CIAO, BENEDETTO

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He was supposed to be the “Panzer Kardinal,” the persecutor of Liberation Theology who was going to destroy the social doctrine of the Church and its commitment to the poor.  Instead, as Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger expanded the social doctrine to include ecological concerns, issued a new social encyclical, and made the following comments about Archbishop Oscar A. Romero:

·         “That Romero as a person merits beatification, I have no doubt.” (Remarks to Reporters on Papal Flight to Brazil, May 9, 2007)

·         “Archbishop Romero was certainly an important witness of the faith, a man of great Christian virtue who worked for peace and against the dictatorship, and was assassinated while celebrating Mass. Consequently, his death was truly 'credible', a witness of faith.”  (Ibid.)

·         “The Gospel” has been “preached fervently by Pastors full of love for God such as Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero.” (Speech to visiting Salvadoran bishops,  Feb. 28, 2008)

The similarities between Pope Benedict and Archbishop Romero may be surprising to those who accept the portraits of Romero as a dyed-in-the-wool adherent of Liberation Theology, and of Ratzinger as an absolute enemy of the defenders of the poor (which are caricatures of both clergymen that this blog has worked assiduously to disprove).  To illustrate the point one final time, we recap some of the similarities between Archbishop Romero and Pope Benedict that we have analyzed here.

