Oscar Romero (1917-1980)
Picture taken from www.caritas.org.au/ourwork/pc05/oscarRomero.htm
Oscar Romero was born on August 15th 1917 in Ciudad Barrios, El Salvador, and was one of eight children. His father was a postmaster and a telegrapher. Oscar was in school until the age of 12, but due to an unnamed illness he was forced to quit school. Oscar then went on to be a carpenter's apprentice. At the age of 14,after a year of being an apprentice, Oscar decided to join a monastery and become a priest. Oscar studied at the San Miguel Seminary for six years. Then at the age of 20, his family had a financial problem, and Oscar was forced to work in a gold mine for three months. Then he studied at another seminary in San Salvador until he was sent to Rome. In 1937 he studied at Gregorian University until he was ordained in 1942. After his ordination Oscar’s life started to change into what makes him a great model of faith. When Oscar returned to El Salvador in 1944, due to a priest shortage, he assumed the role of a parish priest. Oscar spent the bulk of the twenty years of his priesthood in San Miguel. While the parish priest there he created many groups for the people, one such group wasAlcoholics Anonymous. Over the next few years Oscar gained many titles among them, Recto of the inter-diocesan seminary, Secretary of the Episcopal Conference, then Assistant Bishop to Luis Chávez in 1970. Then in December 1974 he was appointed Bishop of Santiago de Maria. After three years of work improving his diocese Oscar was appointed Archbishop of San Salvador in February of 1977.
This is the point in his life when Oscar experienced a change in his life that makes his story a great model of how to live. Oscar had many friends who worked with the poor during this time of civil unrest. Among them was Rutilio Grande, who was a Jesuit who was working with the poor when he was killed. Archbishop Romero requested that the then leader, Arturo Molina, investigate the death of Grande. Oscar’s request was ignored, which infuriated him. This is where Oscar’s legacy as a friend to the poor and the people in need really showed. Oscar spoke out against the current status of the country. He spoke out against the torture and assassinations that were going on in the country. He was a big advocate in eliminating the poverty in his country. Oscar began to get noticed, and in 1979 he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Later on in the year to follow Oscar went to the Vatican to speak with the Pope. In a very surprising turn of events Romero actually got into an argument with the Pope about the Vatican’s support of the government of El Salvador. Romero argued that it was not right to support a government that supports assassination and torture. When he returned Oscar continued his work in human rights and trying to improve the condition of El Salvador for his people. When Oscar returned the revolutionaries had assumed power. This was assisted by the American government, who supplied them with weapons. Oscar disapproved this and sent a letter to Jimmy Carter about it, but he did not change the situation. Then on March 24, 1980 while celebrating mass, an assassin came and killed him. When he was killed Oscar was speaking about the assassins, and the injustices done to the people. His last words were, “May God have mercy on the assassins.” It is believed that the assassin was trained at the School of the Americas. Oscar was 62 years old.
Sources Used:
1) Wikipedia Encyclopedia. "Oscar Romero." online. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Romero
2) Chacon, Carmen. "Story of Oscar Romero." online. http://www.lehigh.edu/~ineng/nhl/nhl-history.htm
3) Caritas Australia Resources. "Oscar Romero" online. www.caritas.org.au/ourwork/pc05/oscarRomero.htm