Vatican City, 4 February 2015 (VIS) –
This morning in the Holy See Press Office Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia,
president of the Pontifical Council for the Family and postulator of
the cause for the beatification of Oscar Arnulfo Romero, presented
the figure of the Salvadoran archbishop assassinated in 1980 while
celebrating Mass and whose martyrdom was acknowledged yesterday with
the signing of the necessary decree by Pope Francis. Historian
Roberto Morozzo della Rocca, professor of modern history at the
University of Rome III and author of a biography of Oscar Romero,
also participated in the conference. Extensive extracts of Archbishop
Paglia's presentation are published below.
“It is an extraordinary gift for all
of the Church at the beginning of this millennium to see rise to the
altar a pastor who gave his life for his people; and this is true for
all Christians. This can be seen in the attention of the Anglican
Church, which has placed a statue of Romero in the facade of
Westminster Abbey alongside those of Martin Luther King and Dietrich
Bonhoeffer, and for all of society that regards him as a defender of
the poor and of peace. Gratitude is also due to Benedict XVI, who
followed the cause from the very beginning and on 20 December 2012 –
just over a month before his resignation – decided to unblock the
process to enable it to follow the regular itinerary”.
“The work of the Congregation for the
Causes of Saints, with Cardinal Angelo Amato, S.D.B., has been
careful and attentive. The unanimity of both the commission of
cardinals and the commission of theologians confirmed his martyrdom
in odium fidei. … The martyrdom of Romero has given meaning and
strength to many Salvadoran families who lost relatives and friends
during the civil war. His memory immediately became the memory of
other victims, perhaps less illustrious, of the violence”.
“Following a lengthy procedure that
encountered many difficulties, on account of opposition due to both
the archbishop's thought and pastoral action, and the situation of
conflict that developed in relation to him, the itinerary finally
reached its conclusion. Romero becomes, as it were, the first of a
long line of contemporary New Martyrs. 24 March – the day of his
death – became, by decision of the Italian Episcopal Conference,
the “Day for Prayer for Missionary Martyrs”. The United Nations
have proclaimed that day “International Day for the Right to the
Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of
Victims”.
The world has changed greatly since
1980, but that pastor from a small Central American country speaks
powerfully. It is not without significance that his beatification
will take place precisely when there is for the first time in history
a Latin American Pope who wants a 'poor Church, for the poor'. It is
a providential coincidence”.
Romero the pastor
“Romero believed in his role as a
bishop and primate of his country, and he considered himself
responsible for the population, especially the poorest. Therefore, he
took upon himself the bloodshed, pain and violence, denouncing their
causes in his charismatic Sunday preaching that was listened to on
the radio by the entire nation. We might say that it was a 'pastoral
conversion', with the assumption by Romero of a strength that was
indispensable in the crisis that beset the country. He transformed
himself into a defensor civitatis following the tradition of the
ancient Fathers of the Church, defending the persecuted clergy,
protecting the poor, and affirming human rights”.
“The climate of persecution was
palpable. However, Romero clearly became the defender of the poor in
the face of cruel repression. After two years as archbishop of San
Salvador, Romero counted thirty lost priests – killed, expelled or
forced to flee from death. The death squads killed scores of
catechists from the base communities, and many faithful disappeared
from these communities. The Church was the main target of accusation
and therefore the hardest hit. Romero resisted and accepted giving
his life to defend his people”.
Assassinated at the altar during Mass
“He was killed at the altar. Killing
him was intended to strike at the Church that flowed from Vatican
Council II. His death – as the detailed documentary examination
clearly showed – was not only politically motivated, but due also
to hatred for a faith that, combined with charity, would not stay
silent when faced with the injustices that implacably and cruelly
afflicted the poor and their defenders. His assassination at the
altar – without doubt a more uncertain death as it meant shooting
from a distance of thirty metres rather than an attempt from a
shorter range – had a symbolic nature that resounded as as terrible
warning for whoever wished to follow the same route. John Paul II
himself – who was well aware of the other two saints killed at the
altar, St. Stanislaus of Krakow and St. Thomas Becket of Canterbury –
noted effectively, 'they killed him precisely at the most sacred
moment, during the highest and most divine act. … A bishop of God's
Church was assassinated while he exercised his sanctifying mission,
offering the Eucharist'. On a number of occasions he repeated
forcefully, 'Romero is ours, Romero is of the Church!'”.
Romero and the poor
“Romero had always loved the poor. As
a very young priest in San Miguel he was accused of communism because
he asked the rich to give a fair salary to the peasant coffee
cultivators. He told them that not only did they act against justice,
but also that they themselves opened the doors to communism”.
“Romero understood increasingly
clearly that being a pastor to all meant starting with the poor.
Placing the poor at the centre of the pastoral concerns of the Church
and therefore of all Christians, including the rich, was the new
pastoral way. His preferential love for the poor not only did not
attenuate his love for his country, but on the contrary supported it.
In this sense, Romero was not partisan, although to some he appeared
that way; rather, he was a pastor who sought the common good of all,
starting however with the poor. He never ceased to seek out the way
for the pacification of the country.
Romero, man of God and of the Church
Romero was a man of God, a man of
prayer, of obedience and love for the people. He prayed a lot … and
he was harsh on himself, a severity linked to an old-fashioned
spirituality made up of sacrifices. He had a 'linear' spiritual life,
in spite of having a character that was not always easy – rigorous
with himself, intransigent, tormented. But in prayer he found rest,
peace and strength. When he had to make complicated or difficult
decisions, he withdrew in prayer”.
“He was a bishop faithful to the
magisterium. From his papers there clearly emerges his familiarity
with the documents of Vatican Council II, Medellin, Puebla, the
social doctrine of the Church and other pontifical texts in general.
… It has often been said that Romero was suborned by liberation
theology. Once, a journalist asked him, 'Do you agree with liberation
theology?'. He answered, 'Yes, of course. But there are two forms of
liberation theology. There is the one that sees liberation solely as
material liberation. The other is that of Paul VI. I am with Paul
VI'”.
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