POPE BENEDICT	ARCHBISHOP ROMERO
—Biographies—
Joseph Ratzinger was born in 1927, under the pontificate of Pius XI—Oscar Romero’s favorite Pope.	Oscar Romero was born in 1917, during the pontificate of Pope Benedict XV—the pope Joseph Ratzinger honored with his papal name.
Both men were appointed archbishops in 1977 by Pope Paul VI: Ratzinger was ordained a priest in 1951 and Pope Paul appointed him Archbishop of Munich and Freising in March 1977 and raised him to cardinal in June of that year.	Romero was ordained a priest in 1942 and Paul VI raised him to the episcopate in 1970, made him a consultor on the Pope’s Pontifical Commission on Latin America in 1975, and appointed him Archbishop of San Salvador in 1977.
Benedict called Paul VI’s «POPULORUM PROGRESSIO» the most important papal statement on the Church’s social doctrine of the 20th Century.  (Encyclical Letter «CARITAS IN VERITATE»)	Romero cited «POPULORUM PROGRESSIO» in sixteen different sermons over the three years he was archbishop and called Paul, the man “who continually enlightens my thinking” on the social doctrine of the Church.
— Second Vatican Council—
Benedict: Vatican II must be understood through a “'hermeneutic of reform', of renewal in the continuity of the one subject-Church which the Lord has given to us. She is a subject which increases in time and develops, yet always remaining the same, the one subject of the journeying People of God.”  (Greetings to the Roman Curia, December 22, 2005.)	Romero: “When dealing with the changes in the Church, we need to ask God for the grace that will enable us to embrace these changes in a way that will allow us to understand the present reality without betraying our faith.”  This is because “we are firmly anchored in the heart and the faith of Jesus Christ,” and “this does not change.”  (Mar. 23, 1980 Hom.)
— Liberation Theology—
Benedict: “John Paul II, in his address at Puebla, recalled the three pillars upon which any authentic theology of liberation will rest: 'truth about Jesus Christ', 'truth about the Church', and 'truth about mankind'.”  (Instruction, August 6, 1984)	Romero: “There is a beautiful passage in the document of Puebla in which, following the outline that Pope John Paul II used … the three great theologies of Latin American are brought together: the theology about Christ, the theology about the Church and the theology about the human person  ... I recommend this especially to those of you are who concerned about the social and political order. Do not just read these pages but study them ....” (March 2, 1980 Sermon.)
— The Neocatechumenal Way—
Benedict told the leaders of the Neocatechumenal movement that, “The Church has recognized in the Neocatechumenal Way a particular gift aroused by the Holy Spirit;” that they should “contribute, with new impetus and ardor, to the radical and joyful rediscovery of the gift of baptism and to offer your original contribution to the cause of the New Evangelization;” but that they should “seek always a profound communion with the pastors and with all the components of the particular Churches and the very different ecclesial contexts in which you are called to operate.” (Jan. 17, 2012 address.)	Romero told the Neocatechumenal communities of El Salvador that through them, “the movement of the Holy Spirit is flourishing;” he thanked them for nourishing the sacrament of Baptism, as the “incorporation of [believers] into the life of Christ, into the death and resurrection of Christ” and said the movement was “an institution that is intimately linked to our evangelization;” adding, “with all my heart I ask you as Pastor, there wherever you go, in whatever parishes you are living, please be concerned about making the catechumenate a part of the Christian life of the people of that area.” (November 22, 1979 Sermon.)
—The Meaning of Lent—
In his Ash Wednesday, March 9, 2011 General Audience discourse, Pope Benedict emphasized the Gospel’s emphasis on Jesus’ journey: “It means accompanying Jesus as he travels to Jerusalem, the place where the mystery of his passion, death and resurrection is to be fulfilled,” said the Pontiff. Lent, he added, is a time for “penance [and] to intensify our commitment to conversion.”	In his March 9, 1980 sermon, Archbishop Romero said the Gospel recounts Christ’s journey to Jerusalem on “the path of suffering, the path of Calvary, the path of humiliation and the Cross,” but which culminates in “the path of triumph and victory and resurrection.”  Romero points out the importance of penance: “Repentance,” he preached, “is actually the synthesis of the whole Gospel ... Repentance is the foundation of the Kingdom of God.”
—The Transfiguration—
Benedict preaches that the Transfiguration of Jesus gives us “the joy of being children of the Father who is in Heaven,” but people “prefer the sands of ideology, power, success and money, believing they will find in these things stability and the answer to the irrepressible demand for happiness and fullness that they carry in their soul.”  He warned against “a superficial activism that may satisfy pride momentarily but ultimately leaves you empty and dissatisfied.” (March 6, 2011 «Angelus»)	Archbishop Romero preached that, in the Transfiguration, humans are “raised up to the dignity of the children of God,” but he cautioned, “let us not lose sight of the transcendence of the Christian message no matter how great our concerns or our responsibilities in the struggles of people ... I would like to see many politicians and young people and women and men organizing themselves but I would like to see this being done with a profound Christian meaning.”  (March 2, 1980 Sermon.)
—The Temptations of Christ—
“How many preachers explain [the stories of Jesus’s temptations in the desert] as dramatic variations on the perennial human temptation to utopianism, to a self-sufficiency that 'pushes God off the stage'?”  (George WEIGEL, NEWSWEEK, May 21, 2007 issue, "A Jesus Beyond Politics, Pope Benedict becomes the teacher he always wanted to be.")	Romero does the same, saying the temptations are “like so many politicians who only wish to have everything taken care of and who demand even what is impossible. These infantile demands are very much like the temptation of the Devil: to want to turn stones to bread and thus get out of hunger.” (February 24, 1980 Sermon)
“Amidst some familiar Ratzingerian themes, there is a new chord struck with particular force, it is Benedict XVI’s insistence, repeated several times, that a Christian Church faithful to its Lord cannot be a Church of power ... For the fusion of faith and political power always comes at a price: faith becomes the servant of power and must bend to its criteria.”  (WEIGEL, supra.)	“That is why, brothers and sisters, it is no prestige for the Church to be in good stead with the powerful. This is the prestige of the Church: to feel that the poor feel it as theirs, knowing that the Church lives a dimension on the earth calling everyone, including the rich, to convert and be saved, from the world of the poor, because they are the only ones who are Blessed.” (February 17, 1980 sermon)
—The Beatitudes—
“Benedict XVI unpacks the New Testament with the help of his profound knowledge of the Hebrew Bible.” (WEIGEL, supra.)	So does Romero: “Take note of the moment in which Christ teaches [the Beatitudes] so that we can see its reach. Let us not tear it out of the context of the history of Israel,” he said before recapping the biblical history of Israel. (February 17, 1980 Sermon)
“Why is it the meek to whom the Beatitudes promise the inheritance of 'the land'? Because, explains Ratzinger, drawing on the imagery of the Exodus, 'the land was given [to the people of Israel] as a space for obedience, a realm of openness to God that was to be freed from the abomination of idolatry'.”  (WEIGEL, supra.)	“That is why Jesus preached with such enthusiasm, 'Happy are you the poor, because yours is the Kingdom of God! You are the best prepared to understand what is not understood by those who kneel before the false idols and trust in them. You who do not have those idols, you who do not trust because you do not have money or power, you who are disenfranchised of everything, the poorer you are, the more you are the owners of the Kingdom of God!” (February 17, 1980 Sermon)
—Eucharistic Adoration—
Benedict: “The encounter with Jesus in Holy Mass is truly and fully brought about when the community can recognize that in the Sacrament he dwells in his house, waits for us, invites us to his table, then, after the assembly is dismissed, stays with us, with his discreet and silent presence, and accompanies us with his intercession, continuing to gather our spiritual sacrifices and offer them to the Father … At the moment of Adoration, we are all equal, kneeling before the Sacrament of Love … Communion and contemplation cannot be separated, they go hand in hand..” (June 7, 2012 Corpus Christi Sermon)	Romero: “This is the meaning of Eucharist, the living presence and the life giving presence of Christ in person here in history. The primary and most important person who is present during the Mass is Christ on the altar. Therefore each time that we come to Mass it is he, Jesus Christ, whom we come to hear and follow and love ... the people, either standing as a sign of respect or on knee as a sign of adoration, affirm that before their eyes, under the appearance of bread and wine is the body and the blood of Christ, truly, really and substantially present.  It is a living presence and a life giving presence.” (June 17, 1979 Corpus Christi Sermon)
—Silence—
Benedict has emphasized “the importance of silence in our relationship with God.”  During Lent 2012, he preached that, “Silence is capable of excavating an interior space in our inmost depths so that God may abide there, so that his Word may remain in us, so that love for him may be rooted in our minds and in our hearts and animate our lives.” (March 7, 2012 general audience)	Romero in Lent 1980: “When dealing with this parable rather than preach I would prefer that we would sit in silence and remind ourselves that this passage is a summary of our own personal, individual lives.”  He encouraged, “My sisters and brothers, I invite all of you to read this passage in your homes or in a church or in some silent place and reflect on your own life.”  (March 16, 1980 Sermon.)
—Prayer—
Benedict: “I do not abandon the cross, but remain in a new way near to the Crucified Lord. I no longer wield the power of the office for the government of the Church, but in the service of prayer I remain, so to speak, within St. Peter’s bounds ... I continue to accompany the Church on her way through prayer and reflection, with the dedication to the Lord and to His Bride, which I have hitherto tried to live daily and that I would live forever.”  (Final General Audience, February 27, 2013.)	Romero: “We can all do something, at least have a sense of understanding and sympathy. The holy woman we remember today could not do many things directly perhaps, but … she prayed ... We know that no one can go on forever, but those who have put into their work a sense of very great faith, of love of God, of hope among human beings, find it all results in the splendors of a crown that is the sure reward of those who labor thus, cultivating truth, justice, love, and goodness on earth.”  (Final Homily, March 24, 1980.)

