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Óscar Romero

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Styles of
Óscar Romero
Reference styleThe Most Reverend
Spoken styleYour Excellency
Religious styleMonsignor
Posthumous styleServant of God

Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (August 15, 1917 – March 24, 1980), commonly known as Monseñor Romero, was a priest of the Roman Catholic Church in El Salvador. He later became prelate archbishop of San Salvador.

As an archbishop, he witnessed numerous violations of human rights and began a ministry speaking out on behalf of the poor and victims of the country's civil war. His brand of political activism was denounced by the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church and the government of El Salvador. In 1980, he was assassinated by gunshot while consecrating the Eucharist during mass. His death finally provoked international outcry for human rights reform in El Salvador.

In 1997, a cause for beatification and canonization into sainthood was opened for Romero and Pope John Paul II bestowed upon him the title of Servant of God. The process continues. He is considered the unofficial spiritual patron of the Americas, El Salvador and liberation theology. Outside of Catholicism Romero is honored by other religious denominations of Christendom, like the Church of England through its Common Worship. He is one of the ten 20th-century martyrs from across the world who are depicted in statues above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey, London.


Career

File:Shield01.jpg
Seal of Archbishop Oscar A. Romero

Romero was born in Ciudad Barrios, the second of eight children. He had to interrupt his education as a child due to a severe illness, and by the age of 12 was working as an apprentice carpenter. In 1931 he went to study at the San Miguel seminary for six years until the family economic circumstances forced him to work in a gold mine for three months. In 1937 he went to study in another seminary in San Salvador for 7 months. He was then sent to Rome to study theology at the Gregorian University where he was ordained as a priest on April 4 1942, before beginning a doctorate in ascetic theology. In 1943 the war in Europe forced him to abandon his studies and return to El Salvador. He began working as a parish priest in Anamorós but then moved to San Miguel where he worked for over 20 years. He promoted various apostolic groups, started an Alcoholics Anonymous group, helped in the construction of San Miguel's cathedral and supporting devotion to the Virgin of the Peace. He later was appointed Rector of the inter-diocese seminary in San Salvador. In 1966 he began his public life when he was chosen to be Secretary of the Episcopal Conference for El Salvador. He also became Director of Orientation, a conservative, catholic newspaper. In 1970 he was appointed assistant Bishop to Luis Chávez y González, a move not welcomed by the more radical elements of the priesthood. He took up his appointment as Bishop of the Diocese of Santiago de María in December 1974.

Archbishop

A bust of Óscar Romero

On February 23 1977 he was surprisingly appointed Archbishop of San Salvador. While this appointment was welcomed in government circles, it was met with disappointment by those radical priests who feared that with his conservative reputation he would put the brakes on their liberation theology commitment to the poor.

On March 12 progressive Jesuit priest and personal friend Rutilio Grande, who had been creating self help groups among the poor campesinos, was assassinated. Romero urged the government of Arturo Armando Molina to investigate the crime but they ignored his calls. The press, which was censored, also remained silent. A new tension was noted with the closure of some schools and the absence of Catholic priests in official acts. In his response to this murder he revealed a radicalism that had not been evident before. He began to speak out against the poverty, social injustice, assassinations and torture taking place in the country. He began to be noticed internationally, with a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. In February 1980 he was given an honorary doctorate by the Catholic University of Leuven. On his visit to Europe to receive this honor he met Pope John Paul II, and expressed his concerns at what was happening in his country. His stance led to a confrontation with the Pope. Romero argued that it was problematic to support the government in El Salvador because it legitimized the terror and assassinations.

In 1979 the Revolutionary Government Junta came to power amidst a wave of human rights abuses from paramilitary right-wing groups, from left-wing guerrillas, and from the government. Romero spoke out against U.S. military aid to the new government and wrote to President Jimmy Carter in February 1980 warning that increased military aid would "undoubtedly sharpen the injustice and the repression inflicted on the organized people, whose struggle has often been for their most basic human rights". Carter, concerned that El Salvador would become "another Nicaragua", ignored the plea.

