Óscar Romero Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description

Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Goldámez (August 15, 1917, Ciudad Barrios - March 24, 1980, San Salvador) was a prominent Roman Catholic priest and Archbishop in El Salvador during the 1960s and 1970s. After witnessing numerous violations of human rights, he began to speak out on behalf of the poor and the victims of El Salvador's long and bloody civil war. This led to numerous conflicts, both with the government in El Salvador and with the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. After speaking out against U.S military support for the government of El Salvador, and calling for soldiers to disobey orders that harmed human rights, Archbishop Romero was shot to death while celebrating Mass at a small chapel near his cathedral. It is believed that his assassins were members of Salvadoran death squads, including two graduates of the School of the Americas.

On the tenth anniversary of Romero's killing, his 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.

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.

The film Romero (1989) was based on his life story. It was directed by John Sacret Young and starred Raúl Juliá.

Table of contents

1 Quote 2 See also 3 External links

Quote

"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."

See also

• Liberation Theology
• Terrorism
• History of El Salvador

External links

• The Violence of Love - a free E-Book by Romero
• IMDB entry for Romero
• Bruderhof Peacemakers Guide profile on Oscar Romero

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