It has been too
long since I have written about martyrs other than Oscar Romero
in this blog, but today it seems right to do so. In addition to Archbishop Romero, Pope Francis approved martyrdom decrees for the Polish Franciscan friars Michal
Tomaszek and Zbigniew Strzalkowski and the Italian priest, Fr. Alessandro Dordi,
all of them killed by the “Shining Path” guerrillas in Peru in separate incidents
in 1991. I simply wish to remark on
three aspects of this story.
·
In
the press reports from Rome, Archbishop Romero seemed to completely displace
the Peruvian martyrs, who were supposed to be approved by the Congregation
alone before Romero was added to the February 3rd agenda at the last minute. Although Romero would probably never want to
steal these martyrs’ thunder, it is a telling commentary on the stature he has
gained that he would have this unfortunate effect.
·
Even
though Romero grabbed all the headlines, there are insights we can gain by
taking these martyrs as a group. For
example, the Catholicity and international diversity of the group is
striking. A Salvadoran, two Poles and an
Italian, representing the Latin American Church (in Peru and El Salvador). There is even diversity in the orders and
ranks of the men: a bishop, a priest, and two friars. It seems like a real cross-section of the
Church and something for everyone to celebrate.
It also serves as a good reminder that martyrs usually face persecution
in groups—as Pope Francis has said, there are others behind Romero in El
Salvador who will be put forth for consideration of their martyrdom as well.
·
Finally,
the most obvious point: the Peruvian martyrs were killed by Leftist extremists,
while Romero was killed by the extreme right.
The Shining Path killers pinned notes on the Peruvian martyrs calling
them “servants of Imperialism.” Romero’s
killers branded him Marxnulfo (a mockery of Arnulfo, his middle name). By seeing these martyrs together, perhaps we
will be able to see beyond the facile arguments of those who would dismiss
their martyrdoms as merely politically motivated deaths.
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