Óscar Romero
Encyclopedia
Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (15 August 1917 – 24 March 1980) was a bishop
of the Catholic Church in El Salvador
. He became the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador, succeeding Luis Chávez
. He was assassinated on 24 March 1980.
After his assassination, Romero was succeeded by Monsignor Arturo Rivera
. 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 canonization process continues. He is considered by some the unofficial patron saint
of the Americas
and El Salvador
and is often referred to as "San Romero" by Catholics in El Salvador. Outside of Catholicism, Romero is honored by other religious denomination
s of Christendom
, including the Church of England
through the Calendar in Common Worship
. He is one of the ten 20th century martyrs who are depicted in statues above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey
in London
, a testament to his wide respect even beyond the Catholic Church.
In 2008, he was chosen as one of the 15 Champions of World Democracy by the Europe-based magazine A Different View
.
. He lived in a torn country where 40% of the land was owned by 13 families. The church was being persecuted at this time and many were being killed or assasinated.
On 11 May 1919, at the age of one, Óscar was baptised into the Catholic Church by Fr. Cecilio Morales. Romero. He had 5 brothers and 2 sisters: Gustavo, Zaída, Rómulo, Mamerto, Arnoldo and Gaspar, and Aminta (who died shortly after birth.)
He could often be found at one of the town's two churches during his free time. At age seven Romero came down with an unknown life-threatening illness, from which he eventually recovered.
Romero entered (government funded) Public school, which only offered grades one through three. When finished with public school, Romero was privately tutored by Anita Iglesias till the age of thirteen. Throughout this time Óscar's father, Santos, had been training Romero in carpentry. Romero showed exceptional proficiency as an apprentice. Santos wanted to offer his son the skill of a trade, because in El Salvador studies seldom led to employment.
. In 1943 before finishing, he was summoned back home from Fascist Italy by the bishop at the age of 26. He traveled home with his good friend Father Valladares, who was also doing doctoral work in Rome. On the route home they made stops in Spain and Cuba, being detained by Cuban police for having come from Benito Mussolini's Italy and placed in an internment camp. After several months in prison Valladares became sick and some priests of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer helped to have the two transferred to a hospital. From the hospital they were released from Cuban custody and allowed back home, where they sailed for Mexico and then back home to El Salvador.
Romero worked 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 supported devotion to the Virgin of the Peace. He was later appointed Rector of the inter-diocese seminary in San Salvador.
In 1966, he began his public life when chosen to be the Secretary of the Bishop Conference for El Salvador. He also became the director of the archdiocesan newspaper Orientación, which became fairly conservative while he was editor, defending the traditional magisterium of the Catholic Church.
In 1970 he was appointed auxiliary bishop to San Salvador Archbishop Luis Chávez y González, a move not welcomed by the more progressive members of the Priesthood in El Salvador. He took up his appointment as Bishop of the Diocese of Santiago de María in December 1975.
On 23 February 1977, he was appointed Archbishop of El Salvador. His appointment was met with surprise, dismay, and even incredulity. While this appointment was welcomed by the government, many priests were disappointed, especially those openly aligning with Marxism
. The Marxist priests feared that his conservative reputation would negatively affect liberation theology
's commitment to the poor.
On 12 March, a progressive Jesuit
priest and personal friend of Romero, Rutilio Grande
, who had been creating self-reliance groups among the poor campesinos
, was assassinated. His death had a profound impact on Romero who later stated, "When I looked at Rutilio lying there dead I thought, 'If they have killed him for doing what he did, then I too have to walk the same path'". Romero urged Arturo Armando Molina
's government to investigate, but they ignored his request. Furthermore, the censored
press remained silent.
Tension was noted by the closure of schools and the lack of Catholic priests invited to participate in government. In response to Fr. Rutilio's murder, Romero revealed a radicalism
that had not been evident earlier. Traditionally, the church had been complicit in the aims of the state and military to privilege the wealthy and powerful while the majority of the population remained in abject poverty. He spoke out against poverty, social injustice
, assassinations and torture.
As a result of his humanitarian efforts, Romero began to be noticed internationally. 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. Romero argued that it was problematic to support the Salvadoran government because it legitimized terror and assassinations.
In 1979, the Revolutionary Government Junta came to power amidst a wave of human rights abuses by paramilitary right-wing groups and the government. Romero criticized the United States
for giving military aid
to the new government and wrote to President Jimmy Carter
in February 1980, warning that increased US 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". http://www.share-elsalvador.org/25anniv/romero-carter.htm Carter, concerned that El Salvador would become "another Nicaragua" ignored Romero's pleas and continued military aid to the Salvadoran government.
of the Church:
at a small chapel located in a hospital called "La Divina Providencia", one day after a sermon where he had called on Salvadoran soldiers, as Christians, to obey God's higher order and to stop carrying out the government's repression and violations of basic human rights
. According to an audio-recording of the Mass, he was shot while elevating the chalice at the end of the Eucharist
ic rite. When he was shot, his blood spilled over the altar along with the contents of the chalice.
Even though the Vatican under Pope John Paul II did not view Romero's closeness to liberation theology favorably (nor the manner in which he condemned military, government, and guerrilla actions), it nonetheless blatantly condemned the assassination as a murder and a direct sacrilege
, even while not formally recognizing him as a martyr.