Pope Benedict XVI did not beatify Archbishop Romero during his pontificate.  But the Church Benedict constructed is certainly a Church Romero would have served as a bishop, and one within which he will fit as a saint ... one day.

EL ESPLENDOR DE LA FE

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«ROMERO PARA EL AÑO DE LA FE»

La homilía de Mons. Romero para el Segundo Domingo de Cuaresma de 1980 [español | inglés | audio], que se puede resumir como la purificación de la historia desde la fe, hace una síntesis de las diversas fuentes de la teología de monseñor.  Proviene de varios insumos desde sus estudios del ascetismo en sus años de seminario en los 1940, hasta los ejercicios espirituales que el Card. Eduardo Pironio predicó ante el Papa Pablo VI y la curia romana en 1974.  Todas las pistas llevan a Mons. Romero hacia una sola imagen que figura sobre todas las demás en su espiritualidad: “Cristo colocado en la cumbre del Tabor es la imagen bellísima de la liberación”.

Anteriormente:

Resumen de la Homilía (2011)
Para los Pobres (2012, inglés)

El Cristo Transfigurado resulta un estandarte que Mons. Romero le ofrece a su pueblo, triturado por la pobreza y convulsionado por el conflicto social: “Esta Cuaresma, celebrada entre sangre y dolor entre nosotros, tiene que ser presagio de una transfiguración de nuestro pueblo, de una resurrección de nuestra nación”, les dice.  Como un punto de partida, reconoce que El Salvador vive una Cuaresma histórica, seglar.  “No es lo mismo una Cuaresma donde hay que ayunar en aquellos países donde se come bien”, dice monseñor, “que una Cuaresma entre nuestros pueblos del Tercer Mundo: desnutridos, en perpetua Cuaresma, en ayuno siempre”.  Sin embargo esos ayunos obligados pueden quedar perdidos y desperdiciados, si el pueblo no sabe dedicarlos con el apropiado sentido penitencial: “en los países pobres, en los hogares donde hay hambre debe de celebrarse la Cuaresma como una motivación para darle un sentido de cruz redentora al sacrificio que se vive”, advierte.  Este será el tema de monseñor.

Las tres lecturas le darán los fundamentos necesarios para construir su alegato.  La antigua promesa de Jehová a Abraham (Génesis 15, 5-12, 17-18), las advertencias de San Pablo a la comunidad cristiana de Filipos (Filipenses 3, 17; 4, 1) y—más que todo—el  evangelio de la Transfiguración (Lucas 9, 28-36) aportan las bases teológicas con que Mons. Romero arma su argumento.  “La primera lectura de hoy nos presenta el inicio de esa historia de salvación en el patriarca y padre de toda aquella nación, Abraham”, dice, como estableciendo el suelo de su edificación.  Recuenta la historia de la promesa de Dios, de darle al anciano estéril y su esposa también infértil, una descendencia cuantiosa como las estrellas del firmamento, lo cual Abraham acepta por la fe.  “Así nace el pueblo de Israel: en un pacto de Dios que pide a un hombre, una fe”, remarca monseñor.  “Esta será la característica, la fe”, enfatiza.  “Por eso Abraham no sólo es padre de los judíos que nacieron para poblar aquella tierra, sino que es padre del nuevo Israel: el cristianismo que nace, precisamente, por la fe”, dice monseñor.  “Nosotros, cristianos, si creemos, somos hijos de Abraham, pertenecemos a la descendencia numerosa como las estrellas del cielo; y como las estrellas del cielo, jamás acabará esa raza de la fe”.

Solo esa fe, que lleva mística de nacionalidad o hermandad de todos los creyentes cuya “patria definitiva es allá dónde Cristo vive para siempre, y donde seremos felices con él, con el gran liberador”, puede ser la base de su convivencia.  “En la segunda lectura de hoy San Pablo nos habla de este Cristo en el que Dios nos ofrece los proyectos de la verdadera liberación”, apunta Mons. Romero y advierte que todo lo que no se apega a la fe de Cristo, se aleja de él. “Opone a los seguidores de Cristo, los enemigos de la cruz de Cristo que solamente buscan los beneficios terrenales”, dice monseñor.  “Sólo aspiran a cosas terrenas, su Dios es su vientre, su gloria son sus vergüenzas”, dice, resumiendo el epístola del apóstol: “Frases duras de San Pablo para descalificar esos proyectos de la historia que solamente buscan bienes temporales, y presentar el gran proyecto de Dios”, advierte monseñor, insistiendo que lo que da “el verdadero valor a todos los procesos liberadores de nuestros países latinoamericanos” es “la fe en Cristo”.

En contraposición a los proyectos despistados de la historia, se puede presentar la culminación y perfección del proyecto de Dios, que origina en las promesas de Dios a Israel que nos llevan a Jesús.  La “historia de Israel tiene un término, una meta, una plenitud”—Jesucristo—“y la razón de esa elección de Abraham, de esa tierra prometida, de esa raza privilegiada por el Señor, es porque en su descendencia serán bendecidos todos los pueblos”, ya que Jesús figura entre los descendientes de Abraham.  “Cristo que será, en cuanto hombre, hijo de Abraham y de toda su descendencia”, explica monseñor.  Y cuando el evangelio lo presenta entre “dos figuras destacadas del Viejo Testamento: Moisés y Elías, el gran legislador del pueblo, y el gran profeta del Pueblo, vemos también esta gran verdad que estamos tratando de comprender: Que Cristo transfigurado, entre Moisés y Elías, es la plenitud de toda la historia de Israel”, expone monseñor.  Según el relato del evangelio, Cristo aparece cubierto con un resplandor y se oye una voz desde las nubes diciendo que él es el hijo preferido de Dios.  “Cristo es la gloria de Dios presente en la tierra”, explica monseñor, “humilde y sencillo hijo de la Virgen, pero él lleva escondida toda una divinidad; y en esta hora de la Transfiguración … como que desabrocha todo el secreto de lo que lleva escondido para manifestarse con la gloria de Dios”.

