Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Goldámez (August 15, 1917 – March 24, 1980) was a prominent Roman Catholic Archbishop from El Salvador who, after witnessing numerous violations of human rights, began to speak out on behalf of the poor and the victims of his country's long and bloody civil war. This brought him into conflict with both the right-wing paramilitary death squads and with the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.
Career
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
On February 23 1977 he was surprisingly appointed Archbishop of San Salvador. While this appointment was welcomed in government circles and 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 made Doctor Honoris at the University of Lovaina in Belgium. On his visit to Europe to receive this honor he met Pope John Paul II, and expressed his concerns at what what was happening in his country. His stance led to a confrontation with the Pope, a staunch anti-communist, who expected priests to speak out against communist dictatorships and support those undemocratic governments who fought against them. 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 with amidst a wave of human rights abuses from paramilitary right wing groups, from left wing guerrillas, and from the government. Romero spoke out against United States of America 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 the El Salvador would be "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 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
At his funeral, attended by over a million people from all over the world, forty civilians were killed by security forces.
On the tenth anniversary of Romero's killing, his religious successor appointed a postulator for the cause of his canonization. After investigations into Romero's life, work, and writings, the archdiocese submitted the results to the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints in 1997. To date, however, Rome has not taken the matter any further, probably due to the institutionalized church's continued mistrust of liberation theology, with which he is associated.
In July 1998 the Church of England unveiled a statue of Romero on the west door of Westminster Abbey in London, UK, as part of a monument to the memory of ten 20th century martyrs. The Church of England has also set aside March 24 in the liturgical calendar as the commemoration of Óscar Romero.
Following tradition of liberation theology, the influence of Archbishop Romero has slowly grown beyond the rules and realm of the Catholic Church. Throughout the world, there are classes, schools, community organizations and even churches, like the Iglesia San Romero de Las Americas in New York City, which blend traditional religious teachings with social and political activism in defense of disenfranchised communities.
Romero in popular culture
The film Romero (1989) was based on his life story. It was directed by John Sacret Young and starred Raúl Juliá.
Quotations
- "And if they kill me, I will rise again in the Salvadoran people."
- "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."
See also
External links
- The Violence of Love – a free e-book by Romero
- Bruderhof Peacemakers Guide profile on Óscar Romero
- Site on Romero in Spanish
- Remembering Archbishop Romero: 25 Years After the Assassination, Mark Engler, Counterpunch, March 25, 2005
- Obscure archbishop, living in his people, still causes mighty to tremble (National Catholic Reporter, Kansas City, Mo., USA; 2005-05-15 )
- After 25 years 'St. Romero of the World' still inspires (National Catholic Reporter, Kansas City, Mo., USA; 2005-05-15 )
- IMDB entry for Romero motion picture