It is believed that the assassins were members of a death squad
trained and funded by the United States
. This view was supported in 1993 by an official U.N.
report, which identified the man who ordered the killing as former Major and School of the Americas graduate Roberto D'Aubuisson
. He had also planned to overthrow the government in a coup. Later he founded the political party Nationalist Republican Alliance
(ARENA), and organized death squads that systematically carried out politically-motivated assassinations and other human rights abuses in El Salvador. Álvaro Rafael Saravia, a former captain in the Salvadoran Air Force, was chief of security for Roberto D'Aubuisson and an active member of these death squads. In 2003, a U.S. human rights organization, the Center for Justice and Accountability
, filed a civil action against Saravia. In 2004, he was found liable by a US District Court under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) (28 U.S.C. § 1350) for aiding, conspiring, and participating in the assassination of Archbishop Romero. Saravia was ordered to pay 10 million dollars for extrajudicial killing and crimes against humanity pursuant to the ATCA. Doe v. Rafael Saravia, 348 F. Supp. 2d 1112 (E.D. Cal. 2004) (providing an excellent account of the events leading up, and subsequent, to Archbishop Romero's death).
Romero is buried in the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador (Catedral Metropolitana de San Salvador)
. The funeral mass (rite of visitation and requiem) on 30 March 1980, in San Salvador was attended by more than 250,000 mourners from all over the world. Viewing this attendance as a protest, Jesuit priest John Dear
has said, "Romero’s funeral was the largest demonstration in Salvadoran history, some say in the history of Latin America
."
During the ceremony, a smoke bomb exploded on the Cathedral square (Plaza Gerardo Barrios) and subsequently there were rifle-fire shots that came from surrounding buildings, including the National Palace. Many people were killed by gunfire and during the following mass panic; official sources talk of 31 overall casualties, journalists indicated between 30 and 50 dead.
Some witnesses claimed it was government security forces that threw bombs into the crowd, and army sharpshooters, dressed as civilians, that fired into the chaos from the balcony or roof of the National Palace. However, there are contradictory accounts as to the course of the events and "probably, one will never know the truth about the interrupted funeral." This proved to be a turning point in the history of the Salvadoran conflict, a peak in the power of popular organizations aligned with the left, whose popularity declined after this event under the suspicion that they attempted to capitalize on this tragic event for political gain.
Twenty-five years later, the BBC recalled the horror:
As the gunfire continued, the body was buried in a crypt beneath the sanctuary. Even after the burial, people continued to line up to pay homage to their martyred prelate.
On 24 March 2010—the thirtieth anniversary of Romero's death—Salvadoran president Mauricio Funes
offered an official state apology for Romero's assassination. Speaking before Romero's family, representatives of the Catholic Church, diplomats, and government officials, Funes said those involved in the assassination "…unfortunately acted with the protection, collaboration or participation of state agents".
On 21 December 2010, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 24 March as the International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims which recognize, in particular, the important work and values of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero
On 22 March 2011 Barack Obama
, the U.S.'s
first African-American president, during an official visit to El Salvador (his last stop on a Latin-American tour), visited Romero's tomb.
According to Brockman, Romero's spiritual journey had some of these characteristics:
, 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
". If the decree finds that Romero was a martyr, there would be no further obstacles to his beatification
. A declaration of only heroic virtue, however, would require that a miracle
must be attributed to Romero in order for him to be declared Blessed
.
Three decades after Romero's assassination, the canonization cause is stalled. In March 2005, Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia
, the Vatican official in charge of the drive, announced that Romero's cause had cleared an unprecedented hurdle, having survived a theological audit by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, at the time headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later elected Pope Benedict XVI
) and that beatification could follow within six months. Pope John Paul II
died within weeks of those remarks. Predictably, the transition of the new Pontiff slowed down the work of canonizations and beatifications. Pope Benedict XVI additionally instituted liturgical changes that had the overall effect of reining in the Vatican's so-called "factory of saints." Later that year, an October 2005 interview by Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, appeared to stall the prospect of an impending Romero beatification. Asked if Msgr. Paglia's predictions checked out, Cardinal Saraiva responded, "Not as far as I know today." In November 2005, a Jesuit magazine signaled that Romero's beatification was still "years away."
Many suspect that the delay in the declaration of heroism and martyrdom is due to the fact that Romero is closely tied to, but not directly involved with, 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 who have pointed out that Romero has not yet met certain criteria to move on to the next levels of the inquests, processes which have historically taken decades to roll into motion.
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of the Catholic Church in El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
. He became the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador, succeeding Luis Chávez
Luis Chávez y González
Luis Chávez y González was the seventh Bishop and third Archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador, and immediate predecessor of Archbishop Óscar Romero. Unlike Romero, who served for three years before being assassinated in 1980, Msgr. Chávez had an archbishopric that was long and low key...
. He was assassinated on 24 March 1980.
After his assassination, Romero was succeeded by Monsignor Arturo Rivera
Arturo Rivera y Damas
Arturo Rivera y Damas was the ninth Bishop and fifth Archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador. Msgr. Rivera's term as archbishop coincided with the Salvadoran Civil War. He was the immediate successor of Archbishop Óscar Romero. During Romero's archbishopric , Rivera was Romero's key ally...
