Sommario della Beatificazione Romero

BEATIFICAZIONE DI MONSIGNOR ROMERO, 23 MAGGIO 2015
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Questo è stato originariamente pubblicato in FirstThings.com il 8 Luglio 2015.

L’arcivescovo salvadoregno Oscar Romero, assassinato da un cecchino di destra mentre celebrava la Messa, nel 1980, è stato elevato agli altari in una magnifica cerimonia di beatificazione in San Salvador questo scorso maggio. La beatificazione di Romero ha stato piena di note di riconciliazione, che sembrava segnare la fine ufficiale del lutto per la guerra civile salvadoregna, ufficialmente scatenata dal suo assassinio. Le parole del Salmo 125, intonati dal coro, sembravano riassumere il giorno: “Chi semina nelle lacrime mieterà con giubilo”. Mezzo milione sono stati riuniti intorno a un altare provvisorio rivestito in rosso di martire e sormontato in giallo e bianco i colori del Vaticano, su una iconica piazza di San Salvador chiamata Salvatore del mondo (“El Salvador del Mundo,” l’omonimo santo patrono del paese). Cinque presidenti latinoamericani erano presenti, e sia il Papa e il presidente degli Stati Uniti hanno rilasciato dichiarazioni per l’occasione. Quasi 1.300 sacerdoti hanno concelebrato; la processione di ingresso è durata mezz’ora per completare. L’altare provvisorio è stato sottoposto a da un imponente vulcano, e sormontato da un alone solare inaspettato che è apparso poco dopo proclamata la beatificazione di Romero.

L’altare provvisorio.

Quando il cardinale Angelo Amato, prefetto della Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi—il funzionario vaticano incaricato della cerimonia—entrò nella piazza, sorrideva e salutava, a quanto pare prendendo parte dello stato d’animo di giubilo. Il tono gioioso del coro di 125 membri, a quattro parti ricordava un gruppo evangelico statounitense, e un osservatore inconsapevole potrebbe essere perdonato per non rendendosi conto che questo era la beatificazione di un uomo che ha stato ucciso a soli 35 anni prima in mezzo estesi massacri e una guerra civile fratricida. Tutto ciò che riguarda la scena era in netto contrasto con il terrore di quegli anni. Mentre Romero aveva stato una figura di divisione, era ormai universalmente accolto. La sorella e il figlio del uomo accusato di aver ordinato il suo assassinio aveva posti VIP per la cerimonia. Mentre Romero stato respinto dai suoi colleghi vescovi salvadoregni, i circa cento vescovi alla beatificazione tutti indossavano casule che portano lo scudo vescovile di Romero, e il cardinale Amato indossava una mitra decorata con il motto episcopale di Romero: “Sentir con la Iglesia” (“Sentire con la Chiesa”).

Venditora ambulante guarda la processione dei vescovi.

“Seguendo l’evento, guardando lo svolgimento della celebrazione eucaristica”, ha detto Luis Badilla, un’osservatore della chiesa con sede a Roma, “ha stato una sensazione molto forte che Romero sarà molto contento ... A me questa cerimonia sembra una cerimonia molto mite, molto umile; bellisima.  Non manca niente; non abonda nulla; è una ciremonia povera, nella dignita come era Romero”. L’affluenza è stata almeno pari a, e probabilmente superato, quella delle beatificazioni di Padre Pio, Madre Teresa e di San Josemaría Escrivá, ma tutto è andato senza alcun intoppo.

Leggi il resto di questo articolo (in inglese) in FirstThings.com.

I fedeli si inginocchiano sul marciapiede durante la Comunione.

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Romero and the “Communist Crucifix”

BEATIFICATION OF ARCHBISHOP ROMERO, MAY 23, 2015
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Children examine Bl. Romero's pectoral cross; Evo Morales presents Francis hammer & sickle cross.

 

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Blessed Oscar Romero and Fr. Luis Espinal Camps, SJ, were killed days apart in March 1980.  But they may have been worlds apart in their attitudes about the sacred and the profane.  A minor tempest was unleashed when Bolivian President Evo Morales gave Pope Francis a crucifix designed by Fr. Espinal.  The sculpture took the corpus or body from a traditional crucifix and affixed it to a decidedly untraditional form—the Communist hammer and sickle.

