Archbishop Romero anniversary on Easter Monday (28)

[AlphaCentauri]

The importance of Monseñor Romero in today's El Salvador is indisputable. The almost three decades since his martyrdom have not in any way diminished his image, but rather underlined his living presence. Archbishop Romero is a key reference point of national and ecclesial life, even for those who reject him, since they cannot but recognise his importance for the country and the world. In a society disfigured by violence, massive emigration, inequality and poverty, and the social and political irresponsibility of its leaders, Oscar Romero is still a hugely significant figure. Although the historic situation of the country is not what it was thirty years ago, when he began his ministry as archbishop, his message has not lost its relevance. At that time, the country was entering a period of bloody and cruel civil war; now, social violence leaves more wounded and dead than the incipient conflict did then. Today it is a generalized violence, and the protagonists are not only the gangs of youths organized for crime and drug trafficking, but also regional and international criminal organizations, the drug traffickers and the people traffickers, and ordinary men and women from so-called ‘civil society’ who cannot resolve their differences without resorting to violence and are also responsible for this violence. Therefore, in spite of the 1992 peace accords which brought an end to the civil war, whose birth and whose consequences Monseñor Romero clearly foresaw, Salvadoran society continues to be at war with itself. It yearns for reconciliation and a lasting peace, but does not know how to achieve them. It only knows military, social, domestic and gender violence. Archbishop Romero points out some roads to reconciliation and social and personal peace, but there is no one to lead the way down these roads.

Social inequality and poverty have obliged one third of El Salvador’s population to emigrate to the countries to the north - principally the United States. The break-up of families, the distance separating those who stayed from those who left, is another disfigurement with serious consequences. A decision to leave the family and the country is not an easy one. The journey is very risky and expensive. Insertion into the country of destination is not easy. Life and work conditions are hard. The persecution of emigrants feeds fear and despair. Deportation is ignominious. Loneliness and homesickness take a hold on those who left as adults. The thousands of millions of dollars which they send to help their families is also big business for the financial and commercial sector, the very ones who by reason of their avarice force people to emigrate even today. In the anguish and suffering that these wounds provoke, Archbishop Romero stands out as an understanding and compassionate pastor, near at hand and therefore a protecting presence for those sunk in uncertainty on seeing their loved ones depart, perhaps for ever, and for those who leave for strange lands, full of dreams and uncertainties.

The government and the wealthy elites make strenuous efforts to project a successful image of El Salvador. They have turned the country into a 'brand' destined for the consumers of international tourism. El Salvador is presented, even by respected international organizations, as a model society. But the social violence, the massive emigration and the scandalous inequality in the distribution of income cast serious doubts on this 'brand'. In El Salvador today there is still massive poverty, concentrated in some rural areas. But even more than the poverty, the inequality caused by the unfair distribution of income corrodes the basic social structures. The usual poor are now joined by other sectors of society who are denied opportunities for stable employment, education, health, homes, etc. The fight for survival is so fierce that society, families and persons become dehumanised. The ferocious competition for the few available opportunities leaves to one side even the elementary principles of common living such as respect for the human person, for community life and solidarity. Salvadoran society today is very inhuman and even cruel. The repeated calls of Archbishop Romero to work for the justice of the kingdom of God and for the construction of human fraternity ring out especially strongly today. His valiant and visionary word is still able to denounce sin, call to conversion and arouse hope where frustration and disillusion predominate.




http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20080320_1.htm

[Judi Lynn]

1. I appreciate reading your article. Very sad things really aren't that much better, all considered.

Real progress seems much slower to accomplish than destruction, doesn't it?

Here is Bishop Romero's last sermon, and thank you for pointing out the anniversary aspect for our own awareness:

Archbishop Oscar Romero
The Last Sermon (1980)

Let no one be offended because we use the divine words read at our mass to shed light on the social, political and economic situation of our people. Not to do so would be unchristian. Christ desires to unite himself with humanity, so that the light he brings from God might become life for nations and individuals.