. In 1997, a cause for beatification
Beatification
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...
and canonization
Canonization
Canonization is the act by which a Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints. Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process...
into sainthood was opened for Romero, and Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
bestowed upon him the title of Servant of God
Servant of God
Servant of God is a title given to individuals by various religions, but in general the phrase is used to describe a person believed to be pious in his or her faith tradition. In the Catholic Church, it designates someone who is being investigated by the Church for possibly being recognized as a...
. The canonization process continues. He is considered by some the unofficial patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
and El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
and is often referred to as "San Romero" by Catholics in El Salvador. Outside of Catholicism, Romero is honored by other religious denomination
Religious denomination
A religious denomination is a subgroup within a religion that operates under a common name, tradition, and identity.The term describes various Christian denominations...
s of Christendom
Christendom
Christendom, or the Christian world, has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity...
, including the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
through the Calendar in Common Worship
Common Worship
Common Worship is the name given to the series of services authorised by the General Synod of the Church of England and launched on the first Sunday of Advent in 2000. It represents the most recent stage of development of the Liturgical Movement within the Church and is the successor to the...
. He is one of the ten 20th century martyrs who are depicted in statues above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, a testament to his wide respect even beyond the Catholic Church.
In 2008, he was chosen as one of the 15 Champions of World Democracy by the Europe-based magazine A Different View
A Different View
A Different View is the International Association for Political Science Students' monthly Online Magazine. Founded in 2005, ADV deals with a wide range of topics including political, social, cultural and/or economic affairs....
.
Early life
Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was born on 15 August 1917, to Santos Romero and Guadalupe de Jésus Galdámez in Ciudad BarriosCiudad Barrios
Ciudad Barrios is a municipality in the San Miguel department of El Salvador. It is the birthplace of Archbishop Óscar Romero....
. He lived in a torn country where 40% of the land was owned by 13 families. The church was being persecuted at this time and many were being killed or assasinated.
He could often be found at one of the town's two churches during his free time. At age seven Romero came down with an unknown life-threatening illness, from which he eventually recovered.
Romero entered (government funded) Public school, which only offered grades one through three. When finished with public school, Romero was privately tutored by Anita Iglesias till the age of thirteen. Throughout this time Óscar's father, Santos, had been training Romero in carpentry. Romero showed exceptional proficiency as an apprentice. Santos wanted to offer his son the skill of a trade, because in El Salvador studies seldom led to employment.
Priesthood
On 4 April 1942, Romero was made a Catholic priest in Rome. Romero remained in Italy to obtain a doctoral degree in theology which specialized in ascetical theologyAscetical Theology
Ascetical theology is the organized study or presentation of spiritual teachings found in Christian Scripture and the Church Fathers that help the faithful to more perfectly follow Christ and attain to Christian perfection. The word ascetic is from the Greek word ἄσκησις askesis, meaning practice....
. In 1943 before finishing, he was summoned back home from Fascist Italy by the bishop at the age of 26. He traveled home with his good friend Father Valladares, who was also doing doctoral work in Rome. On the route home they made stops in Spain and Cuba, being detained by Cuban police for having come from Benito Mussolini's Italy and placed in an internment camp. After several months in prison Valladares became sick and some priests of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer helped to have the two transferred to a hospital. From the hospital they were released from Cuban custody and allowed back home, where they sailed for Mexico and then back home to El Salvador.
Romero worked 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 supported devotion to the Virgin of the Peace. He was later appointed Rector of the inter-diocese seminary in San Salvador.
In 1966, he began his public life when chosen to be the Secretary of the Bishop Conference for El Salvador. He also became the director of the archdiocesan newspaper Orientación, which became fairly conservative while he was editor, defending the traditional magisterium of the Catholic Church.
In 1970 he was appointed auxiliary bishop to San Salvador Archbishop Luis Chávez y González, a move not welcomed by the more progressive members of the Priesthood in El Salvador. He took up his appointment as Bishop of the Diocese of Santiago de María in December 1975.
Archbishop
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
. The Marxist priests feared that his conservative reputation would negatively affect liberation theology
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions...
's commitment to the poor.
On 12 March, a progressive Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
priest and personal friend of Romero, Rutilio Grande
Rutilio Grande
Rutilio Grande García was a Jesuit priest in El Salvador and a promoter of liberation theology. He was assassinated in 1977, along with two other Salvadorans. He was a close friend of Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero...
, who had been creating self-reliance groups among the poor campesinos
Peasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
, was assassinated. His death had a profound impact on Romero who later stated, "When I looked at Rutilio lying there dead I thought, 'If they have killed him for doing what he did, then I too have to walk the same path'". Romero urged Arturo Armando Molina
Arturo Armando Molina
Colonel Arturo Armando Molina is a former President of El Salvador. He served between July 1, 1972 and July 1, 1977. Molina was a member of the National Conciliation Party....
's government to investigate, but they ignored his request. Furthermore, the censored
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
press remained silent.
Tension was noted by the closure of schools and the lack of Catholic priests invited to participate in government. In response to Fr. Rutilio's murder, Romero revealed a radicalism
Political radicalism
The term political radicalism denotes political principles focused on altering social structures through revolutionary means and changing value systems in fundamental ways...
that had not been evident earlier. Traditionally, the church had been complicit in the aims of the state and military to privilege the wealthy and powerful while the majority of the population remained in abject poverty. He spoke out against poverty, social injustice
Social injustice
Social injustice is a concept relating to the claimed unfairness or injustice of a society in its divisions of rewards and burdens and other incidental inequalities...