The fusion of the ultimate symbol of Christianity with the ultimate symbol of Communism might suggest a blending of Catholic ideas with Marxism along the lines of the most radical strands of Liberation Theology.  If so, that is a synthesis Romero rejected out of hand.  First, Romero rejected any alliance between the Church and Communism:

·         “The Church cannot be Communist ...  The Church has little interest in whether people have more or less.  The Church, however, is interested in those who have and don’t have, she promotes them and wants them to be truly man and truly woman—to be children of God.” (June 19, 1977 sermon.)

·         “The Church can never be an accomplice of an ideology that attempts to create, on this earth, a kingdom where men and women will be completely happy. In other words, the Church cannot be communist.” (August 21, 1977 Sermon.)

·          “The Church cannot be communist nor the liberator that brings about worldly liberation.” (April 9, 1978 Sermon.)

Secondly, Romero rejected any figurative commingling of the symbols of the Church with political ones.  This was, in part, because he wanted to maintain reverence toward the sacred symbols of the Church.  Miguel Cavada was a Romero scholar who met Romero, and he recalled when activists were chanting political slogans during a funeral mass while the choir was singing Church songs:

·         “Romero then grabs the microphone and says, visibly angered: at least wait until I conclude this Holy Mass; afterwards, out in the street, you can yell all the chants you want, but not in here.” (Cavada interview.)

·         “One cannot insist that the Church or its ecclesial symbols become instruments of political activity … If Christians have matured in their faith and their political vocation, then concerns of faith cannot be simply identified with a specific political concern.  Still less can the Church and the organization be identified as one and the same reality.” (August 6, 1978 Sermon.)

Third and finally, if Fr. Espinal intended his crucifix to only symbolize a “dialogue” between Christians and Marxists, as has been reported, Blessed Romero had some choice advice.  Romero, too, was interested in dialogue with popular organizations, and he made it a high profile component of his pastoral mission to reach out.  In fact, he did so knowing full well that his actions would be distorted, that he would be falsely accused of favoring Communism and that he might well die for it.  In his fourth and final pastoral letter, however, he laid out some concerns about Christian-Marxist dialogue:

·         Marxism, as “a materialistic, atheistic ideology that is taken to explain the whole of human existence and gives a false interpretation of religion … is completely untenable by a Christian.”

·         Even when Marxism is only “understood as a scientific analysis of the economic and social order,” the “magisterium of the church (in Octogesima Adveniens, for example) … prudently warns of possible ideological risks.”

·         Finally, Romero cautioned that “greater hidden dangers” lie in using Marxism as a political strategy, because “Marxist political praxis can give rise to conflicts of conscience about the use of means and of methods not always in conformity with what the gospel lays down as ethical for Christians. Such political praxis can lead to the absolutization of popular political organizations. It can dry up the Christian inspiration of their members, and even cut them off from the church.”

Accordingly, Blessed Oscar Romero entirely foreclosed any fusion between Christianity and Communism and had significant concerns about a “dialogue” between the Church and Marxism (and thus he undertook it with caution).

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Francis and Romero, companions

BEATIFICATION OF ARCHBISHOP ROMERO, MAY 23, 2015
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During his trip to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay, Pope Francis has a traveling companion in Blessed Oscar A. Romero, the martyred archbishop of El Salvador. Many news stories about the trip have mentioned Romero's beatification this past May as one of the salient points of the Bergoglio pontificate and the papal visit’s emphasis on poverty and social inequality make Blessed Romero a point of reference for this visit.

Blessed Romero figured in the trip from the moment the pontiff first stepped onto Latin American soil when President Rafael Correa, in his speech welcoming Francis to Ecuador, said: “Thank God the Latin American Church has given us extraordinary pastors, such as Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero, martyr of our America, recently beatified by you.”

Pope Francis himself framed Romero in a Latin American context when, in his expansive message for the beatification of the martyr, he spoke of a “day of celebration for the Salvadoran nation, and also for the beautiful Latin American countries.” He also said that the message of Archbishop Romero was a call to unity around peace and reconciliation with relevance to the entire continent. “It is to this that the Church in El Salvador, in America and in the entire world is called to today: to be rich in mercy, to become a leaven of reconciliation for society.”

If these statements did not put Romero at the forefront of the news, then the theological message of this trip would make Romero a reference for the apostolic visitation. Responding to the welcome message of the President of Ecuador, His Holiness paraphrased his hope for Latin America: “that the growth in progress and development already registered will be strengthened and ensure a better future for everyone, with particular concern for the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters who are the debt still outstanding in Latin America.” Days before leaving Rome, the Pope published his evangelizing intention for the month of July that would frame his journey: “That, amid social inequalities, Latin American Christians may bear witness to love for the poor and contribute to a more fraternal society.”

