FROM THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION
Oscar Romero Archbishop of San Salvador
Oscar Romero was gunned down by gunmen
in his cathedral exactly 25 years ago on March 24th. He was
appointed Archbishop in 1977 at a time when the country of San Salvador was undergoing a time of political and
social turmoil. He had been thought to be a ‘safe’ pair of hands but he became
increasingly strident in his condemnation of violence and he began to speak out
on behalf of the poor and their demands for economic and social justice. He
refused to keep silence even under threat of assassination. He has since been
widely regarded as a martyr for the faith.
"The church would betray its own love for God and its fidelity to the gospel if it stopped being . . . a defender of the rights of the poor . . . a humanizer of every legitimate struggle to achieve a more just society . . . that prepares the way for the true reign of God in history."
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