, assassinations and torture.
As a result of his humanitarian efforts, Romero began to be noticed internationally. In February 1980, he was given an honorary doctorate by the Catholic University of Leuven
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a Dutch-speaking university in Flanders, Belgium.It is located at the centre of the historic town of Leuven, and is a prominent part of the city, home to the university since 1425...
. On his visit to Europe to receive this honor, he met Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
and expressed his concerns at what was happening in his country. Romero argued that it was problematic to support the Salvadoran government because it legitimized terror and assassinations.
In 1979, the Revolutionary Government Junta came to power amidst a wave of human rights abuses by paramilitary right-wing groups and the government. Romero criticized the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for giving military aid
Military aid
Military aid is aid which is used to assist an ally in its defense efforts, or to assist a poor country in maintaining control over its own territory. Many countries receive military aid to help with counter-insurgency efforts...
to the new government and wrote to President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
in February 1980, warning that increased US military aid would "undoubtedly sharpen the injustice and the repression
Political repression
Political repression is the persecution of an individual or group for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing their ability to take political life of society....
inflicted on the organized people, whose struggle has often been for their most basic human rights". http://www.share-elsalvador.org/25anniv/romero-carter.htm Carter, concerned that El Salvador would become "another Nicaragua" ignored Romero's pleas and continued military aid to the Salvadoran government.
Statements on persecution of the Church
Archbishop Romero denounced the persecutionPersecution of Christians
Persecution of Christians as a consequence of professing their faith can be traced both historically and in the current era. Early Christians were persecuted for their faith, at the hands of both Jews from whose religion Christianity arose, and the Roman Empire which controlled much of the land...
of the Church:
Assassination and funeral
Romero was shot on 24 March 1980, while celebrating MassMass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
at a small chapel located in a hospital called "La Divina Providencia", one day after a sermon where he had called on Salvadoran soldiers, as Christians, to obey God's higher order and to stop carrying out the government's repression and violations of basic human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
. According to an audio-recording of the Mass, he was shot while elevating the chalice at the end of the Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
ic rite. When he was shot, his blood spilled over the altar along with the contents of the chalice.
Even though the Vatican under Pope John Paul II did not view Romero's closeness to liberation theology favorably (nor the manner in which he condemned military, government, and guerrilla actions), it nonetheless blatantly condemned the assassination as a murder and a direct sacrilege
Sacrilege
Sacrilege is the violation or injurious treatment of a sacred object. In a less proper sense, any transgression against the virtue of religion would be a sacrilege. It can come in the form of irreverence to sacred persons, places, and things...
, even while not formally recognizing him as a martyr.
It is believed that the assassins were members of a death squad
Death squad
A death squad is an armed military, police, insurgent, or terrorist squad that conducts extrajudicial killings, assassinations, and forced disappearances of persons as part of a war, insurgency or terror campaign...
trained and funded by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. This view was supported in 1993 by an official U.N.
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
report, which identified the man who ordered the killing as former Major and School of the Americas graduate Roberto D'Aubuisson
Roberto D'Aubuisson
Major Roberto D'Aubuisson Arrieta was the Salvadoran Army officer and political leader who founded the Nationalist Republican Alliance , which he led from 1980 to 1985...
. He had also planned to overthrow the government in a coup. Later he founded the political party Nationalist Republican Alliance
Nationalist Republican Alliance
The Nationalist Republican Alliance is a conservative political party in El Salvador. It was founded on September 30, 1981, by Roberto D'Aubuisson, in order to oppose the reformist military junta that was ruling El Salvador at the time...
(ARENA), and organized death squads that systematically carried out politically-motivated assassinations and other human rights abuses in El Salvador. Álvaro Rafael Saravia, a former captain in the Salvadoran Air Force, was chief of security for Roberto D'Aubuisson and an active member of these death squads. In 2003, a U.S. human rights organization, the Center for Justice and Accountability
Center for Justice and Accountability
The Center for Justice and Accountability is a non-profit international human rights organization based in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1998, CJA represents survivors of torture and other grave human rights abuses in cases against individual rights violators before U.S. and Spanish courts...
, filed a civil action against Saravia. In 2004, he was found liable by a US District Court under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) (28 U.S.C. § 1350) for aiding, conspiring, and participating in the assassination of Archbishop Romero. Saravia was ordered to pay 10 million dollars for extrajudicial killing and crimes against humanity pursuant to the ATCA. Doe v. Rafael Saravia, 348 F. Supp. 2d 1112 (E.D. Cal. 2004) (providing an excellent account of the events leading up, and subsequent, to Archbishop Romero's death).
Romero is buried in the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador (Catedral Metropolitana de San Salvador)
Catedral Metropolitana de San Salvador
The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Holy Savior is the principal church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Salvador and the seat of the Archbishop of San Salvador...