El relato evangélico tiene ciertas implicaciones inescapables para monseñor.  Primero, está la dignificación de la humanidad como Hijos de Dios: “Tenemos el proyecto de Dios en Cristo presente sobre la montaña santa, transfigurado como el modelo del hombre, y una voz del cielo que dignifica al hombre”, diciendo que es Hijo de Dios.  Reconocer que el hombre es un hijo privilegiado de Dios el Señor tiene consecuencias importantes, y explica el accionar de la Iglesia, dice monseñor.  “A la Iglesia no le importa más que el hombre,” insiste desde su lectura de dignificación. “El hombre, [es] el hijo de Dios; y por eso le duele [a la Iglesia] encontrar cadáveres de hombres, torturas a hombres, sufrimiento de hombres. Para la Iglesia, la meta de todos los proyectos tiene que ser éste de Dios: el hijo, el hombre”, insiste. “Todo hombre es hijo de Dios y en cada hombre matado es un cristo sacrificado que la Iglesia también venera”, concluye en su manera característicamente directa y sencilla.

De la dignificación, el próximo paso necesario es la purificación: “Así quiere Dios a los hombres”, como Cristo alzado sobre la montaña santa: “arrancados del pecado, y de la muerte, y del infierno, viviendo su vida eterna, inmortal, gloriosa”, declara Mons. Romero: “Este es nuestro destino”. De la purificación se procede al sacrificio: “Ese Cristo que se transfigura pocos días antes de sufrir el Calvario, nos está diciendo cuál es la meta del sufrimiento al que él invita a sus apóstoles y a sus cristianos”, dice monseñor.  “La Teología de la Transfiguración está diciendo que el camino de la redención pasa por la cruz y por el calvario, pero que más allá de la historia está la meta de los cristianos”—que fijan su vista en la trascendencia, que es el siguiente paso que debemos atender.  “Hermanos, no perdamos de vista esta trascendencia del mensaje cristiano por más grande que sean las preocupaciones y las responsabilidades de las luchas por el pueblo; no nos quedemos así con energías inmanentes, sin trascendencia”.

Esa prédica resume eficazmente toda la enseñanza social de Mons. Romero que venía en desarrollo por todo su ministerio sacerdotal.  “Desde el día en que Cristo resucitó quedó encendido en la misma historia del tiempo una antorcha de la eternidad”, resume.  “Los hombres nuevos” del discurso de los obispos latinoamericanos en Medellín (1968), declara Mons. Romero, “los hombres renovados, son aquellos que con su fe en la resurrección de Jesucristo hacen suya toda esta grandiosa Teología de la Transfiguración”, sin temor a la Cruz, por su fe.

«Septem Sermones Fidei», los ultimos siete sermones de Mons. Romero

Post Datum

Dijo el Papa Benedicto XVI en el ultimo «Angelus» de su pontificado que, “En el camino cuaresmal, la Transfiguración es una muestra esperanzadora del destino final al que lleva el misterio pascual de la pasión, muerte y resurrección de Cristo”, ratificando así la «Teología de la Transfiguración» de Mons. Romero. “Además”, dijo el pontifice, “la oración no es un aislarse del mundo y de sus contradicciones ... sino que la oración reconduce al camino, a la acción. La existencia cristiana”, concluyó el papa en su ocaso, “consiste en un contínuo subir al monte del encuentro con Dios, para luego volver a bajar llevando el amor y la fuerza que de ello derivan, para servir a nuestros hermanos y hermanas con el mismo amor de Dios”.

VICTORY OF THE FAITH

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«ROMERO FOR THE YEAR OF FAITH»

Like Pope Benedict XVI, who knows that his remaining pronouncements this Lenten season will be his last opportunity to preach his message to the faithful, Archbishop Romero knew his preaching for Lent 1980 would be his final sermons.  When he preached on the First Sunday of Lent under the liturgical “C” cycle—the same reading cycle we follow in 2013—a bomb had taken out the radio tower that broadcast his Sunday masses. Archbishop Romero’s enemies were closing in (he was killed 30 days later) and therefore his preaching became more pointed, more urgent.  Pope Benedict has used his final pronouncements to speak about the legacy of the Second Vatican Council, which he attended as a theological consultant, while Archbishop Romero used his final sermons to implement the Council’s formula for leveraging belief in a world to come with the ethical implications for the social order—what Benedict recently described as the “responsibility for the future of this world and eschatological hope” (Feb. 14, 2013 Farewell Address to the Clergy).

Previously:

Summary of the Homily (2011)
Message to Poor (2012, Span.)

Romero preaches that First Sunday of Lent 1980 [English | Spanish | Audio], with the Evangelical zeal of a St. Patrick preaching in Ireland, or even St. Paul in Corinth.  He speaks at some length about the meaning of faith.  “We come to Mass in order to say that we are going to share our intimate faith with all of our brothers and sisters who have gathered together today,” he says, summarizing.  “We also make our faith explicit by the way that we live our lives and it is for this reason that I told you before that we must become the microphones of God. Our faith is communicated to others through our good example, through our honesty and kind words and comforting words,” Romero says.  “We are invited to become models of God’s Word which has become rooted in the depths of our being. This is faith!”  He discusses how participation in the sacraments is an expression of one’s faith, and that one’s whole life should be, too.  Additionally, the Church needs to proclaim the faith and lead the faithful in study and reflection on the Scriptures, Archbishop Romero says.

