Wanted: A Romero Today!
March 24th marks yet another anniversary of the brutal assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador. On that day in 1980, he was brutally gunned down whilst celebrating Holy Mass in San Salvador. He was an outspoken critic of his Government, the military and of the other right wing elements of his country, for their continued oppression and exploitation of the poor. There has never been any doubt about who was responsible for his death.
As a young priest and as a Bishop, Romero was known for his conservative thinking and for wanting to maintain the ‘status quo’. He was afraid to be on the wrong side of the powerful and other vested interest groups of El Salvador. He had, however, a long-standing friendship with Jesuit Fr. Rutilio Grande. The poor and exploited of the country was Grande’s major concern. He left no stone unturned to highlight their plight and make their struggles his own. Unlike Romero, Grande did not hesitate to take up cudgels against the powerful.
Grande was killed on March 12th, 1977. Romero was appointed Archbishop of San Salvador just three weeks before this dastardly deed. Grande’s death came as a great shock to Romero. At his funeral Mass, Romero said in his homily, “The government should not consider a priest who takes a stand for social justice as a politician or a subversive element when he is fulfilling his mission in the politics of the common good.” He also said openly and emphatically, “Anyone who attacks one of my priests, attacks me. If they killed Rutilio for doing what he did, then I too have to walk the same path”. The death of his friend was a turning point in the life of Romero. From that day onwards, he wholeheartedly worked for the rights of the poor, until his own murder.
On May 23rd, 2015, Archbishop Romero was beatified in San Salvador, in the midst of hundreds of thousands of his native land, who venerate him as a Saint today. In a message on the day of his beatification, Pope Francis said, “The beatification …is a cause of great joy for Salvadorans and for those of us who rejoice at the example of the greatest children of the church. Monsignor Romero, who built peace from the strength of love, gave testimony of the faith with his life, committed to the very end.” In a fitting tribute to Oscar Romero on December 21st, 2010, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed March 24th as the International Day for ‘the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims.’
The purpose of this International Day is:
– to honour the memory of victims of gross and systematic human rights violations and promote the importance of the right to truth and justice;
– to pay tribute to those who have devoted their lives to, and lost their lives in the struggle to promote and protect human rights for all;
– to recognize, in particular, the important work and values of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero of El Salvador, who was assassinated on 24 March 1980, after denouncing violations of the human rights of the most vulnerable populations and defending the principles of protecting lives, promoting human dignity and opposition to all forms of violence
Our world desperately needs the likes of Oscar Romero and more than ever today. Untruth and injustice, divisiveness and discrimination gains more ground in many countries across the globe. Several political, business and even so-called ‘religious’ leaders use hate, jingoism and xenophobia to nurture their lust for power and greed for wealth. Truth and Justice in several countries of the world are totally disregarded by them. Hardly any attention is paid to the victims of crime and violence – particularly the institutionalized ones. The poor continue to be the victims of unjust structures everywhere.
As we observe another day dedicated to this great prophet of our times let us allow ourselves to be challenged and inspired by his words, “I will not tire of declaring that if we really want an effective end to violence we must remove the violence that lies at the root of all violence: structural violence, social injustice, exclusion of citizens from the management of the country, repression. All this is what constitutes the primal cause, from which the rest flows naturally”.
The author: Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ – Advocacy & Communications, Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) MENA Region Rue de L’Universitie Saint-Joseph Achrafieh, Beirut-Lebanon