ST. OSCAR ROMERO'S LIFE WAS FOREVER CHANGED BY THE MURDER OF HIS COLLEAGUE

[Judi Lynn]

ST. OSCAR ROMERO'S LIFE WAS FOREVER CHANGED BY THE MURDER OF HIS COLLEAGUE
Alex Bowie/Getty Images

BY GARRETT S. GRIFFIN/AUG. 20, 2022 9:00 AM EDT

Saint Óscar Romero was an archbishop during the late 1970s in El Salvador who publicly opposed his country's brutal dictatorship and later its military-civilian junta. General Carlos Humberto Romero (not related to St. Óscar Romero) rose to the office of the Salvadoran presidency in 1977 amid possible voter fraud and deadly rightwing violence against his opponents (via Britannica). The General then led a repressive state, murdering and imprisoning communists, leftists, and critics; many of whom were from the lower class. Farmers, church leaders, journalists, and other civilians were among the victims. Leftwing revolutionary groups soon battled the dictator's military forces. Into the fray stepped Archbishop of San Salvador Óscar Romero, calling for peace, denouncing the regime, and defending the poor.

Every Sunday at Mass, Romero would educate parishioners on ordinary people who were killed or kidnapped by the regime (via The New Yorker). He would describe massacres by the military, publicly demanded an end to the terror (and the leftwing guerilla response), and warned politicians as well as well as the rich that winning peace and addressing inequality went hand-in-hand. Romero's bravery attracted the attention of the entire nation, and his words swept across newspapers, television, and radio.

What spurred such a stance? It had much to do with the death of Father Rutilio Grande.

THE MIRACLE OF RUTILIO GRANDE

Rutilio Grande was a priest who helped Salvadoran farm workers organize in Aguilares (via American Magazine). The plight of the poor and the Jesuit focus on social justice led Grande to help farmers push for better living and working conditions. Organizing unions as well as talks of justice and land reform were associated with the left and with communism, and this brought the death squads, backed by the military and the wealthy. Farm workers were murdered and their bodies were put on display. Grande was shot to death in his car on March 12, 1977; a few weeks after the election of El Salvador's dictator.

Grande and Óscar Romero had long been friends. Romero left San Salvador and joined the farm workers in mourning and prayer at the funeral Mass. According to American Magazine, the archbishop, who was fairly conservative and had generally avoided politics, then kicked off his crusade against the regime. He declared that he would no longer attend government events and started castigating the state from the pulpit. One miracle Grande performed, Pope Francis recently said, was awakening Óscar Romero.

Read More: https://www.grunge.com/972870/st-oscar-romeros-life-was-forever-changed-by-the-murder-of-his-colleague/



As a young man.







The killing of Archbishop Oscar Romero was one of the most notorious crimes of the cold war. Was the CIA to blame?

Tom Gibb uncovers new evidence about the murder of El Salvador's spiritual leader
Tom Gibb

Wed 22 Mar 2000 21.11 EST

San Salvador. In the bright morning sunlight of March 24 1980, a car stopped outside the Church of the Divine Providence. A lone gunman stepped out, unhurried. Resting his rifle on the car door, he aimed carefully down the long aisle to where El Salvador's archbishop, Oscar Arnulfo Romero, was saying mass. A single shot rang out. Romero staggered and fell. The blood pumped from his heart, soaking the little white disks of scattered host.

Romero's murder was to become one of the most notorious unsolved crimes of the cold war. The motive was clear. He was the most outspoken voice against the death squad slaughter gathering steam in the US backyard. The ranks of El Salvador's leftwing rebels were being swelled by priests who preached that the poor should seek justice in this world, not wait for the next. Romero was the "voice of those without voice", telling soldiers not to kill.

The US vowed to make punishment of the archbishop's killers a priority. It could hardly do otherwise as President Reagan launched the largest US war effort since Vietnam to defeat the rebels. He needed support in Washington, which meant showing that crimes like shooting archbishops and nuns would not be tolerated.

The ordering of the murder was blamed on the bogeyman of the story, a military intelligence officer called Major Roberto D'Aubuisson who had, conveniently for Washington, recently left the army. In the weeks before the murder, he was repeatedly on television using military intelligence files to denounce "guerrillas". Those he accused were often murdered. Romero was near the top of the list.

More:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2018/10/19/oscar-romero-the-saint-knew/SlWGYjVOjDsESC7RMLzImO/story.html



Roberto D'Aubuisson, AKA "Blowtorch Bob"

Roberto D'Aubuisson Arrieta (23 August 1944 - 20 February 1992) was a major in the Salvadoran Army and a political leader who founded the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), which he led from 1980 to 1985. He was known as "Chele", or "light-skinned face", and was considered a leader of right-wing death squads who tortured and killed thousands of civilians before and during the Salvadoran Civil War. To political prisoners, he was known as "Blowtorch Bob", due to his frequent use of a blowtorch in interrogation sessions.[1][2]

https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Roberto_D%27Aubuisson

October 6, 2018
A Deadly Path Towards Sainthood: The Assassination of Monsignor Oscar Romero

Author

Daniela Duran

etween January 1980 and September 1992, the Central American country of El Salvador faced the struggles of a violent and consequential war.3 In the previous decades, Salvadorians had been under a military dictatorship that had abused the rights of the poor.4 A major part of the Salvadorian economy is based on the produce of coffee, which is also the main source of income for farmers and land owners alike; however, during these times, the military government used a repressive ideology to unfairly separate Salvadorian farmers from their lands, and give those lands to the already wealthy instead. All of this injustice, combined with severe political instability, corruption, and an economic crisis, eventually motivated the poor farmers and coffee growers to unite their forces and rebel against those military government authorities.5

In the 1970’s, the decade previous to the war, many revolutionary groups were formed in opposition to the authorities. Many attempted coup d’états took place, as young people united to try to bring down the military authorities, who, in turn, responded to the uprising with violent suppression. Many were murdered as a result of their opposition, and many public massacres took place as tensions rose on both sides.6 The military had orders to murder anyone suspected of opposing the government. El Salvador had never found itself in such a bad position, and its citizens were all worried about their uncertain futures. Their lives were threatened by the hands of soldiers who would murder anyone, regardless of their age or gender. In the middle of that turmoil, however, one hero arose. One sole individual who was brave enough to stand up for those whose family members had been killed, and for all those whose human rights had been violated. Monsignor Romero knew that he had to fight for peace, in the name of God, even if this would cost him his own life.7

More:
https://stmuscholars.org/a-deadly-path-towards-sainthood-the-assassination-of-monsignor-oscar-romero/

- snip -

A few days after the assassination, on March 20, 1980, a public funeral was held in his honor. The event was officiated in the metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador, and it is estimated that around 250,000 people showed up. In the plaza, however, as the funerary commemoration was held, a huge explosion caused terror among the people. A bomb had been placed in the area, and people were being shot by snipers hiding around the zone. Approximately two hundred people were injured in the incident, and forty were killed. Clearly, Monsignor Romero’s preaching has continued to incite controversy, even after his unexpected death. Authorities were not happy with his impact and the admiration people felt towards him.20

More:
https://stmuscholars.org/a-deadly-path-towards-sainthood-the-assassination-of-monsignor-oscar-romero/

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"Romero"

This is the last film of actor Raul Julia, who played the Archbishop. He died not long afterward.