. The funeral mass (rite of visitation and requiem) on 30 March 1980, in San Salvador was attended by more than 250,000 mourners from all over the world. Viewing this attendance as a protest, Jesuit priest John Dear
John Dear
John Dear is an American Catholic priest, Christian pacifist, author and lecturer. He has been arrested over 75 times in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience against war, injustice and nuclear weapons.-Studies:...
has said, "Romero’s funeral was the largest demonstration in Salvadoran history, some say in the history of Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
."
During the ceremony, a smoke bomb exploded on the Cathedral square (Plaza Gerardo Barrios) and subsequently there were rifle-fire shots that came from surrounding buildings, including the National Palace. Many people were killed by gunfire and during the following mass panic; official sources talk of 31 overall casualties, journalists indicated between 30 and 50 dead.
Some witnesses claimed it was government security forces that threw bombs into the crowd, and army sharpshooters, dressed as civilians, that fired into the chaos from the balcony or roof of the National Palace. However, there are contradictory accounts as to the course of the events and "probably, one will never know the truth about the interrupted funeral." This proved to be a turning point in the history of the Salvadoran conflict, a peak in the power of popular organizations aligned with the left, whose popularity declined after this event under the suspicion that they attempted to capitalize on this tragic event for political gain.
Twenty-five years later, the BBC recalled the horror:
- "Tens of thousands of mourners who had gathered for Romero's funeral Mass in front of the cathedral in San Salvador were filmed fleeing in terror as army gunners on the rooftops around the square opened fire.... One person who was there told us he remembered the piles of shoes left behind by those who escaped with their lives."
As the gunfire continued, the body was buried in a crypt beneath the sanctuary. Even after the burial, people continued to line up to pay homage to their martyred prelate.
On 24 March 2010—the thirtieth anniversary of Romero's death—Salvadoran president Mauricio Funes
Mauricio Funes
Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena is the President of El Salvador. He won the 2009 presidential election as the candidate of the left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front political party and took office on 1 June 2009.-Biography:Funes is married to Dr. Vanada Pignado, who was involved in...
offered an official state apology for Romero's assassination. Speaking before Romero's family, representatives of the Catholic Church, diplomats, and government officials, Funes said those involved in the assassination "…unfortunately acted with the protection, collaboration or participation of state agents".
On 21 December 2010, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 24 March as the International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims which recognize, in particular, the important work and values of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero
On 22 March 2011 Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, the U.S.'s
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
first African-American president, during an official visit to El Salvador (his last stop on a Latin-American tour), visited Romero's tomb.
Spiritual life
Romero noted in his diary on 4 February 1943: "In recent days the Lord has inspired in me a great desire for holiness.... I have been thinking of how far a soul can ascend if it lets itself be possessed entirely by God." Commenting on this passage, James R. Brockman, S.J., Romero's biographer and author of Romero: A Life, said that "All the evidence available indicates that he continued on his quest for holiness until the end of his life. But he also matured in that quest."According to Brockman, Romero's spiritual journey had some of these characteristics:
- love for the Church of Rome, shown by his episcopal motto, "to be of one mind with the Church", a phrase he took from St. IgnatiusSt. Ignatius-People:* Ignatius of Antioch, third Patriarch of Antioch, considered a saint by the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches*Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church...
' Spiritual ExercisesSpiritual ExercisesSpiritual exercises may refer to:* Any spiritual practice dedicated towards increasing one's personal spirituality* Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, a book of spiritual practices of the Roman Catholic Jesuit order...
, - a tendency to make a very deep examination of conscienceExamination of conscienceExamination of conscience is a review of one's past thoughts, words, actions, and omissions for the purpose of ascertaining their conformity with, or deviation from, the moral law. Among Christians, this is generally a private review; secular intellectuals have, on occasion, published autocritiques...
, - an emphasis on sincere pietyPietyIn spiritual terminology, piety is a virtue that can mean religious devotion, spirituality, or a combination of both. A common element in most conceptions of piety is humility.- Etymology :...
, - mortificationMortificationMortification can refer to:*Mortification , theological doctrine*Mortification of the flesh, religious practice of corporal mortification...
and penancePenancePenance is repentance of sins as well as the proper name of the Roman Catholic, Orthodox Christian, and Anglican Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation/Confession. It also plays a part in non-sacramental confession among Lutherans and other Protestants...
through his duties, - providing protection for his chastity,
- spiritual directionSpiritual directionSpiritual direction is the practice of being with people as they attempt to deepen their relationship with the divine, or to learn and grow in their own personal spirituality. The person seeking direction shares stories of his or her encounters of the divine, or how he or she is experiencing...
(Romero said he "entrusted with great satisfaction the spiritual direction of my life and that of other priests" to priests of Opus Dei), - "being one with the Church incarnated in this people which stands in need of liberation,"
- eagerness for contemplative type of prayer and also finding God in others,
- fidelity to the will of God,
- self-offering to Jesus Christ.
Process of canonization
On the tenth anniversary of the assassination in 1990, the sitting prelate archbishop of San Salvador, Msgr. Arturo RiveraArturo Rivera y Damas
Arturo Rivera y Damas was the ninth Bishop and fifth Archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador. Msgr. Rivera's term as archbishop coincided with the Salvadoran Civil War. He was the immediate successor of Archbishop Óscar Romero. During Romero's archbishopric , Rivera was Romero's key ally...