It is in this context that Archbishop Romero particularly deplores the destruction of the radio transmitter.  “We are especially sorry today, when we most need it, to be without our radio station, the instrument that carried God’s word forth from our Sunday Mass,” he laments.  The attack is a blow against the Church’s freedom of expression, he says.  He condemns it as “an attempt to silence the prophetic and pastoral voice of the Archdiocese simply because it is trying to be the voice of the voiceless, because it has reported the systematic violation of human rights, because it has tried to tell the truth, defend justice and spread the Christian message.”  But the final victory will be Christ’s, he says, because “the life of our communities and our individual lives give witness to the gospel that the Church preaches. In other words,” he says, “even though we may not have radios or any other technical apparatus, may all Christians proclaim throughout the world the great liberating message of Christianity!” 

Romero explains that liberating message from the three readings of the day: the Faith of Israel (Deuteronomy 26:4-10), St. Paul on Faith (Romans 10:8-13), and the Temptations of Christ in the Desert (Luke 4:1-13).  All three speak to Romero of the ultimate victory of the Faith.  In Israel’s Creed, Romero points out the political dimension of that faith.  “Israel’s creed is pure history,” he says.  “It begins with the promise that was made to the Patriarchs,” he explains, and it continues with a process of liberation: “A people that had grown more numerous in a situation of slavery is told by God that they will be given a land flowing with milk and honey.”  Politics and faith converge: “The Israelites did not have an ethereal faith, like many Christians who think that speaking of things like this gets the Church involved in politics,” he notes.  Just as the Israelites brought a bushel of their harvest as an offering to their temple, so are all people called to work for a harvest of justice: “The God of all peoples, including the God of El Salvador, must be such a God, one who also illuminates political life,” says Romero.  “He is the One who gives us our farmlands and who wants land reform. He is the One who wants a more just distribution of the wealth that El Salvador produces.”  Christ makes Israel’s faith creed universal: “Christ is our own. Christ is a Salvadoran for Salvadorans. Christ has risen here in El Salvador for us: and our history will be a history of resurrection, of liberty and dignity to the extent we allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit that led Jesus so that, with the power of that Spirit, we can pursue our own nature, our own history, our own freedom, and our own dignity as Salvadoran people.”

St. Paul’s discussion of the faith from the second reading describes the process for Christian faith to seep into our lives and liberate us, Romero preaches.  “Saint Paul tells us today that the process is very simple,” says Romero.  “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart: proclaim the word of God and bring the word closer to women and men,” he says, recapping the reading.  “This is the mission of the preacher,” he says: “This is also the mission of our radio station and it is for this reason that we miss the programs of the radio station,” he adds, drawing applause from the audience, “they are vehicles that at the present time bring the Word of God to women and men.”  The bombing of the radio station has been a hard blow against Romero, but it has also brought him an outpouring of sympathy and solidarity.  He reads telegrams from various Catholic communities, and from an international conglomeration of bishops, including the Brazilian Dom Helder Cámara, and others from various Latin American countries.  Like the retiring Pontiff, Archbishop Romero is engulfed in a bittersweet tide of affection, which he also takes as a sign that good will overcome evil.  The same sweet sadness lingers today in the memory of his martyrdom.

But the greatest sign of good’s eventual triumph over evil is the Gospel reading of the temptations of Christ.  Jesus’ response to Satan is a model for all of us, collectively, and individually, “and his victory over evil is so resplendent that throughout the three years of his public ministry this victory will shine forth,” says Romero, as the way “to overcome the temptations that attempt to destroy the plan of God.”  When Jesus resists the Devil’s tempting him to turn stones to bread to satisfy his hunger, Jesus shows us that sometimes the more difficult road may be better.  The Devil’s plan seeks “an immediate solution like the solution of many politicians who want to be able to fix all situations and do that which is impossible,” he says.  But we will not solve social injustice in a flash.  Instead, we have to win over hearts and minds, slowly.  “For Christ it is not difficult to multiply the loaves and give bread and good salaries and create a good situation for all who are marginalized,” says Romero.  But if “the rich continue to be selfish and many have not repented and converted,” nothing is accomplished. 

When Jesus resists bowing down to Satan in exchange for wealth and power, he is teaching us not to give in to “the idolatry of money, the idolatry of power and any pretext that would have people kneel before these false gods,” says Romero.  And when Jesus rebuffs Satan’s suggestion that he win over the people with flashy supernatural displays, he shows us that, “It is not necessary to perform grandiose actions,” but simply to do the will of God.  “A triumphalistic religion or political life is not necessary and it does much harm,” Romero warns.  “What is lacking is greater conviction and the honorable simplicity of women and men who are willing to commit themselves to service of God,” he admonishes.  “This is God’s plan: the simple life, the ordinary life—but, giving this simple, ordinary life a meaning of love and freedom,” he underlines.  “How beautiful our country would be if we all lived the plan of God, each person busy in his or her job, without pretensions of dominating anyone, simply earning and eating in justice the bread that each one’s family needs!  We would not have this dreadful situation that has arisen precisely because people are looking for the Messiah that Satan presents us,” he denounces.

Only by following Jesus can we share in the victory of the faith and achieve true Liberation.

«Septem Sermones Fidei:» the last seven sermons of Archbishop Romero

Post Script

Preaching the 2013 spiritual exercises to the Pope and the Roman Curia, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, himself one of the papabili, echoed Archbishop Romero’s reading of Israel’s Creed.  He specifically interpreted the first reading for the first Sunday of Lent as defining “the historical creed of Israel” and he called God's pact with Israel “a sign of liberation and hope.”  Like Romero, Ravasi posited that history was not only a legitimate venue in which to encounter God, but a preferred one.  “History is and should always be our favored place to meet our Lord, our God. Although it is a land of scandal, even if it is a land in which we often see maybe even the silence of God or apostasy of men,” he said. [More.]