All this makes us think of one of the phrases with which Archbishop Romero was elevated to the altars: that he was an “Evangelizer and Father of the Poor.” In his homily at the Bicentennial Park in Quito on July 7, Francis expounded on the subject of evangelization, preaching that “Evangelization does not consist in proselytizing.” Instead of proselytizing, the Pope urged, “may you have the same feelings of Jesus. May each of you be a witness to a fraternal communion which shines forth in our world!  How beautiful it would be if all could admire how much we care for one another, how we encourage and help each other.”

He concluded: “This is what it means to evangelize; this is our revolution – because our faith is always revolutionary –, this is our deepest and most enduring cry.” The Pope's words seem to explain the phrase from the beatification of Archbishop Romero and the praxis of Blessed Romero seems to illustrate the preaching of the pope. By their mutual reference, the Holy Father and the Blessed Romero are fellow travelers in the evangelization of the continent.

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Francisco y Romero, compañeros

BEATIFICACIÓN DE MONSEÑOR ROMERO, 23 DE MAYO DEL 2015
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Durante su viaje por Ecuador, Bolivia y Paraguay, el Papa Francisco tiene un compañero de camino en el Beato Mons. Óscar A. Romero, el arzobispo mártir de El Salvador.  Muchas notas periodísticas sobre el viaje han mencionado la beatificación de Romero este mayo pasado como uno de los puntos resaltantes del pontificado Bergoglio y el énfasis del viaje papal sobre la pobreza y la desigualdad social hacen al Beato Romero un referente para esta visita.

El Beato Romero figuró en el viaje desde el momento en que el pontífice pisó tierras latinoamericanas cuando el Presidente Rafael Correa, en su discurso de bienvenida a Ecuador a Francisco, le afirmó: “Gracias a Dios la Iglesia latinoamericana nos ha dado extraordinarios pastores, como Monseñor Óscar Arnulfo Romero, mártir de nuestra América recientemente beatificado por usted”.

El mismo Papa Francisco enmarcó a Romero en un contexto latinoamericano cuando, en su expansivo mensaje por la beatificación del mártir, dijo que era un “día de fiesta para la Nación salvadoreña, y también para los países hermanos latinoamericanos”.  También dijo que el mensaje de Mons. Romero era una interpelación a la unidad en torno a la paz y la reconciliación con relevancia a todo el continente: “A esto es a lo que está llamada hoy la Iglesia en El Salvador, en América y en el mundo entero: a ser rica en misericordia, a convertirse en levadura de reconciliación para la sociedad”.

Si estas declaraciones no pusieran a Romero al centro de la noticia, entonces el mensaje teológico de este viaje haría de Romero un referente para la visita apostólica.  Respondiendo al mensaje de bienvenida al Presidente del Ecuador, Su Santidad parafraseó su esperanza para la América Latina: “que los logros en progreso y desarrollo que se están consiguiendo se consoliden y garanticen un futuro mejor para todos, poniendo una especial atención en nuestros hermanos más frágiles y en las minorías más vulnerables, que son la deuda que todavía toda América Latina tiene”.  Días antes de partir de Roma, el Papa publicó su intención evangelizadora para el mes de julio que enmarcaría su viaje: “Para que, ante las desigualdades sociales, los cristianos de América Latina den testimonio de amor a los pobres y contribuyan a una sociedad más fraterna”.

Todo esto nos hace pensar de una de las frases con que Mons. Romero fue elevado a los altares: aquello de ser un “Evangelizador  y padre de los pobres”.  En su homilía en el Parque Bicentenario de Quito, Francisco profundizó sobre el tema de la evangelización, predicando que “La evangelización no consiste en hacer proselitismo”.  En vez de hacer proselitismo, exhortó el papa, “tengan los sentimientos de Jesús ¡Sean un testimonio de comunión fraterna que se vuelve resplandeciente! Y qué lindo sería que todos pudieran admirar cómo nos cuidamos unos a otros. Cómo mutuamente nos damos aliento y cómo nos acompañamos”.

Finalizó diciendo: “Eso es evangelizar, ésa es nuestra revolución –porque nuestra fe siempre es revolucionaria–, ése es nuestro más profundo y constante grito”.  Las palabras del papa parecen explicar aquella frase de la beatificación de Mons. Romero y, en torno, la praxis del Beato Romero parece ilustrar esta predicación del papa.  Por esa mutua referencia, el Santo Padre y el Beato Romero son compañeros de camino en la evangelización del Continente.

