Resurrection in El Salvador:
Romero and Martyrdom
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| Arch-bishop Oscar Romero |
When Romero was made arch-bishop, wealthy Salvadorans sighed. If his reputation as a priest was any indication of how he would run the church, they believed the right wing had nothing to fear. But the growing violence against the poor and the repeated killing of church leaders drove Romero to speak out. Eventually this mild-mannered priest became the charismatic spokesperson of his people.
The reason for my visit was to remember Romero on the 25th anniversary of his assassination. Marching with thousands of his followers through the streets of San Salvador, it was clear to me…just as Romero prophesied…they killed him and he lives through his people.
In his last sermon Romero directed his words to the soldiers "You are brothers of the poor. These are your people. More important than any order from your commanders is God's order: Thou shalt not kill. I beg you. I implore you. In the name of God, I command you. Stop the killing." The next Monday, while saying a one-year memorial mass for the mother of Jorge Pinto, a Salvadoran journalist and newspaper owner who was bombed and hounded into exile, Romero was shot dead.
Romero promised that when he was killed, he would live on in his people. Murals show the people of El Salvador rising like tall stocks of corn with big smiles and bullet wounds in their chests. In Latin America, crosses are decorated with peasants and symbols of lives of peasants—healthy stocks of corn. While this is a land of martyrs, it's also a land of resurrection.
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| Romero and his people — with bullet holes and nail holes — in a world bursting with resurrection. |
Romero embraced Liberation Theology. For instance, he invited us to see Christmas as the story of a poor homeless mother with a hungry baby. Romero taught that the lessons and inspiration offered by the Bible were tools for the faithful as they dealt with the struggles of their day-to-day lives.
The Pope has appointed conservative bishops throughout the world, setting the stage for a 21st century church without Romero's focus on Christ's special concern for the poor. In a recent papal message however, the Pope acknowledged that today our world is caught up in a fight between the powerful and the powerless. He instructed that a bishop's role is to advocate for the powerless. Twenty-five years later, the pope seems to be catching up with Romero.
To talk about Romero in El Salvador is to talk about the people who murdered him. Those are the people who founded the party that is now in power, ARENA. The Vatican knows full well Romero is heading for sainthood. While the local Catholic hierarchy is stalling the process, people throughout Central America are not waiting. For them, he's already Santo Romero.
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