«LA FE DE LOS POBRES»

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«ROMERO PARA EL AÑO DE LA FE»

Así como la histórica renuncia papal hace de la Cuaresma de 2013 una experiencia de comunión para toda la Iglesia, la Cuaresma de 1980 era para la Iglesia Salvadoreña una encrucijada de convivencia en la fe.  En este Año de la Fe es nuestra gran alegría profundizar sobre los últimos siete sermones dominicales de Mons. Romero desde la fe.  Al igual que el papa que reconoce la superioridad del espíritu ante la debilidad de su cuerpo, en su homilía del 17 de febrero de 1980 Mons. Romero invita a un Miércoles de Ceniza “que marca nuestra mortalidad, pero al tiempo nuestra supernaturalidad” y declara en palabras que se podrían aplicar a la renuncia papal: “El hombre no se mortifica por una enfermiza pasión de sufrir. Dios no nos ha hecho para el sufrimiento”,  dice Mons. Romero.  “Sí, hay ayunos; sí, hay penitencias; sí, hay oración”, reconoce, pero “nuestra fuerza viene de la oración y de nuestra conversión hacia Dios” y la Cuaresma es oportuna “para que nuestros corazones sean como vasos limpios, disponibles que venga el espíritu de Dios, con toda su fuerza de santidad, a transformar la faz de la tierra”.  [Texto en español, inglés; audio.]

Anteriormente:

Resumen de la Homilía (2011)

Para los Pobres (2012, inglés)

Mons. Romero interpreta a San Pablo: «si Cristo no resucitó, vana es entonces nuestra predicación, vana es también vuestra fe».  (1 Corintios 15, 14.)  Romero afirma: “¡Pero Cristo ha resucitado, Cristo vive y esta es la gran fe y confianza, la gran espiritualidad de los pobres, este es nuestro Dios, el Dios de los pobres, como le canta nuestra canción popular!”  Esa gran «fe de los pobres» proclamada por Mons. Romero en la Cuaresma del 1980 arranca desde el Sermón del Monte, que Mons. Romero le tocaba interpretar antes de iniciar el ciclo litúrgico de la Cuaresma.  Cristo predica «Bienaventurados los pobres» (Lucas 6, 20) y desde esa enseñanza, Mons. Romero indica que “Tendremos hoy, si Dios quiere, una idea clara de lo que tanto repetimos: que la Iglesia ha asumido una opción preferencial por los pobres y que sólo puede ser verdadera Iglesia la Iglesia que se convierte y se compromete con el pueblo sufrido y pobre”.

Mons. Romero recuenta el evangelio con notable entusiasmo: “¡Qué encantador resulta estar reflexionando con aquel Jesús que baja!”, dice, dejando saber su admiración.  “En sus expresiones los evangelios tienen profundos modos de ver a Jesús. Mirémoslo bajando de la montaña, bajando de las alturas a confundirse en la llanura con el común de los hombres”, comenta y luego retoma la narración: “Bajando se puso a dirigirles la palabra y es así como se inicia el evangelio: ' Dichosos los pobres, porque vuestro es el Reino de Dios '.”  Pero no es suficiente exponer el escenario, del descenso de la montaña, sino que es importante también dar todo el contexto histórico.  “Fíjense en qué momento Cristo dice esa bienaventuranza para que veamos el alcance. No la arranquemos del contexto de toda la historia de Israel”.  Y hace un resumen de la historia de Israel: “¿Cómo nació Israel? De una promesa de Dios a un anciano que se llamaba Abraham, estéril para colmo, con su mujer también estéril, sin tener hijos, le dice: de tu descendencia voy a hacer un gran pueblo”.  Nace de la fe: “Acepta por la fe Abraham y aquel pueblo de veras que se hace realidad. Y aquel pueblo encuentra en Dios una promesa: te voy a dar una tierra,” y luego “por medio de un conductor, Moisés, los lleva a esa tierra prometida”, narra monseñor.  Sin embargo, el pueblo rechaza la ley de Dios y su desobediencia los lleva al destierro, regresa de Babilonia y “suceden tantas vicisitudes políticas”, incluyendo que llegaron a caer bajo el dominio de Roma.  “En ese pueblo dominado por Roma llega Cristo y a ese pueblo sometido políticamente a un poder extranjero, a un imperialismo, Cristo le predica hoy esta bienaventuranza: '¡Dichosos los pobres, porque de ustedes es el Reino de Dios!'.”

Explicando que el contexto en que Jesús predicó las Bienaventuranzas tenía una dimensión histórica y política, Mons. Romero puede rechazar las acusaciones de que él está predicando con populismo o politización. Afianzarse a las Bienaventuranzas no es politización: “Jesucristo no se presenta con armas ni con movimientos revolucionarios políticos, aunque da una doctrina para que todas las revoluciones de la tierra se encajen en la gran liberación del pecado y de la vida eterna. él da horizontes a los que luchan por las liberaciones del pueblo,” predica monseñor.  Su mensaje de liberación a los salvadoreños no es distinto del de Cristo a los israelitas cuando les dice, “ustedes tienen que ser libres también, ustedes tienen que sacudir un día el yugo de los que han invadido esta tierra, pero tienen que hacerlo desde esta espiritualidad de los pobres” no con violencia.  “Si por una necesidad del momento estoy iluminando la política de mi patria, es como pastor, es desde el Evangelio, es una luz que tiene la obligación de iluminar los caminos del país y aportar como Iglesia la contribución que como Iglesia tiene que dar”. 