I know many are shocked by this preaching and want to accuse us of forsaking the gospel for politics. But I reject this accusation. I am trying to bring to life the message of the Second Vatican Council and the meetings at Medellin and Puebla. The documents from these meetings should not just be studied theoretically. They should be brought to life and translated into the real struggle to preach the gospel as it should be for our people. Each week I go about the country listening to the cries of the people, their pain from so much crime, and the ignominy of so much violence. Each week I ask the Lord to give me the right words to console, to denounce, to call for repentance. And even though I may be a voice crying in the desert, I know that the church is making the effort to fulfill its mission....

Every country lives its own "exodus"; today El Salvador is living its own exodus. Today we are passing to our liberation through a desert strewn with bodies and where anguish and pain are devastating us. Many suffer the temptation of those who walked with Moses and wanted to turn back and did not work together. It is the same old story. God, however, wants to save the people by making a new history....

History will not fail; God sustains it. That is why I say that insofar as historical projects attempt to reflect the eternal plan of God, to that extent they reflect the kingdom of God. This attempt is the work of the church. Because of this, the church, the people of God in history, is not attached to any one social system, to any political organization, to any party. The church does not identify herself with any of those forces because she is the eternal pilgrim of history and is indicating at every historical moment what reflects the kingdom of God and what does not reflect the kingdom of God. She is the servant of the Kingdom of God.

The great task of Christians must be to absorb the spirit of God's kingdom and, with souls filled with the kingdom of God, to work on the projects of history. It's fine to be organized in popular groups; it's all right to form political parties; it's all right to take part in the government. It's fine as long as you are a christian who carries the reflection of the kingdom of God and tries to establish it where you are working, and as long as you are not being used to further worldly ambitions. This is the great duty of the people of today. My dear Christians, I have always told you, and I will repeat, that the true liberators of our people must come from us Christians, from the people of God. Any historical plan that's not based on what we spoke of in the first point-the dignity of the human being, the love of God, the kingdom of Christ among people-will be a fleeting project. Your project, however, will grow in stability the more it reflects the eternal design of God. It will be a solution of the common good of the people every time, if it meets the needs of the people.... Now I invite you to look at things through the eyes of the church, which is trying to be the kingdom of God on earth and so often must illuminate the realities of our national situation.

We have lived through a tremendously tragic week. I could not give you the facts before, but a week ago last Saturday, on 15 March, one of the largest and most distressing military operations was carried out in the countryside. The villages affected were La Laguna, Plan de Ocotes and El Rosario. The operation brought tragedy: a lot of ranches were burned, there was looting, and-inevitably-people were killed. In La Laguna, the attackers killed a married couple, Ernesto Navas and Audelia Mejia de Navas, their little children, Martin and Hilda, thirteen and seven years old, and eleven more peasants.

Other deaths have been reported, but we do not know the names of the dead. In Plan de Ocotes, two children and four peasants were killed, including two women. In El Rosario, three more peasants were killed. That was last Saturday.
Last Sunday, the following were assassinated in Arcatao by four members of ORDEN: peasants Marcelino Serrano, Vincente Ayala, twenty-four years old, and his son, Freddy. That same day, Fernando Hernandez Navarro, a peasant, was assassinated in Galera de Jutiapa, when he fled from the military.

Last Monday, 17 March, was a tremendously violent day. Bombs exploded in the capital as well as in the interior of the country. The damage was very substantial at the headquarters of the Ministry of Agriculture. The campus of the national university was under armed siege from dawn until 7 P.M. Throughout the day, constant bursts of machine-gun fire were heard in the university area. The archbishop's office intervened to protect people who found themselves caught inside.
On the Hacienda Colima, eighteen persons died, at least fifteen of whom were peasants. The administrator and the grocer of the ranch also died. The armed forces confirmed that there was a confrontation. A film of the events appeared on TV, and many analyzed interesting aspects of the situation.

At least fifty people died in serious incidents that day: in the capital, seven persons died in events at the Colonia Santa Lucia; on the outskirts of Tecnillantas, five people died; and in the area of the rubbish dump, after the evacuation of the site by the military, were found the bodies of four workers who had been captured in that action.
Sixteen peasants died in the village of Montepeque, thirty-eight kilometers along the road to Suchitoto. That same day, two students at the University of Central America were captured in Tecnillantas: Mario Nelson and Miguel Alberto Rodriguez Velado, who were brothers. The first one, after four days of illegal detention, was handed over to the courts. Not so his brother, who was wounded and is still held in illegal detention. Legal Aid is intervening on his behalf.

