett
Oscar Romero’s father wanted his son to become a carpenter.
With good reason. As a child, young Oscar had a talent for fixing things that
were broken.
The country
When Oscar Romero was appointed Archbishop of San Salvador
in 1977, his country was broken. Many people in El Salvador were living in
poverty, while an elite group manipulated all political and economic power.
Death squads ensured things stayed that way.
The death squads
Just three weeks after becoming Archbishop, Romero’s good
friend, Jesuit Father Rutilio Grande, was murdered by one of those death
squads. Another five priests would be assassinated in the Archdiocese of San
Salvador during the three years Romero was Pastor.
The dictatorship
When a military junta seized power in 1979, Archbishop Romero
began broadcasting weekly sermons over the radio. He openly criticized the
regime and those supporting it, denouncing cases of abduction, torture and mass
murder.
That is when he became known as “The voice of those without
voice”.
The civil war
In 1980, social tensions erupted into a civil war which
lasted twelve years and left over 75,000 people dead. Archbishop Romero set up
pastoral programs to assist the victims of oppression. At the same time, he
became even more outspoken, condemning human rights violations, and defending
the preferential option for the poor.
The appeal
Archbishop Romero appealed desperately to the Salvadoran
military to stop killing their own people. “No soldier is obliged to obey an
order that goes against the law of God”, he said. “I beseech you. I beg you. I
command you! In the name of God: ‘Cease the repression!’”
It was his last radio broadcast.
The assassination
At 6.30pm, on Monday 24 March 1980, the Archbishop of San
Salvador was celebrating Mass in the chapel of the Divine Providence hospital.
A car pulled up outside, and a single gunman fired a single shot from the
doorway straight into Oscar Romero’s heart.
Moments earlier, the Archbishop had been speaking about how
“Those who surrender to the service of the poor through love of Christ, will
live like the grain of wheat that dies…”.
The canonization
Recognized as “a martyr for the faith”, he was beatified on
23 May 2015 in San Salvador.
On 14 October 2018, in St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis
proclaimed Oscar Arnulfo Romero a saint. For the occasion, the Pope chose to
wear the same blood-stained belt that Romero was wearing at the altar when he
died.
“Aspire not to have more, but to be more.” –
Saint Oscar Arnulfo Romero
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