JUBILEE YEAR for the CENTENNIAL of BLESSED
ROMERO, 2016 — 2017
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| Blessed Romero and President Molina. |
As the U.S
bishops meet in their Plenary Assembly and continue to calibrate their stance
at the election of a new American president, they might consider the statement
issued by Blessed Romero upon the creation of a governing “junta” for El
Salvador in October 1979.
Wildly
unpopular with the Left, the Junta came to power promising to moderate the
excesses of the dictatorships that ruled the country. Romero’s position ultimately proved his moral
credibility and prophetic autonomy.
First, Romero
withstood the bitter rebuke of the Left when he gave the “junta” his
conditional assurance of cooperation and best wishes.
However, Romero
tempted the wrath of the right—leading to his assassination—when he held the
junta’s feet to the fire, consistent with his warnings in this statement, and
denounced the junta’s subsequent betrayal of the promises they made when they
assumed power.
In making the
statement, Romero tells us, he is putting “God first.”
~~~
PASTORAL APPEAL BEFORE THE COUNTRY’S NEW
SITUATION
Bl. Oscar A. Romero
October 16, 1979
Since yesterday
El Salvador has entered a new and delicate situation in its history: a military
insurrection deposed the Government of General Carlos Humberto Romero.
Our Church,
which, from its own identity and by evangelical demand, has committed itself to
accompany the people in all its vicissitudes, feels the responsibility to say
its first word in the face of this new situation. It is not a political word,
but a reflection in the light of our Christian faith. That is why, above all,
it elevates itself to God as a prayer and from there it draws light and energy
to guide the people and interpret, before the new Government, the just
yearnings for liberation of all Salvadorans (cf. GS 42).
“¡Primero
Dios!” (“God first!”)
This characteristically
Salvadoran expression springs from the deep religious sense that the Church nurtures
in the soul of our people. It is her first word and her first attitude.
We raise our
prayer to the Lord of history because “if
the Lord does not build the house, the workers will labor in vain. If he does
not care for the city, his sentinels are watching in vain” (Psalm 127).
Our prayer is
also of thanksgiving to God because—according to the information available to
us—the shedding of blood has been avoided in this event.
Our prayer is
also an offering to the Lord of all the suffering and pain of our people who,
with its blood, has bathed our soil. Let this costly price be sufficient for
God to give us a future of authentic justice and peace.
Finally, our
plea to the Lord becomes a prayer of reparation and a call to conversion,
because hatred and vengeance can never be the way to true liberation. The road
that leads to authentic well-being always passes through justice and love.
To the people
After
addressing God, our word—which is the word of a pastor—is addressed to the people
as a call to rationality and a promise of service.
We understand
that the patience of our suffering people is being exhausted and we fear that
the expectation created by the military insurrection can resolve itself into
dangerous impatience or degenerate into new violence. All the more so, because so
many martyrs and heroes have already come out of this people—the dramatic
testimony of these latter nightmare years.
However, in the
decisive hour that we are living, we want to exhort our people to prudence,
because it is prudent to observe and wait before judging and acting. An
impatient and violent attitude would be as guilty and unjust as the oppression
and repression in which our poor country has been submerged.
Our call is
also addressed to those responsible for the malaise and violence because they
unjustly defend their interests and economic, social and political privileges.
Let us remind them that justice and voice of the poor must be heeded by them as
the very cause of the Lord who calls for conversion and who is to be judge of
all men.
Those who are
active in political parties or popular organizations, we wish to invite to
demonstrate true political maturity, flexibility and capacity for dialogue. Only
in this way can the people be sure that they are truly inspired to work for the
true good of the country. The fanaticism or idolatry of their own party or
organization would be, more than ever, a grave sin against the common good. The
crisis that is threatening to overcome the country cannot be solved by a single
group. Everyone has a part to play in the solution. The whole people,
therefore, must build the “common platform” of their its justice as the basis
of fraternity.
Our message is
not only a call to rationality, but also a promise: the Church commits itself
once again to continue to render its disinterested service in favor of the
people. The new juncture in which the country finds itself does not change in
any way this will to service. It was this sincere desire to serve and defend
the people that led the Church to enter into conflict with the previous
Government. Similarly, that conflict will only be resolved when we have a
government that is also a servant of the people.
To the new Government
Our word finally
addresses the new government that has emerged from the military insurrection which
deposed the previous regime. We have carefully studied the messages expressing
the official thinking of the new Government. In them we recognize goodwill,
clarity of ideas and clear awareness of their responsibility.
However, we
want to make it clear that this government can only deserve the trust and
collaboration of the people when it shows that the beautiful promises contained
in the Proclamation released this morning are not a dead letter, but a true
hope that a new era has begun for our country.
For our part—as
pastor of the Church—we are ready for dialogue and collaboration with the new
Government. We only set out one condition: that both the government and the
Church are aware that our reason for being is service to the people, each from its
own competence (cf. GS 76).
This is our
first word in the difficult road that begins today and we hope, with the help
of God, to continue to illuminate the situation from the Gospel of Christ. May
the Divine Savior guide the footsteps of all men of good will who work for the
construction of justice and peace in our homeland.
