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JUBILEE YEAR for the CENTENNIAL of BLESSED
ROMERO, 2016 — 2017
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| The letter; Abp. Romero giving his lecture; with Dr. De Somer. |
#BlessedRomero #Beatification
On the day of
his assassination, Archbishop Oscar A. Romero wrote a letter directed to Dr.
Pieter De Somer, Rector of the University of Leuven, for having conferred upon him an
honorary doctorate the previous February 2nd. Romero’s letter, written in
respectful but routine language, the type usually used for someone who the
writer admires but does not know very well, stands out for its ordinariness.
My Dear Dr. De
Somer:
I wish to
express through you to this prestigious University my deep gratitude, for the
high distinction of the Doctorate Honoris
Causa and what was, for me, a valuable opportunity to express my thinking from
that illustrious podium.
I also
appreciate the warm welcome I received that February 2nd and the generous offer of
helping students who wish to cultivate themselves intellectually there.
Accept with my
affectionate greeting and special admiration, the reciprocity of my prayers.
A letter
written as thanks for an event occurring fifty-one days earlier has to be described
as tardy. In fact, what is striking is that Romero delays but does not neglect the
detail, which highlights his already well known rigorous side. The delay, no
doubt, is understandable: in the period between February 2 and March 24, Romero
had gone to Rome, visited John Paul II, made his spiritual exercises, kicked off
the Lenten season, survived a dynamite attack against his life, and followed a
spiral of violence in national life that had led him to exclaim “Stop the repression!”
In Leuven,
Romero had delivered a speech that has become a true testament, entitled "The Political Dimension of Faith from the Perspective
of the Option for the Poor". His magisterial conclusion continues to
resound today: “From the perspective of
the transcendence of the gospel, I believe we can determine what the life of
the poor truly is. And I also believe that by putting ourselves alongside the
poor and trying to bring life to them we shall come to know the eternal truth
of the gospel.”
Romero’s letter
reflects a certain serenity, in light of the storm that surrounds the martyr these
days: he appreciates the “valuable
opportunity to express my thinking from that illustrious podium.” It also
highlights a man with his eyes firmly fixed on the future: as he is canonized
at a synod dedicated to youth, one cannot fail to note his excitement about the
possibility of “helping students who wish
to cultivate themselves intellectually” in the university.
From its
brevity, this final letter reflects the kindness and simplicity of Archbishop
Romero.
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