, appointed a postulator
Postulator
The person who guides a Cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Roman Catholic Church is known as the postulator. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the Norms to be Observed in Inquiries made by Bishops in the...
to prepare documentation for a cause of beatification and canonization of Romero. The documents were formally accepted by Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
and the Congregation for the Causes of Saints
Congregation for the Causes of Saints
The Congregation for the Causes of Saints is the congregation of the Roman Curia which oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, passing through the steps of a declaration of "heroic virtues" and beatification...
in 1997, and Romero was given the title of "Servant of God
Servant of God
Servant of God is a title given to individuals by various religions, but in general the phrase is used to describe a person believed to be pious in his or her faith tradition. In the Catholic Church, it designates someone who is being investigated by the Church for possibly being recognized as a...
". 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
Venerable
The Venerable is used as a style or epithet in several Christian churches. It is also the common English-language translation of a number of Buddhist titles.-Roman Catholic:...
". If the decree finds that Romero was a martyr, there would be no further obstacles to his beatification
Beatification
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...
. A declaration of only heroic virtue, however, would require that a miracle
Miracle
A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...
must be attributed to Romero in order for him to be declared Blessed
Beatification
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...
.
Three decades after Romero's assassination, the canonization cause is stalled. In March 2005, Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia
Vincenzo Paglia
Vincenzo Paglia is the Roman Catholic bishop of the diocese of Terni-Narni-Amelia in Italy. He is one of the founders of the Community of Sant'Egidio....
, the Vatican official in charge of the drive, announced that Romero's cause had cleared an unprecedented hurdle, having survived a theological audit by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, at the time headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later elected Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
) and that beatification could follow within six months. Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
died within weeks of those remarks. Predictably, the transition of the new Pontiff slowed down the work of canonizations and beatifications. Pope Benedict XVI additionally instituted liturgical changes that had the overall effect of reining in the Vatican's so-called "factory of saints." Later that year, an October 2005 interview by Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, appeared to stall the prospect of an impending Romero beatification. Asked if Msgr. Paglia's predictions checked out, Cardinal Saraiva responded, "Not as far as I know today." In November 2005, a Jesuit magazine signaled that Romero's beatification was still "years away."
Many suspect that the delay in the declaration of heroism and martyrdom is due to the fact that Romero is closely tied to, but not directly involved with, the liberation theology
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions...
movement espoused especially by the Jesuits of Latin America. The charge has been dismissed by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints who have pointed out that Romero has not yet met certain criteria to move on to the next levels of the inquests, processes which have historically taken decades to roll into motion.
Television and film
- The film RomeroRomero (film)Romero is a film depicting the life of assassinated Salvadoran Archbishop Óscar Romero, played by Raúl Juliá. Richard Jordan played the role of Romero's close friend and fellow martyred priest Rutilio Grande, and actors Ana Alicia and Harold Gould also appeared in the film.Romero was the first...
(1989) was based on the Archbishop's life story. It was directed by John DuiganJohn DuiganJohn Duigan, is an Australian film director.Duigan emigrated to Australia in 1961, having been born to an Australian father...
and starred Raúl JuliáRaúl JuliáRaúl Rafael Juliá y Arcelay was a Puerto Rican actor.Born in San Juan, he gained interest in acting while still in school. Upon completing his studies, Juliá decided to pursue a career in acting. After performing in the local scene for some time, he was convinced by entertainment personality Orson...
and produced by Paulist Productions (a film company run by the Paulist FathersPaulist FathersThe Missionary Society of Saint Paul the Apostle, better known as the Paulist Fathers, is a Roman Catholic religious society for men founded in New York City in 1858 by Servant of God Fr. Isaac Thomas Hecker in collaboration with Fr. George Deshon, Fr. Augustine Hewit, and Fr. Francis A. Baker....
, an orderRoman Catholic religious orderCatholic religious orders are, historically, a category of Catholic religious institutes.Subcategories are canons regular ; monastics ; mendicants Catholic religious orders are, historically, a category of Catholic religious institutes.Subcategories are canons regular (canons and canonesses regular...
of Catholic priests). 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 EbertRoger EbertRoger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
typified the critics who acknowledged that "The film has a good heart, and the Juliá performance is an interesting one, restrained and considered.... The film's weakness is a certain implacable predictability." Romero was never sent to jail as was in the movie, but was held at a detainment camp. - Oliver StoneOliver StoneWilliam Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, for which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. His work frequently focuses on...
's 1986 film, SalvadorSalvador (film)Salvador is a 1986 war drama film which tells the story of an American journalist in El Salvador covering the Salvadoran civil war. While trying to get footage, he becomes entangled with both leftist guerrillas and the right wing military...
, contains a dramatisation of the assassination of Archbishop Romero (played in the movie by José Carlos RuizJose Carlos RuizJosé Carlos Ruiz is a Mexican film actor, born in the City of Jerez Zacatecas, Mexico who stars in Mexican movies and Mexican Telenovelas such as Soñadoras, Mariana de la noche, Sortilegio and Soy Tu Dueña....
). The film tells the story of photojournalist Richard BoyleRichard BoyleRichard Boyle may refer to:*Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork , Lord High Treasurer of Ireland*Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Burlington and 2nd earl of Cork , Lord High Treasurer of Ireland and a cavalier...