La predicación de Jesús, dice Mons. Romero, resuena con “el eco de Jeremías”, profeta del Viejo Testamento, quien había predicado, “Maldito quien confía en el hombre, y en la carne busca su fuerza apartando su corazón del Señor. Será como un cargo en la estepa, no verá llegar el bien; habitará la aridez del desierto, tierra salobre e inhóspita. La visión de la aridez para el hombre que ha puesto su confianza en las cosas de la tierra”, dice monseñor (Jeremías 17, 5-8).  “¿No les parece escuchar aquí el eco de Cristo: ¡Dichoso el pobre, el que confía en el Señor y pone en el Señor su confianza? Será un árbol plantado junto al agua que junto a las corrientes echa, raíces ... Estos son los verdaderos pobres, la espiritualidad de los pobres substancialmente es una gran confianza en el Señor, y la maldición de los ricos es cuando se apartan del Señor y ponen toda su confianza en la carne, es decir, en los valores terrenales”.

Esta es la clave para entender la segunda lectura de ese domingo, dice monseñor, en que San Pablo insiste en la verdad absoluta de la Resurrección, diciendo que sin Resurrección «vana es nuestra fe».  (1 Corintios 15, 14.)  Mons. Romero alude a otro aspecto de la política de la fe, recordando que San Pablo había sido un colaborador de las autoridades en la persecución de los cristianos: “San Pablo es un testigo maravilloso de la resurrección porque si había un hombre que no hubiera querido creer en Jesús ni en la resurrección, era el perseguidor Saulo. Creía que los cristianos estaban engañando a sus compañeros judíos y por eso los perseguía”.  Sin embargo, “si existe esa resurrección, allí se afianza nuestra fe y nuestra esperanza porque si Cristo no hubiera resucitado seríamos los más miserables de los hombres creyendo en una mentira”.  Saulo/Pablo sufre un cambio radical, parecido al cambio que muchos ven el mismo Mons. Romero, el mismo cambio que Mons. Romero nos exhorta a todos a experimentar, especialmente a “los que viven en los grupos organizados o partidos políticos, no olviden, si son cristianos: vivan profundamente esta intensidad de la espiritualidad de la pobreza, vivan intensamente este compromiso cristiano con los pobres”, invita monseñor.  “Una de las necesidades más urgentes de la pastoral de la Arquidiócesis”, declara monseñor, es “madurar en la fe a [los] que pertenecen a grupos políticos; para que vivan ese compromiso desde la fe, sin traicionar la fe, sabiendo que la fe tiene una dimensión política, pero que es siempre la fe en la eterna resurrección del Señor y en el arrancar al hombre del pecado”.

Esa «fe de los pobres» da también sentido al ayuno y la penitencia de la Cuaresma, como un sentido de solidaridad con los pobres y de identificación con la espiritualidad de la pobreza.  “Yo les invito a que vivamos una Cuaresma en que no hagamos consistir en comer tanto carne, u otra cosa”, dice Mons. Romero, “sino en mortificarnos y en compartir con los que tienen menos lo poco que nosotros tenemos. Vivir ese sentimiento de participación, de amor, de caridad. Hacer sobre todo en nuestra Cuaresma un gran ejercicio de reconciliación con los enemigos”, exhorta. “Saber perdonar, saber prepararnos para resucitar en el amor con Cristo en la Pascua próxima”.

Concluye declarando, “queremos un pueblo santo … queremos una política que de veras camine en el bienestar de nuestro pueblo y de nuestros pobres. Y así podemos repetir hoy con Jesucristo: ¡Bienaventurados los pobres, porque de ellos es el Reino de los cielos!”

«Septem Sermones Fidei», los ultimos siete sermones de Mons. Romero

«A SIGN OF CONTRADICTION»

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The Society of St. Paul has distributed a sermon for this Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time which expounds on the Gospel account of Jesus’ rejection in the Nazareth Synagogue and his own observation that “No prophet is accepted in his own country” (Luke 4:21-30).  The sermon notes that “It takes courage to be a prophet and proclaim God’s word in the way God wants us to speak it in today’s world,” and points out that “Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, who dared to confront oppressive rulers in his own country, was assassinated while celebrating Mass.”  Throughout this year for which we propose «Archbishop Romero for the Year of Faith», we will republish reflections that cite Archbishop Romero as a model of faith.  To further expound on the point in the cited sermon, we will examine the way in which Romero has emerged as a “sign of contradiction” in contemporary theological discussion.

The phrase “A Sign of Contradiction” gained currency thanks to its use by the Blessed John Paul II as “a distinctive definition of Christ and of his Church.”  (Wojtyla, Karol. Sign of Contradiction, St. Paul Publications 1979, p. 8.)  Taken from the New Testament (Luke 2:34, Acts 28:22), “a sign of contradiction” is a Gospel phrase, which together with others (like John 15:20, “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you”) is intended to show how rejection by a corrupt world is a vital measurement of the authenticity of the Christian message.  In the modern world, being an authentic Christian will often result in being accepted by some—true Christians—while being rejected by others, even within the Church.  That certainly is the pattern for Archbishop Romero.  “Archbishop Romero was the most beloved person and the most hated person in this country,” admits Romero’s confidante Msgr. Ricardo Urioste.  (BBC.)  Even among Catholics, Archbishop Romero is sometimes regarded with suspicion: “while figures like Mother Teresa and Josemaria Escrivá are comfortable heroes for our time, Romero is not.”  (Catholic Herald.)  The disparity in these reactions to Romero is often misunderstood as a function of left vs. right and whether the audience in question perceives Romero as attuned to their politics.  But, there are deeper dynamics bearing upon Romero’s confounding impact, and we will focus on five that establish his bona fides as a“sign of  contradiction.”

