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| Msgr. '''Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez''' (], ] – ], ]), commonly known as '''Monseñor Romero''', was a ] of the ] in ]. He later became the eighth ] and fourth ] of ], succeeding the long-reigning ]. | Msgr. '''Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez''' (], ] – ], ]), commonly known as '''Monseñor Romero''', was a ] of the ] in ]. He later became the eighth ] and fourth ] of ], succeeding the long-reigning ]kaitlin musgrave, he witnessed numerous violations of ] and began a ministry speaking out on behalf of the poor and victims of the country's ]. His brand of political activism was denounced by the government of El Salvador. In ], he was ] by gunshot while consecrating the ] during ]. His death provoked international outcry for human rights reform in El Salvador. After his assassination, Romero was succeeded by Msgr. ]. | ||
| As an archbishop, he witnessed numerous violations of ] and began a ministry speaking out on behalf of the poor and victims of the country's ]. His brand of political activism was denounced by the government of El Salvador. In ], he was ] by gunshot while consecrating the ] during ]. His death provoked international outcry for human rights reform in El Salvador. After his assassination, Romero was succeeded by Msgr. ]. | |||
| In ], a cause for ] and ] into ] was opened for Romero, and ] bestowed upon him the title of ]. The process continues.<ref> http://romeroes.com/canonizacion/canonizacion.html Proceso de Canonización Monseñor Romero</ref> He is considered by some the unofficial ] of the ] and ] and is often referred to as ''"San Romero"'' by the Catholic workers in El Salvador. Outside of Catholicism, Romero is honored by other ]s of ], including the ] through its ]. He is one of the ten 20th-century martyrs from across the world who are depicted in statues above the Great West Door of ], ]. <ref> http://www.westminster-abbey.org/tour/martyrs/index.html Westminster Abbey, Index of 20th Century Martyrs on West Front </ref> | In ], a cause for ] and ] into ] was opened for Romero, and ] bestowed upon him the title of ]. The process continues.<ref> http://romeroes.com/canonizacion/canonizacion.html Proceso de Canonización Monseñor Romero</ref> He is considered by some the unofficial ] of the ] and ] and is often referred to as ''"San Romero"'' by the Catholic workers in El Salvador. Outside of Catholicism, Romero is honored by other ]s of ], including the ] through its ]. He is one of the ten 20th-century martyrs from across the world who are depicted in statues above the Great West Door of ], ]. <ref> http://www.westminster-abbey.org/tour/martyrs/index.html Westminster Abbey, Index of 20th Century Martyrs on West Front </ref> | ||
Revision as of 23:33, 9 November 2006
| Preceded byLuis Chávez y González | Archbishop of San Salvador 1977-1980 |
Succeeded byArturo Rivera y Damas |
| Styles of Óscar Romero | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Reference style | The Most Reverend |
| Religious style | Monsignor |
| Posthumous style | Servant of God |
Msgr. 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 the eighth Bishop and fourth Archbishop of San Salvador, succeeding the long-reigning Luis Chávez y Gonzálezkaitlin musgrave, 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 government of El Salvador. In 1980, he was assassinated by gunshot while consecrating the Eucharist during mass. His death provoked international outcry for human rights reform in El Salvador. After his assassination, Romero was succeeded by Msgr. Arturo Rivera y Damas.
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 by some the unofficial patron saint of the Americas and El Salvador and is often referred to as "San Romero" by the Catholic workers in El Salvador. Outside of Catholicism, Romero is honored by other religious denominations of Christendom, including 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.
Childhood
Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was born on August 15, 1917 to Santos Romero and Guadalupe de Jésus Galdámez in Ciudad Barrios. On May 11, 1919, at age 2, Óscar was baptized into the Catholic Church by Fr. Cecilio Morales. Óscar had six brothers and sisters: Gustavo, Zaída, Rómulo, Mamerto, Arnoldo and Gaspar. Romero was born into a humble environment with no electricity in the house and several children sharing beds. As a child Romero suffered from an unknown illness that was so severe it nearly cost him his life.