(James WoodsJames WoodsJames Howard Woods is an American film, stage and television actor. Woods is known for starring in critically acclaimed films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Salvador, Nixon, Ghosts of Mississippi, Casino, and in the television legal drama Shark. He has won three Emmy Awards, and has gained...
), 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 movie Choices of the HeartChoices of the HeartChoices of the Heart is an award-winning television movie based on the lives of Jean Donovan, Archbishop Oscar Romero, and the three other churchwomen who were killed in El Salvador during their Civil War.-Plot:The movie is based on actual events...
(NBC, 1983, René Enríquez as Romero) about the murder of four U.S. churchwomen in El Salvador - Romero was depicted in two biopics about the papacy of Karol Wojtyła, the U.S. television biopic Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul IIHave No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul IIThe biopic Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II explains in biographical form the life story of the late head of the Roman Catholic church, Pope John Paul II.- Plot :...
(ABC, 2005, Joaquim de Almeida as Romero) and the Italian biopic "Karol, una papa rimasto uomo" (2006, Carlos Kaniowsky as Romero). - The Daily ShowThe Daily ShowThe Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
episode on 17 March 2010 showed clips from the Texas State Board of Education in which "a panel of experts" recommended including Romero in the state's history books http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/teks/social/AlphabetizedList_such_as.pdf, but an amendment proposed by Patricia Hardy http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=3420 to exclude Romero was passed on 10 March 2010. The clip of Ms. Hardy shows her arguing against including Romero because "I guarantee you most of you did not know who Oscar Romero was" and "I just happen to think it's not [important]". Romero has also had a house at Cardijn College named after him. - A film about the Archbishop, Monseñor, the Last Journey of Óscar Romero, had its U.S. premiere in 2010. It was sponsored by ecclesial and human rights groups from Latin America, and from North America. In her essay in The New York Review of BooksThe New York Review of BooksThe New York Review of Books is a fortnightly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs. Published in New York City, it takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity...
, the film is described by Alma GuillermoprietoAlma GuillermoprietoAlma Guillermoprieto is a Mexican journalist who has written extensively about Latin America for the British and American press. Her writings have also been widely disseminated within the Spanish-speaking world.-Life:...
as a "hagiography," and as "an astonishing compilation of footage" of the final three years of his life.
Visual arts
- A statue of Óscar Romero sculpted by John Roberts fills a prominent niche on the western facade of Westminster Abbey in London. The statue was unveiled in the presence of Queen Elizabeth IIElizabeth II of the United KingdomElizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
in 1998. Barry Woods Johnston sculpted the statue of Óscar Romero displayed in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. The Italian sculptor, Paolo BorghiPaolo BorghiPaolo Borghi is a retired Italian high jumper.He competed at the 1980 Olympic Games, without reaching the final.His personal best jump is 2.28 metres, achieved in May 1980 in Santa Lucia di Piave.-References:...
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 LentzRobert LentzRobert Lentz OFM is an American Franciscan friar and religious icon painter. He is particularly known for incorporating contemporary social themes into his icon work. He belongs to the Order of Friars Minor, and is currently stationed in Holy Name Province.-Life:Lentz was born in rural Colorado to...
, OFM, painted a now-famous "icon" of Archbishop Romero based on traditional Church iconography but with updated the conventional elements. For example, traditional angels are replaced with military helicopters over red tiled roofs. Frank Diaz Escalet executed a series of "outsider art" paintings on Archbishop Romero, now exhibited in the permanent collection of the Organization of American StatesOrganization of American StatesThe Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United 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 and song
- The most famous reference to Romero's death in Spanish-language songs is "El Padre Antonio y su Monaguillo Andrés" ("Father Anthony and Acolyte Andrew"), written and sung by Panamanian Rubén BladesRubén BladesRubén Blades Bellido de Luna is a Panamanian salsa singer, songwriter, lawyer, actor, Latin jazz musician, and politician, performing musically most often in the Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz genres...
. This song describes the arrival in a Latin American country of an idealistic Spanish priest (a fictional representation of Archbishop Romero), his sermons condemning violence there, his talks about love and justice, and, finally, the murders of the priest and acolyte during a mass. Blades has said he wrote this song so that "the death of Romero is not forgotten." - In 1981, Brazilian classical composer Jorge Antunes wrote a choral-symphonic work entitled "Elegia Violeta para Monsenhor Romero" ("Violet Elegy for Monsignor Romero") using texts from Che Guevara, Vassili Vassilikos, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Psalms, and Archbishop Romero himself as lyrics. The work finishes with the children's choir repeating, each time more strongly, "¡No se mata la justicia!" ("Justice cannot be killed!": the very words in which Archbishop Romero replied to a Brazilian reporter's question whether the archbishop were afraid he'd be killed because of his defense of the poor and his protest against the murders of priests) – until their voices are muted by seemingly panicked, sincopated instrumental sounds.