While celebrating mass at a small chapel near his cathedral, Romero was shot to death while he was giving a sermon in which he called for soldiers to disobey orders that violated basic human rights. It is believed that his assassins were members of Salvadoran death squads, including two graduates of the U.S.-run School of the Americas. This view was supported in 1993 by an official UN report, which identified the man who ordered the killing as Major Roberto D'Aubuisson, who later founded the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), a political party which came to power in 1989 and still rules today.

Legacy

The rite of visitation and requiem was attended by over one million pilgrims from all over the world. Forty civilians were killed by security forces during the events. Even after burial, people continued to line-up to pay homage to their martyred prelate.

The work of Romero was honored by various other religious denominations of Christendom, most notably by the Church of England and its Anglican Communion. In July 1998, the Church of England unveiled a statue depicting Romero at the west door of Westminster Abbey in London in the United Kingdom, as part of a monument in memory of 20th century Christian martyrs. (See also "Romero in popular culture" section, below.) The Church of England and its Anglican Communion also added to its liturgical calendar a memorial commemoration celebrated annually on March 24. (The liturgical calendar is similar to the Roman Catholic calendar of saints.)

Ecumenical movements following the traditions of liberation theology were spread worldwide upon the death of Romero. The influence of Romero's teachings of a moral obligation to raise people out of poverty as a mission charged by God inspired the creation of classes, schools and community organizations. Churches named in honor of Romero also were established including a New York City church called "Saint Romero of the Americas".[1]. The See of the Most Rev. Dr. Robert M. Bowman, the presiding archbishop and primate of the United Catholic Church, is the Diocese of St. Oscar Romero. (The UCC is an independent Catholic Church, and an offshoot of the Old Catholic Church of Utrecht, which broke with the Roman Church in 1870 over the doctrine of Papal Infallibility.) These churches blend traditional religious teachings taught in an ecumenical spirit, with social justice values to defend disenfranchised people.

Canonization Cause

On the tenth anniversary of the assassination, the sitting prelate archbishop of San Salvador appointed a postulator to prepare documentation for a cause of beatification and canonization of Romero. The documents were formally accepted by Pope John Paul II and the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in 1997 and Romero was given the title of Servant of God. The process continues today with further investigation of the heroism and martyrdom of Romero. Upon the declaration of heroism and martyrdom, it is expected that Romero will achieve the title of Venerable. Thereafter, miracles must be attributed to Romero in order to become declared Blessed and added to the Liturgy of the Hours.

At the end of 2005, the status of Romero's canonization cause was unclear. This year, which marked the 25th anniversary of Romero's assassination had begun auspiciously, with Postulator Msgr. Vincenzo Paglia's announcement that Romero's cause had cleared an unprecedented hurdle in having survived a theological audit by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, at the time headed by no other than Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger -- the future Pope Benedict XVI. The anniversary, which coincided with Easter and the Passion of a dying Pontiff (the late John Paul II), was observed deeply. Throughout the summer, several stories in the Catholic press seemed to confirm Paglia's bold prediction of beatification within the year, or 2006 at the latest. However, an interview by Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, appeared to put the kibosh on the optimistic predictions. Asked if Msgr. Paglia's predictions checked out, Cardinal Saraiva snipped, "Not as far as I know today." Prof. Victor Shepherd conveys the expectation among Romero's supporters when he writes, "All Christendom awaits his canonization."

Many suspect that the delay in the declaration of heroism and martyrdom is due to the fact that Romero is closely tied, but not directly involved, to the liberation theology movement espoused especially by the Jesuits of Latin America. The charge has been dismissed by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints explaining that Romero has not yet met certain criteria to move on to the next levels of the inquests, a process which people forget has historically taken decades to pursue.