Romero entered public school when he was of the age to enter. After grade three he was schooled by a private tutor by the name of Anita Iglesias. Santos, his father, disapproved of his studies and instead began training him as a carpenter. After work he could often be found at one of two churches on his route back home.
Seminarian
In 1930, at age 13, Romero began expressing his desire to enter the seminary. Initially his father objected, but in this same year Romero has his way and enters the minor seminary run by the Claretians in San Miguel. Fellow seminarians from this time recall his strong prayer life, often finding him awake at night in prayer.
In 1937, at age 20, Óscar is transferred to the national seminary in San Salvador run by the Jesuits. Here Romero enters his second year in theology studies. A short time after arriving at San Salvador, Óscar's father passed away back home. During his first year in San Salvador Óscar is relocated to Rome to begin studies in the Gregorian University, where he continues his studies in theology. Here Romero and his fellow Latin American seminarians lived at the Latin American College while they did their studies at Gregorian University. Óscar performed well in his studies and was well liked by his classmates.
By 1939 Rome and much of Europe was entangled in the wildfire of WWII. Many members of Óscar's Latin American College opted to return home amid the chaos. Food was scarce at this time, and several Italian seminaries had been closing down because they were unable to feed their students. This time was spent hearing sirens which warned of impending doom and running for cover in bomb shelters. In 1941, at age 23, Óscar received the Licentiate in Theology cum laude.
Priest
On April 4, 1942, Romero was ordained a Catholic priest in Rome. Romero remained in Rome to obtain doctoral degrees in theology, working on ascetical theology. In 1943, before finishing, he is summoned back home from Fascist Italy by the bishop at age 26. He travels home with his good friend Fr. Valladares, who had graduated in 1940 and was also doing doctoral work in Rome. En route home they made stops in Spain and Cuba, being detained by Cuban police for having come from 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 tranferred to a hospital. From the hospital they were released from Cuban custody and allowed back home, where they sailed for Mexico and travelled back home 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 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 he was chosen to be Secretary of the Episcopal Conference for El Salvador. He also became Director of "Orientation", the archdiocesan newspaper, which became fairly conservative while he was editor, defending the traditional magisterium of the Catholic Church. In 1970 he was appointed assistant Bishop to Luis Chávez y González, a move not welcomed by the more radical progressist elements in the priesthood. He took up his appointment as Bishop of the Diocese of Santiago de María in December 1975.
Archbishop
On February 23, 1977, he was appointed archbishop of San Salvador; his appointment was met with surprise, dismay and even enthusiasm among groups. While this appointment was welcomed in government circles, it was met with disappointment by those radical priests (especially those openly aligning with Marxism) who feared that with his conservative reputation he would put the brakes on their liberation theology commitment to the poor.
On March 12, a progressive Jesuit priest and personal friend Rutilio Grande, who had been creating self-reliance 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. 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.
Assassination and funeral
Romero was shot to death while celebrating holy Mass at a small chapel near his cathedral, the day after he gave a sermon in which he called for soldiers to disobey orders that violated basic human rights. According to an audio-recording of the Mass, he was shot moments after the homily, which he had concluded with an improvised pre-Eucharistic prayer thanking God (the homily in the Roman Catholic Rite more or less signifies the end of the Liturgy of the Word and the beginning of the Liturgy of the Eucharist or Mass of the Faithful). 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 U.N. 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. Rafael Alvaro Saravia, Roberto D'Aubuisson's right hand man, was the man responsible for pulling the trigger.
The funeral mass (rite of visitation and requiem) on March 30, 1980, in San Salvador was attended by more than 50,000 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, government security forces threw bombs into the crowd, and army sharpshooters, dressed as civilians, fired into the chaos from the balcony or roof of the National Palace. 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."
Forty-two civilians were killed by security forces during the events and hundreds were wounded. 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.