- Brazilian Bishop Dom Pedro CasaldáligaPedro CasaldáligaPere Casaldàliga i Pla, more known as Pedro Casaldáliga is a Catalan-born emeritus Brazilian Bishop of São Felix do Araguaia . He is one of the most known practitioners of Liberation Theology. He has received numerous awards, including the International Catalunya Prize...
immortalized Romero as "San Romero de América" ("Saint Romero of the Americas") in a famous poem by that name written shortly after the archbishop's assassination. The poem, a variation on the Angelus, popularized the use of the phrase "San Romero" (instead of "Saint Oscar") throughout Latin America (and, for example, in Escalet's "San Romero" paintings or in the "San Romero de América" UCC Church in New York City). - WelshWelsh peopleThe Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
singer-songwriter Dafydd IwanDafydd IwanDafydd Iwan , is a Welsh folk singer and politician. He was the president of Plaid Cymru .Dafydd Iwan Jones was born in Brynaman in Carmarthenshire, Wales, and is the elder brother of politician Alun Ffred Jones. He spent most of his youth in Bala in Gwynedd before attending the University of...
wrote about Romero's assassination in the song "Oscar Romero". - "Eulogy For Oscar Romero" is an instrumental piece composed and performed by Jean-Luc PontyJean-Luc PontyJean-Luc Ponty is a French virtuoso violinist and jazz composer.- Early years:Ponty was born into a family of classical musicians on 29 September 1942 in Avranches, France. His father taught violin, his mother taught piano...
. - "The Marching Song of the Covert Battalions," the third track on Billy BraggBilly BraggStephen William Bragg , better known as Billy Bragg, is an English alternative rock musician and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes...
's 1990 album The InternationaleThe Internationale (album)The Internationale is a 1990 album by Billy Bragg. Originally released on Bragg's short-lived record label, Utility Records, it is a deliberately political album, consisting mainly of cover versions and rewrites of left-wing protest songs...
, pays homage to Romero. - Romero is mentioned in the song "Same Thing" by the AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
alternative hip hopAlternative hip hopAlternative hip hop is a sub-genre of hip hop music. Allmusic defines it as follows: -Origin:...
band FlobotsFlobotsThe Flobots are a political rock and hip hop musical group from Denver, Colorado, formed in 2000 by Jamie Laurie. Flobots found mainstream success with their major label debut Fight with Tools , featuring the single "Handlebars", which became a popular hit on Modern Rock radio in April 2008.-Early...
. - The British songwriter/preacher Garth Hewitt recorded a song about Oscar Romero on his 1985 Alien Brain album
See also
Catholic priests assassinated in El Salvador during and after Óscar Romero's time as archbishop (1977–1980):- Rutilio Grande, S.J.Rutilio GrandeRutilio Grande García was a Jesuit priest in El Salvador and a promoter of liberation theology. He was assassinated in 1977, along with two other Salvadorans. He was a close friend of Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero...
: assassinated 12 March 1977 - Alfonso NavarroAlfonso NavarroFr. Alfonso Navarro Oviedo was a Roman Catholic priest in El Salvador who was assassinated in 1977. He served under Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez...
: assassinated 11 May 1977 - Ernesto BarreraErnesto BarreraFr. Ernesto Barrera was a Roman Catholic priest in El Salvador who was assassinated in 1978. He served under Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez. His murder was characterized by Romero as part of a systematic persecution of the Catholic Church and oppression against efforts to reform a...
: assassinated 28 November 1978 - Octavio OrtizOctavio OrtizFr. Octavio Ortiz Luna was a Roman Catholic priest in El Salvador who was assassinated on January 20, 1979. He served under Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez...
: assassinated 20 January 1979 - Rafael Palacios: assassinated 20 June 1979
- Napoleón MacíasNapoleón MacíasFr. Alirio Napoleón Macías was a Roman Catholic priest in El Salvador who was assassinated in 1979. He served under Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez. His murder was characterized by Romero as part of a systematic persecution of the Catholic Church and oppression against efforts to reform...
: assassinated 4 August 1979 - Ignacio Martín-Baró, S.J.Ignacio Martín-BaróIgnacio Martín-Baró, S.J. was a scholar, social psychologist, philosopher and Jesuit priest...
: assassinated 16 November 1989 - Joaquín López y López, S.J.: assassinated 16 November 1989
- Juan Ramón Moreno, S.J.: assassinated 16 November 1989
- Segundo Montes, S.J.Segundo MontesSegundo Montes, S.J. was a scholar, philosopher, educator, sociologist and Jesuit priest...
: assassinated 16 November 1989 - Ignacio Ellacuría, S.J.Ignacio EllacuríaIgnacio Ellacuría, S.J. was a Jesuit priest, philosopher, and theologian who did important work as a professor and rector at the Universidad Centroamericana "José Simeón Cañas" , a Jesuit university in El Salvador founded in 1965...
: assassinated 16 November 1989 - Amando López, S.J.: assassinated 16 November 1989
External links
- SUPER MARTYRIO, a blog "about the martyrdom" (of Romero)
- The Foundation for Self- Sufficiency in Central America
- Collection of Romero's homilies and meditations
- Remembering Archbishop Oscar Romero (several contemporary and memorial articles)
- Article on Romero, contains picture of Lentz icon
- "Learn from History", 31st Anniversary of the Assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero, The National Security Archive
- Romero A description of the pursuit of justice for Óscar Romero
- El Salvador Marks Archbishop Oscar Romero's Murder by BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
- How we killed Archbishop Romero Interviews with Captain Álvaro Rafael Saravia and others
- Witnessing massacre of Romero's funeral Video footage and pictures of the massacre in front of the Cathedral.
- http://1000memories.com/oscar-romero/memories A tribute in honor of Oscar Romero