TELEVISION & FILM: The movie Romero (1989) was based on the Archbishop's life story. It was directed by John Duigan and starred Raúl Juliá. Timed for release ten years after Romero's death, it was the first Hollywood feature film ever to be financed by the Roman Catholic Church. The film received respectful, if less than enthusiastic reviews. Roger Ebert typified the critics who acknowledged, "The film has a good heart, and the Julia performance is an interesting one, restrained and considered ... The film's weakness is a certain implacable predictability."

Oliver Stone's 1986 film "Salvador" contains a dramatisation of the assassination of Archbishop Romero (played in the movie by Jose Carlos Ruiz). The film tells the true story of sleazy photojournalist Richard Boyle (James Woods), who undergoes a spiritual conversion while covering the death squad killings in El Salvador during the Civil War . Romero was also featured in the made-for-TV movies, "Choices of the Heart" (NBC, 1983, René Enríquez as Romero), about the murder of four U.S. churchwomen in El Salvador, and "Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II" (ABC, 2005, Joaquim de Almeida as Romero) about the papacy of Karol Wojtyła.

VISUAL ARTS: A statute of Oscar Romero sculptefjhgfjhgfd by John Roberts fills a prominent niche on the western facade of Westminster Abbey in London. The statute was unveiled in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II in 1998. Barry Woods Johnston sculpted the statute of Oscar Romero displayed in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. The Italian sculptor Paolo Borghi crafted the catafalque that covers Romero's tomb in the crypt of the San Salvador cathedral and shows Romero "sleeping the sleep of the just" as four Evangelists stand guard.

Br. Robert Lentz, OFM, painted a famous "icon" of Archbishop Romero based on traditional church iconography, but updating the conventional elements: for example, where angels would typically be depicted, Lentz painted military helicopters over red tiled roofs. Frank Diaz Escalet executed a series of "outsider art" paintings on Archbishop Romero, exhibited in the permanent collection of the Organization of the American States Museum, in Washington, D.C.; the permanent collection of the Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, Texas; the Ella Noel Museum of Odessa, Texas; and Maryknoll galleries in New York.

POETRY & SONG: Brazilian Bishop Dom Pedro Casaldáliga immortalized Romero as "San Romero de América" ('St. Romero of the Americas') in a famous poem by that name written shortly after the assassination. The poem, a variation on the Angelus, popularized the use of the phrase "San Romero" (as opposed to "St. Oscar") throughout Latin America (as, for example, in the "San Romero" paintings by Escalet, or the "San Romero de America" UCC Church in New York City). Also, salsa singer Rubén Blades wrote and sings the song "El Padre Antonio y el Monaguillo Andrés", a song in which an idealist Spanish priest arrives to a Latin American country, giving sermons in which he condemns violence, talks about love and justice, and at the end is murdered during a mass. Blades has said he wrote this song referring to Romero, so that "the death of Romero is not forgotten".

Quotations

  • "May God have mercy on the assassins." (Last words.)
  • "If you kill me, I shall arise in the Salvadoran people." (attributed.)
  • "A bishop will die, but the Church of God which is the people will never perish."
  • "Brothers, you came from our own people. You are killing your own brothers. Any human order to kill must be subordinate to the law of God, which says, 'Thou shalt not kill'. No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God. No one has to obey an immoral law. It is high time you obeyed your consciences rather than sinful orders. The church cannot remain silent before such an abomination. ... In the name of God, in the name of this suffering people whose cry rises to heaven more loudly each day, I implore you, I beg you, I order you: stop the repression."
  • "No one can celebrate a genuine Christmas without being truly poor. The self-sufficient, the proud, those who, because they have everything, look down on others, those who have no need even of God – for them there will be no Christmas. Only the poor, the hungry, those who need someone to come on their behalf, will have that someone. That someone is God, Emmanuel, God-with-us. Without poverty of spirit there can be no abundance of God."
  • "We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own." (Universally attributed. The poem called "Creating the Church of Tomorrow," was actually penned by Ken Untener.)
  • "Aspire not to have more, but to be more."

See also

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