I am not a fan of quotes
I tend to skip over them in books or other written media, but I read this and felt moved... I have read about Monsenor Oscar Romero of El Salvador and to say I deeply admire him doesn't begin to convey the affection I have for the assassinated archbishop of El Salvador gone before I was even conceived. During my stay in San Salvador I would occasionally visit his humble tomb in the basement of the central cathedral in the capital surrounded by children's drawings and a few wandering people. I would sit in the musty silence as I processed my thoughts--mainly it was a quiet escape from a mind over-stimulated by a foreign culture and a different way of doing life. What I admire about Romero is that he wasn't afraid of conversion, constant conversion. I think I innately think that there is an apex to life with Jesus and everything is downhill from that point on. I know this is warped theology, one which I am constantly fighting. I am afraid to admit doubt and defeat and am too proud to embrace change when I finally find the path of Truth.
25 years later and El Salvador is in no better economic state, mainly thanks to globalization and U.S. trade agreements, but that is another subject for another time. There is still a strong left and an even stronger intimidating right in el Salvador. The church is divided there as it is here. Romero stood for peace, but also fought for dignity of the poor and oppressed. He denounced the bloodshed and demanded both sides stop fighting. This is the voice the people of El Salvador continue to remember.
Brazilian Bishop Pedro Casaldáliga wrote in his Open Letter to Romero:
You call us to a commitment, like Jesus of Nazareth did, that historic Jesus who so many times is reduced to helenistic dogma and sentimental spiritualism. That Jesus the Poor, in solidarity with the poor, the Crucified one with all the crucified peoples of History. You were right, and we also want to celebrate this, with Easter joy. You have been reborn in your people, who will no longer be submissive to the empire and the oligarchies. Nor will they allow themselves to be swayed by repentant former revolutionaries or by overly-spiritualized church leaders. You are reborn in the Peoplewe are millions of dreamers, both women and men, who believe that another world is possible and that another Church is possible. Because the way things are now, brother Romero, neither the other world nor the other Church is yet in view. Wars continue, now even preemptive wars; hunger continues, strikes, violence either by the state or a mob; sham democracies, false progress, false gods that dominate through money and the media, with weapons and politics. And a large part of the church remains silent. We have moved from the doctrine of National Security to that of transnational capital and we've gone from military dictatorships to the macro dictatorship of the neoliberal empire. Read the entire letter here.
In a world where I all too often get quite agitated with the Right as well as the Left, remembering Romero reminds me to focus on my commitment to Jesus first and foremost.
25 years later and El Salvador is in no better economic state, mainly thanks to globalization and U.S. trade agreements, but that is another subject for another time. There is still a strong left and an even stronger intimidating right in el Salvador. The church is divided there as it is here. Romero stood for peace, but also fought for dignity of the poor and oppressed. He denounced the bloodshed and demanded both sides stop fighting. This is the voice the people of El Salvador continue to remember.
Brazilian Bishop Pedro Casaldáliga wrote in his Open Letter to Romero:
You call us to a commitment, like Jesus of Nazareth did, that historic Jesus who so many times is reduced to helenistic dogma and sentimental spiritualism. That Jesus the Poor, in solidarity with the poor, the Crucified one with all the crucified peoples of History. You were right, and we also want to celebrate this, with Easter joy. You have been reborn in your people, who will no longer be submissive to the empire and the oligarchies. Nor will they allow themselves to be swayed by repentant former revolutionaries or by overly-spiritualized church leaders. You are reborn in the Peoplewe are millions of dreamers, both women and men, who believe that another world is possible and that another Church is possible. Because the way things are now, brother Romero, neither the other world nor the other Church is yet in view. Wars continue, now even preemptive wars; hunger continues, strikes, violence either by the state or a mob; sham democracies, false progress, false gods that dominate through money and the media, with weapons and politics. And a large part of the church remains silent. We have moved from the doctrine of National Security to that of transnational capital and we've gone from military dictatorships to the macro dictatorship of the neoliberal empire. Read the entire letter here.
In a world where I all too often get quite agitated with the Right as well as the Left, remembering Romero reminds me to focus on my commitment to Jesus first and foremost.
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