Oscar Romera

“Give generously to them and so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.” (Deuteronomy 15:10)

The transcendence that the church preaches is not alienation, it is not going to heaven to think about eternal life and forget about the problems on earth. It’s transcendence from the human heart. It is entering into the reality of a child, of the poor, of those wearing rags, of the sick, of a hovel, of a shack.

It is going to share with them. And from the very heart of misery, of this situation, to transcend it, to elevate it, and to say to them, “You aren’t trash. You aren’t marginalized.” It is to say exactly the opposite, “You are valuable.”

Oscar Romera

Who was Oscar Romera?

St. Oscar Romero (born in 1917) was a Salvadoran Roman Catholic archbishop who was a vocal critic of the violent activities of the government armed forces, right-wing groups, and leftist guerrillas involved in El Salvador’s civil conflict. Although Romero had been considered a conservative before his appointment as archbishop in 1977, he denounced the regime of dictator Gen. Carlos Humberto Romero (no relation). The archbishop also refused to support the right-wing military-civilian junta that replaced the deposed dictator. Further, his outspoken defence of the poor—who were powerless victims of widespread violence—brought repeated threats to his life. In the face of those threats, Romero declared his readiness to sacrifice his life for the “redemption and resurrection” of El Salvador. His unreserved advocacy for human rights made him a hero to many, and he was nominated for the 1979 Nobel Prize for Peace by several U.S. congressmen and 118 members of the British Parliament. The following year Romero was assassinated on the 24th March,1980 at the hands of an unknown assailant while saying mass. The “Truth Commission for El Salvador”, approved by the United Nations, later concluded that Romero’s death had been carried out by a right-wing death squad. During his funeral a bomb or bombs went off outside the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador, where tens of thousands of mourners were gathered at what has been considered one of the largest demonstrations in the country’s history. Gunfire then rained down on the panic-stricken crowd, leaving an estimated 27 to 40 people dead and more than 200 wounded from the violence and subsequent stampede. (Britannica)

My comment: human beings are capable of the highest good and the worst atrocities…