Peter CostelloOscar Romero, the Archbishop of San Salvador, in El Salvador, was shot to death by a sniper on the altar of the chapel of the Divine Providence hospital where he was celebrating evening Mass on March 24, 1980. This was done by agents of the state who were never brought to trial.
In his life Oscar Romero was not strictly speaking an author. Rather his influence in his country was exerted through popular sermons and radio broadcasts, which were vital for relaying to the general population what was happening. He used his words to promote peace and reconciliation, but suffered at the hands of a repressive regime.
However, since his death biographers, scholars and editors have assembled the details of his life, his mission, and his martyrdom, and in a range of books have tried to assess the meaning of the influence he exerts. There will doubtless be many more books in the wake of his beatification, which will prepare the way for his canonisation; but below are some titles which are currently available.
Many of the most interesting books are not new; others are now available only in US editions. But all can be ordered through any bookshop or over the internet.
However, the event to be celebrated this week means that there will soon be a flood of new books, many of which will want to relate the true meaning and lasting significance of his martyrdom with the ideas emerging from the pontificate of Pope Francis.
His Life
Romero: A Life
by James R. Brockman SJ
(Orbis Books, £12.99)
American Jesuit James R. Brockman’s first study of Romero was the appropriately titled called The Word Remains (1982). But this was developed into a full length biography of Romero in 1989, which has remained the leading English language source for the career and teaching of the archbishop, as well as the circumstance of his martyrdom. This is the key book relating to Romero, aside from his own sermons and statements.
Oscar Romero and the Communion of the Saints: A Biography
by Scott Wright, with photographs by Octavio Duran
(Orbis Books, £12.99)
A brief but informative biography illustrated with more than a hundred evocative and moving photographs, this provides a visual context for the life and service of Oscar Romero.
Scott Wright served as Director of the Religious Task Force on Central America and is also the co-author of Oscar Romero: Reflections on his Life and Writing. Octavio Duran is a Salvadoran Franciscan, who served as Romero’s personal photographer and accompanied him on pastoral journeys.
Oscar Romero: Reflections on his life and writings
by Marie Dennis, Renny Golden, and Scott Wright
(Modern Spiritual Masters / Orbis Books, £10.99)
Marie Dennis is the author of earlier books about Dorothy Day and St Francis; Renny Golden has written about social issues in Northern and Latin America. This book, written for the 20th anniversary of Romero’s murder, explores the prophetic spirituality of Archbishop Oscar Romero in the context of his times.
Oscar Romero: Love Must Win Out
(People of God series)
by Kevin Clarke
(Liturgical Press, £7.95)
An accessible book for adults and teenagers, the author is a senior editor at America, the leading Jesuit weekly in the US.
The book, though brief enough, is well informed and detailed about the archbishop’s background.
A Modern Martyr: The Story of Oscar Romero
(Faith in Action series)
by Liam Gearon, illustrated by Brian Platt
(Canterbury Press, £4.99)
A brief biography, a mere 24 pages, part of an established series, is very suitable for younger readers and school and parish group use.
Studies
A Prophetic Bishop Speaks to his People: The Complete Homilies of Oscar Arnulfo Romero
Volume 1, ed. by Joseph V. Owens
(Convivium Press £59.55)
This volume, the first in an ambitious initiative by the Romero Trust and Convivium Press to provide English translations of a series of books about Oscar Romero, is the newest and most important publication now available.
From the time Romero was named Archbishop of San Salvador on February 22, 1977 until he was murdered at the altar on March 24, 1980, he delivered 193 homilies that were broadcast to the nation by radio.
The homilies are the impassioned voice of a prophetic pastor addressing his people and his nation at a time of unprecedented crisis and violence.
Romero unrelentingly condemned the repression of the people at the hands of the powerful and resolutely committed the Church to the difficult and dangerous struggle for justice and human rights.
These homilies were later transcribed and published in six volumes in El Salvador. Presented in a style suitable for both the specialist and the common reader, this edition is an English translation of the first 46 homilies, delivered between March 14 and November 25, 1977, corresponding to the first volume of the original Spanish edition.
The editor and translator, Joseph V. Owens, is a Jesuit who has spent most of his active career working in the Caribbean and Central America.
Voice of the Voiceless: The Four Pastoral Letters and Other Statements
ed. by Michael J. Walsh, introductory essays by John Sobrino and Ignacio Martín-Baró
(Orbs Books, £18.99)
First published in 1985 this book provides an immediate and accessible sample of Romero’s critique of the world in which he lived and laboured, and the nature of faith in troubled times.
The Violence of Love by Oscar Romero
foreword by Henri Nouwen
(Orbis Books, $18.00)
This is the second edition of a selection from the sermons and writings of Archbishop Oscar Romero. Three short years transformed Romero from a conservative defender of the status quo into one of the Church’s most outspoken voices. This book has been the most widely circulated of such books, and is valued as well by many readers for the foreword by Henri Nouwen.
Through the Year with Oscar Romero: Daily Meditations
translated by Irene B. Hodgson
(Darton, Longman & Todd, £9.95)
Running to some 256 pages, this title might well be the most suitable for the ordinary reader to re-experience the pastoral homilies of Oscar Romero through a regular reading programme.
Liberation theology
The sources of Romero’s spirituality, aside from the nature of his own calling as it changed, were in The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola. He was also influenced by the outlook of Opus Dei – for some an indication of his essentially conservative point of view. Yet others argue that what he went through in the last three years of his life aligned him with what liberation theologians had been saying in other parts of Latin America.
There has been much debate over liberation theology – much of it generated less by theological concerns than by political interests. Pope Francis in his recent encyclical states quite clearly the essence of the role of the gospel message in the modern world.
The peace of both man and God does not “act as a pretext for justifying a social structure which silences or appeases the poor, so that the more affluent can placidly support their lifestyle while others have to make do as they can.
“Demands involving the distribution of wealth, concern for the poor and human rights cannot be suppressed under the guise of creating a consensus on paper or a transient peace for a contented minority. The dignity of the human person and the common good rank higher than the comfort of those who refuse to renounce their privileges. When these values are threatened, a prophetic voice must be raised.” (Evangelii Gaudium, 218)
This suggests that a reassessment of what came to be called liberation theology may emerge. Significant in this context is the life of the Jesuit Fr Rutilio Grande.
When the Gospel Grows Feet: Rutilio Grande SJ and the Church of El Salvador. An Ecclesiology in Context
by Thomas M. Kelly
(Michael Glazier, €29.95)
The Salvadoran priest Rutilio Grande SJ was killed, along with two passengers in the car he drove, when they were ambushed on March 12, 1977. The shock of this killing transformed his friend and archbishop, Oscar Romero, as well as the Church in Latin America and throughout the world.
Fr Grande’s death gave impetus to a change of direction for Romero himself, leading him to confront both the essential message of the Gospel and “the hatred of the Faith” which motivated the repressive regime in his country.
This book is an essential text, largely because it explores the deep roots and the nature of Catholic life in El Salvador. Thomas Kelly explores the Church’s identity and mission during the colonial period (1500–1820) and the transformative impact of Vatican II (1962–65) on the Latin American bishops.
Having considered Grande’s life, formation, ministry and death and his impact on Archbishop Romero, Kelly in conclusion explains what Grande and the Church of El Salvador can teach Catholics everywhere in the world, not only in the impoverished South, but also in the prosperous North.
His final sermon
"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 fulfil 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…
Historical projects
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 organisation, 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 organised 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… [Here, Romero gave specific details of what had happened in the previous week.]
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 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.
Extracted from The Church and Human Liberation, March 14, 1980.