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Francesco e Romero, compagni

BEATIFICAZIONE DI MONSIGNOR ROMERO, 23 MAGGIO 2015
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Durante il suo viaggio in Ecuador, Bolivia e Paraguay, Papa Francesco ha un compagno di viaggio: il Beato Mons. Oscar A. Romero, l’arcivescovo martire di El Salvador. Molte notizie sul viaggio hanno menzionato la beatificazione di Romero lo scorso maggio come uno dei punti salienti del pontificato Bergoglio e l’enfasi della visita papale sulla povertà e la disuguaglianza sociale fa il beato Romero un riferimento per questa visita.

Il Beato Romero ha stato presente nel viaggio dal momento in cui il Pontefice ha fatto un passo sul suolo latinoamericano quando il presidente Rafael Correa, nel suo discorso di benvenuto a Francesco in Ecuador, ha detto: “Grazie a Dio la Chiesa latinoamericana ci ha dato pastori straordinari, come Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero, martire della nostra America recentemente beatificato per Lei”.

Il stesso Papa Francesco incorniciato Romero in un contesto latino americano, quando, nel suo espansivoa messaggio per la beatificazione di un martire, ha detto che era una “festa per la Nazione salvadoregna, e anche per i Paesi fratelli latinoamericani.” Ha anche detto che il messaggio di monsignor Romero è stato una chiamata all’unità intorno la pace e la riconciliazione con rilevanza per tutto il continente “A questo è chiamata oggi la Chiesa a El Salvador, in America e nel mondo intero: a essere ricca di misericordia, a divenire lievito di riconciliazione per la società”.

Se queste affermazioni non mettono Romero al centro della notizia, Romero sarebbe un riferimento per la visita apostolica dato il messaggio teologico di questo viaggio. Rispondendo al messaggio di benvenuto al Presidente dell’Ecuador, Sua Santità parafrasato la sua speranza per l’America Latina: che “i passi avanti in progresso e sviluppo che si stanno ottenendo si consolidino e garantiscano un futuro migliore per tutti, riservando una speciale attenzione ai nostri fratelli più fragili e alle minoranze più vulnerabili, che sono il debito che ancora ha tutta l’America Latina”. Giorni prima di lasciare Roma, il Papa ha pubblicato la sua intenzione evangelizzatrice per il mese di luglio che avrebbe inquadrare il suo viaggio: “Perché i cristiani in America Latina, di fronte alle disuguaglianze sociali, possano dare testimonianza di amore per i poveri e contribuire ad una società più fraterna”.

Tutto questo ci fa pensare a una delle frasi che hanno portato Mons. Romero agli altari: quella di essere un “Evangelizzatore e Padre dei Poveri”. Nella sua omelia nel Parco del Bicentenario a Quito, Francesco approfondito sul tema dell’evangelizzazione, predicando che “L’evangelizzazione non consiste nel fare proselitismo”. Invece di fare proselitismo, ha esortato il Papa, “abbiate i sentimenti di Gesù! Siate una testimonianza di comunione fraterna che diventa risplendente! E che bello sarebbe che tutti potessero ammirare come noi ci prendiamo cura gli uni degli altri, come ci diamo mutuamente conforto e come ci accompagniamo!”.

E ha concluso: “Questo significa evangelizzare, questa è la nostra rivoluzione – perché la nostra fede è sempre rivoluzionaria – questo è il nostro più profondo e costante grido.” Le parole del Papa sembrano spiegare quella frase della beatificazione di Mons. Romero e intorno la prassi del Beato Romero sembra illustrare questa predicazione del papa. Per questo riferimento reciproco, il Santo Padre e il Beato Romero sono compagni di viaggio nella evangelizzazione del Continente.

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Brockman’s word, remains

BEATIFICATION OF ARCHBISHOP ROMERO, MAY 23, 2015
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Rather than to write a lot of words of praise for Romero: A Life, by James R. Brockman, S.J. (Orbis, 2005), perhaps the highest praise I have given it is to make it the most often cited biography of Blessed Oscar Romero on this Oscar Romero blog.  As the first international biography about Archbishop Romero (the original was published in 1982, just two years after Romero’s death), this book has a “present at creation” quality that lends it added authenticity.  Fr. Brockman’s “just the facts” approach makes him an honest broker who generally lets Romero speak for himself.  Finally, this detached approach notwithstanding, Fr. Brockman is a friend of Romero who becomes a friend of the reader who wishes to be Romero’s friend.