Amnesty International issued a press release in which it described the repression of the peasants, especially in the area of Chalatenango. The week's events confirm this report in spite of the fact the government denies it. As I entered the church, I was given a cable that says, "Amnesty International confirmed today that in El Salvador human rights are violated to extremes that have not been seen in other countries." That is what Patricio Fuentes (spokesman for the urgent action section for Central America in Swedish Amnesty International) said at a press conference in Managua, Nicaragua.

Fuentes confirmed that, during two weeks of investigations he carried out in El Salvador, he was able to establish that there had been eighty-three political assassinations between 10 and 14 March. He pointed out that Amnesty International recently condemned the government of El Salvador, alleging that it was responsible for six hundred political assassinations. The Salvadorean government defended itself against the charges, arguing that Amnesty International based its condemnation on unproved assumptions.

Fuentes said that Amnesty had established that in El Salvador human rights are violated to a worse degree than the repression in Chile after the coupe d'etat. The Salvadorean government also said that the six hundred dead were the result of armed confrontations between army troops and guerrillas. Fuentes said that during his stay u l El Salvador, he could see that the victims had been tortured before their deaths and mutilated afterward.

The spokesman of Amnesty International said that the victims' bodies characteristically appeared with the thumbs tied behind their backs. Corrosive liquids had been applied to the corpses to prevent identification of the victims by their relatives and to prevent international condemnation, the spokesman added. Nevertheless, the bodies were exhumed and the dead have been identified. Fuentes said that the repression carried out by the Salvadorean army was aimed at breaking the popular organizations through the assassination of their leaders in both town and country.

According to the spokesman of Amnesty International, at least three thousand five hundred peasants have fled from their homes to the capital to escape persecution. "We have complete lists in London and Sweden of young children and women who have been assassinated for being organized," Fuentes stated....
I would like to make a special appeal to the men of the army, and specifically to the ranks of the National Guard, the police and the military. Brothers, you come from our own people. You are killing your own brother peasants when any human order to kill must be subordinate to the law of God which says, "Thou shalt not kill." No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God. No one has to obey an immoral law. It is high time you recovered your consciences and obeyed your consciences rather than a sinful order. The church, the defender of the rights of God, of the law of God, of human dignity, of the person, cannot remain silent before such an abomination. We want the government to face the fact that reforms are valueless if they are to be carried out at the cost of so much blood. In the name of God, in the name of this suffering people whose cries rise to heaven more loudly each day, I implore you, I beg you, I order you in the name of God: stop the repression.

The church preaches your liberation just as we have studied it in just as we have studied it in the holy Bible today. It is a liberation that has, above all else, respect for the dignity of the person, hope for humanity's common good, and the transcendence that looks before all to God and only from God derives its hope and its strength.

From The Church and Human Liberation, March 14, 1980.

http://thirdworldtraveler.com/Human%20Rights%20Documents/Archbishop_Romero.html

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Funeral:

During the ceremony, a bomb exploded on the Cathedral square (Plaza Barrios) and subsequently there were shots fired that probably came from surrounding buildings. While no one died from the bomb-blast or the shots, many people were killed during the following mass panic; official sources talk of 31 overall casualties, journalists indicated between 30 and 50 dead.<6> Some witnesses claimed it was government security forces that threw bombs into the crowd, and army sharpshooters, dressed as civilians, that fired into the chaos from the balcony or roof of the National Palace. However, there are contradictory accounts as to the course of the events and "probably, one will never know the truth about the interrupted funeral."<6>

Twenty-five years later, the BBC recalled the horror:

"Tens of thousands of mourners who had gathered for Romero's funeral Mass in front of the cathedral in San Salvador were filmed fleeing in terror as army gunners on the rooftops around the square opened fire. ... One person who was there told us he remembered the piles of shoes left behind by those who escaped with their lives."

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Romero

Photos:
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If these photo URL's don't work, you can see the photos individually at "google images," at:

http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-37,GGLD:en&q=Bishop+Romero+funeral