If you knew nothing about the assassination of Archbishop Óscar A. Romero of El Salvador, you should know this: it was done by someone
who hated the Faith. At the conclusion
of this Year of Faith, at a time when threats to the Faith have become more
subtle and purposefully evasive, Romero’s assassination three decades ago
offers us insights on how to unmask modern persecution of the faith. Although designed to elude definition as
outward contempt toward Christianity or Catholicism, Romero’s assassination reflects
hatred toward three important aspects of the Christian faith: (i) our love of
the poor, (ii) the sanctity of the liturgy, and (iii) the Kingship of Christ.
Disdain
for Romero’s love of the poor. Perhaps the easiest hatred to recognize is
the fact that Romero’s killers hated his work in defense of the poor. Sometimes, we forget that odium fidei—a canonical requirement for
martyrdom—can be hatred of the faith or
for one particular virtue (for example, social justice). Christian regard for the poor is no small
consideration. Pope Benedict said that
the Church sees Christ reflected in the poor, “and she constantly hears echoing in her heart the command of the Prince
of Peace to his Apostles: «Vos date illis manducare» – "Give them
something to eat yourselves" (Lk
9:13).” This “command” from Christ is not optional, but obligatory. Therefore, violence against the Church’s work
of charity and social justice presents us with a shocking and appalling example
of hatred of the faith.
Contempt
for the altar and the liturgy. Less obvious, but more easily recognizable
after the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI about the dignity and sacredness of
the liturgy, Romero’s assassination at the altar is an abomination of the celebration
of the Mass. To a believer, it is Christ
who is present at the altar: not just metaphorically, not just symbolically,
but “really, truly, and substantially
present.” Tellingly, the type of
ritual abuse inherent in Romero’s assassination had become commonplace during
the persecution of the Salvadoran church: altars were defiled, Church facades
were shot up with bullets, and in one particular town the tabernacle containing
the consecrated communion hosts was hacked open with machete strikes. The choice to assassinate the archbishop in
the act of celebrating Mass is terribly revealing about his killers motives,
and similar reports of ritual abuse today (for example, news about the
desecration of altars in places where Christians are persecuted) should give us
pause.
Scorn
for the Kingship of Christ.
Most analysts have concluded that Archbishop Romero was killed on
Monday, March 24, 1980 because the previous day, Sunday, March 23, he gave a
sermon in which he called on Salvadoran soldiers to disobey any order to kill
innocent civilians. Under a cynical
legalism, such a call by Romero was viewed as an act of insubordination, a
challenge to military order and the chain of command. But under Romero’s criteria—and ours—it was
the soldiers who had inverted the order of principles and Romero was only
setting things right. The Feast of
Christ the King this Sunday teaches us the primacy of Christ’s law, and of his
kingship over any temporal, worldly, political considerations. Romero’s killers could not handle that truth,
and their violent reaction to his asserting the Kingship of Christ reflects
their contempt for the faith.
For thirty three
years, the Church has proceeded cautiously in any beatification of Archbishop
Romero because his killers were presumably fellow Christians and because their
motives likely included political motives, as well (in his defense of the poor,
he challenged the political status quo).
The Church always proceeds judiciously in these matters. But we ought not to mistake prudence for
doubt. There is no doubt that Romero was
killed in hatred of the faith. It is
therefore providential that Pope Francis ordered that Romero’s cause be allowed
to proceed as one of his first acts after becoming Pope during this Year of the Faith. In addition to the positive
examples posited by the Church about the Faith, we can also learn from this
example by contrast, of those who act in hatred of the Faith.
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