Legacy
His legacy is a figure of hope against the human rights violations in the third-world countries. His words against a government manipulated by the rich people in El Salvador demonstrated a great courage, even knowing that his life was in danger he did not stop defending the oppressed and exploited people of El Salvador .
Canonization Cause
On the tenth anniversary of the assassination, the sitting prelate archbishop of San Salvador, Msgr. Arturo Rivera y Damas, 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 for him to be declared Blessed and added to the Liturgy of the Hours.
Twenty-six years 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 none other than Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — the future Pope Benedict XVI — and that beatification could follow within six months. Dramatically, 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. Moreover, the new pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI, 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.
Romero in popular culture
Television and film
- The movie Romero (1989) was based on the Archbishop's life story. It was directed by John Duigan and starred Raúl Juliá and produced by Paulist Productions (a film company run by the Paulist Fathers, a group 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 Ebert typified the critics who acknowledged that "he 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". Although the film depicts Romero's assassination as occurring during the Consecration of the Eucharistic wine, he was actually killed after giving the homily.
- 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 movie, "Choices of the Heart" (NBC, 1983, René Enríquez as Romero) about the murder of four U.S. churchwomen in El Salvador
- Romero was also depicted in two biopics about the papacy of Karol Wojtyła, the U.S. television biopic "Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II" (ABC, 2005, Joaquim de Almeida as Romero) and the Italian biopic "Karol, un papa rimasto uomo" (2006, Carlos Kaniowsky as Romero).
Visual arts
.
- A statue of Oscar 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 II in 1998. Barry Woods Johnston sculpted the statue 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 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 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 and 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
"If you kill me, I shall arise in the Salvadoran people." (attributed.)
"May God have mercy on the assassins." (Dying words.)
"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."
"You say that you are Christian. If you are really Christian, please stop sending military aid to the military here, because they use it only to kill my people." (Letter to US President Jimmy Carter)
Footnotes
- http://romeroes.com/canonizacion/canonizacion.html Proceso de Canonización Monseñor Romero
- http://www.westminster-abbey.org/tour/martyrs/index.html Westminster Abbey, Index of 20th Century Martyrs on West Front
- http://romeroes.com/biografia/ingles.htm, Romero biography from Archdiocese of San Salvador canonization site.
- http://kellogg.nd.edu/romero/PDF%27s/Chronology.pdf Chronology of the Salvadoran Civil War, Kellogg Institute, Notre Dame University
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/file_on_4/4376733.stm Requiem for Romero, BBC Radio 4, March 23, 2005
- http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0324-21.htm Oscar Romero, Presente!, John Dear, CommonDreams.org, March 24, 2005
- http://kellogg.nd.edu/romero/pdfs/Biography.pdf Romero biography, Kellogg Institute, Notre Dame University (accessed 2006-08-21)
- http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/romero-wp-3-31-80.html "40 Killed in San Salvador: 40 Killed at Rites For Slain Prelate; Bombs, Bullets Disrupt Archbishop's Funeral," by Christopher Dickey,Washington Post Foreign Service, Monday, March 31, 1980; Page A1
- http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=35989 Beatification cause advanced for Archbishop Romero
- http://time-proxy.yaga.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1059021,00.html Will the Pope Make Fewer Saints?
- http://www.30giorni.it/us/articolo.asp?id=9359 Interview with Cardinal José Saraiva Martins
- http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0506300.htm Magazine says Archbishop Romero was killed for actions of faith
Further reading and sites
- http://espanol.groups.yahoo.com/group/sanromero/ San Romero – a multi-lingual discussion group dedicated to Romero.
- http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/romero.html Remembering Archbishop Oscar Romero (several contemporary and memorial articles gathered)
- http://www.osb.org/pab/newsletterW00.html#romero Article on Romero, contains picture of Lentz icon
- http://www.cja.org/cases/romero.shtml A description of the pursuit of justice for Oscar Romero
- http://www.roanokecatholic.com