“A good man in a bad time.”  Imagine a man walking through an amusement park tunnel that spins while people pass through the center.  He remains upright, but as the world around him goes topsy-turvy, he appears inverted to those around him.  This is a historical model to explain Romero.  In 1970s El Salvador, his society was spinning down a spiral of violence and dehumanization towards Civil War and a violent clash of inhumane absolutes.  Romero himself invoked this premise when he described Pope Paul VI—his contemporary spiritual hero and ecclesial model—as “a man who understood the present time and never betrayed the eternal Word.”  (November 19, 1978 Homily.)  The “present time” might be going through convulsions, but the “eternal Word” needs to stay unmoved.  The analogy applies to the entire Church through the Vatican II process,  as Fr. Enrico Cattaneo has written in his analysis of Pope Benedict’s famous 2005 speech to the Roman curia about the Council.  Cattaneo writes that the crucial part of the Pope’s speech concerns “the relationship between the modern world and the Church as Ratzinger turned the situation prospected by the traditionalists upside down.”  (Benedict’s own doctrinal censor recently referred to this speech as “the most important discourse” of his pontificate.)

A Hierarch and a Charismatic.  The second conceptual handle depends on the theological distinction between “hierarchical” and “charismatic” gifts.  The Dogmatic Constitution of the Church, «Lumen Gentium», says that the Holy Spirit “equips and directs” the Church “with hierarchical and charismatic gifts.”  (L.G. 4.)  Romero explained the distinction—again, using Pope Paul VI as his model.  He recounted the story of how the Pope went to visit the Virgin of Fatima, and “someone, inspired by this scene, shouted out: this is a meeting between the crown of charisms and the crown of the hierarchy.”  (Jan. 20, 1980 Hom.)  Romero explained that the Pope represents the hierarchy of the Church: “The hierarchy is composed of the Pope, the bishops, priests and all those who have been entrusted with the mission of the One who said: ‘As the Father has sent me, so I send you’.” (John 20:21.)  But, “Charisms are all the gifts that God bestows upon a person so that said person might be able to undertake a distinctive role in the community”—charisms are gifts in the People of God that do not depend on the hierarchy.  Id.  Mary is the prime example—her authority and authenticity are independent of any approval by the hierarchy; the same is true for certain saints that receive gifts from God directly.  Romero had a hierarchical post, but he also had a charism.  He was archbishop, but his moral force did not stem from his episcopal authority alone, for there have been many Archbishops of San Salvador, but only one Romero.  As Fr. Ignacio Ellacuría famously said of him, “In Archbishop Romero, God walked through El Salvador.”

Radical and orthodox.  Another dimension of “contradiction” in Romero breaks down along the radical-orthodox dichotomy.  People assume you can only be one and not the other, and therefore, to explain Romero, most analysts adopt what Pope Benedict would call (per his 2005 speech), “a hermeneutic of discontinuity”—that is, they assume that to be radical, one must stop being orthodox.  The prominent model to explain Romero is that he underwent a “conversion” from being a conservative bishop to become a radical bishop.  Those who truly understand Romero know that’s not quite right, because Romero was radical from his orthodoxy.  The Salvadoran Ambassador to Nicaragua Juan José Figueroa Tenas got it about right when he said Romero was “an orthodox man who pointed out in a radical way the causes of the suffering that aggrieved his people.”  And the theologian Miguel Cavada, a Romero follower and student who passed away in 2011, said that, “It’s not that Romero is a progressive … but he goes far beyond being a progressive.  He leaves them all behind.  He is a mixture of the old and the new.  That’s what makes him authentic.”

Prophet and martyr.  In his poem, “San Romero de América,” Bishop Pedro Casaldáliga writes, “You knew how to drink the double chalice of the Altar and of the People, with a single hand consecrated in service.”  Another troublesome pairing among Romero’s traits is his dual claim to have served both his country and his Church.  Many people assume you can be one or the other but not both—many rule out the prospect that Romero was a martyr for the faith because, they argue, he was a martyr for politics. “There is no doubt that Romero regarded himself as a man of the church,” writes Kenneth Woodard: “upon becoming Archbishop he chose his motto ‘To Be of One Mind and Heart With the Church.’  There is also no doubt that he assumed the larger role of prophet of the people, with all its attendant risks.”  (Woodard, Making Saints, p. 46.)  “The beautiful thing that Romero symbolizes,” Woodard quotes Jon Sobrino as having told him, “is that for the first time in five centuries, being a Salvadoran and being a Christian converged.”

“The violence of love.”  One last contradiction inherent in Romero was in his message of love, twisted and disfigured by his enemies and turned into a false accusation that he preached violence.  “We have never preached violence,” he told the faithful in a phrase that has become iconic: “except the violence of Love.”  If we stop there, the phrase is bound to be misunderstood, because it can be mistaken to signify violence that is motivated or justified by some narrow vision of “Love” (i.e. one which tolerates violence).  But when Romero says “violence,” he is not talking about a physical assault.  He means force, like when we say “the force of reason.” We don’t mean physical force.  The violence of love, as Romero explains it, is “the violence that we must each do to ourselves,” because we must break down barriers within ourselves, “to overcome our selfishness and such cruel inequalities among us.”  The violence of love is “the violence that wills to beat weapons into sickles for work.”  Most importantly, the violence of love is the violence “which left Christ nailed to a Cross” because He was willing to withstand violence for our sakes.  It is also the violence Romero was willing to withstand, even when it meant being rejected and misunderstood.

Romero is misunderstood because he is a genuine sign of contradiction in modern times, a trait that proves to be the touchstone of his credential as a modern Christian hero.