This month, we have examined various books about Romero and I wanted to leave the best for last.  Fr. James Brockman (1926-1999) met Romero in 1978, and he moved quickly to put together his Romero biography, originally called The Word Remains: A Life of Oscar Romero, soon after Romero was killed.  The book was updated on various occasions, including in 1989 when it was significantly expanded and retitled, in part to comport to the title of the movie “Romero,” for which it had been a principal source.  The book shares the movie’s focus on Romero’s years as Archbishop of San Salvador and, also like the film, it presents a profound change in Romero after the assassination of his friend, Fr. Rutilio Grande.

As the original title suggests, the book always had a special focus on Romero’s preaching, perhaps because Romero’s sermons had been transcribed and published locally by the archdiocese and served as one of Fr. Brockman’s most complete documentary resources in researching his book.  This was a happy coincidence, as Romero had attained great renown as a captivating preacher, who made his mark almost entirely through his sermons.  By providing an overview with a broad sampling of memorable passages from Romero’s sermons in translation, Brockman brought Romero’s message and voice to a wide international audience.  In addition, by moving to write his book so quickly, Brockman was able to interview Romero’s collaborators and friends and document their recollections of Romero while their memories were very fresh.

In addition to allowing Romero to speak through his homilies, diaries, letters and other papers, Brockman himself largely steps aside.  He does not include theological analyses, or interpretative theories into which he weaves the facts.  He just lays out the events and mostly lets the readers draw their own conclusions without blatantly imposing his own agenda or spin.  Instead, Brockman makes his views known by the things he chooses to present and the order in which he presents them.  One of the more notable organizational devices in Brockman’s book is that it begins at the moment Romero becomes archbishop, then goes into a flashback recapping all of Romero’s 60 year life before becoming archbishop in a single chapter, before resuming the book with the rest of Romero’s three years as archbishop.  Obviously, that sequencing speaks volumes about what Fr. Brockman thinks is important in Romero’s life.

Finally, Fr. Brockman is a friend of anyone who wishes to befriend Archbishop Romero.  I can say that based on personal experience.  I was a teenager at the time Fr. Brockman’s book was released. I had moved from El Salvador to New York by then, and I used to make a trip to a distant public library that stocked Fr. Brockman’s book every Saturday to commune with Brockman and Romero; I had to take two buses to get there.  Soon, I would strike up a pen-pal correspondence with the author of the first book I found about my childhood hero and I found him to be very generous with his time and indulgent with a naïve Salvadoran kid who dared to think that Romero was a saint.  (Brockman told me he agreed but he tried to let me down gently about any possibility that Romero would ever be formally recognized as such.)  Fr. Brockman left his Romero papers to DePaul University, where serious researchers might commune with Brockman and Romero today.

For its diligent documentation of Romero’s life begun just months after his assassination, its objective approach that let Romero and the facts do the talking, and his personal devotion to the cause, Fr. James Brockman’s word remains an authoritative voice on Blessed Oscar Romero.

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La palabra de Brockman, queda

BEATIFICACIÓN DE MONSEÑOR ROMERO, 23 DE MAYO DEL 2015
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En lugar de escribir muchas palabras de elogio para La palabra queda: Vida de Mons. Oscar A. Romero, por James R. Brockman, SJ (346 págs., Colección Teología latinoamericana, 2da edición, 1987), tal vez el mayor elogio que puedo darle es en haberla hecho la biografía del Beato Óscar Romero que más he citado en este blog sobre Romero. Como la primera biografía internacional sobre Monseñor Romero (publicada en inglés originalmente en 1982, sólo dos años después de la muerte de Romero), este libro tiene una calidad de haber estado “presente en la creación” que le presta autenticidad adicional. El enfoque del padre Brockman sobre “sólo los hechos” lo hace un intermediario honesto que deja a Romero y los hechos hablar por sí mismos. Por último, a pesar de ese enfoque desinteresado, el P. Brockman perfila como un amigo de Romero que se hace amigo del lector que desee ser amigo de Romero.

Este mes, hemos examinado varios libros sobre Romero y quería dejar el mejor para el final. El P. James Brockman (1926-1999) conoció a Romero en 1978, y se mobilizó rápidamente para preparar esta biografía de Romero, originalmente titulada The Word Remains: A Life of Oscar Romero, poco después de que Romero fuera asesinado. El libro ha sido actualizado en varias ocasiones, incluso en 1989, cuando fue ampliado significativamente y retitulado (solo en su versión en inglés), en parte para seguir el esquema de la película “Romero”, para cual había sido una fuente principal. El libro comparte el enfoque de la película sobre los años de Romero como arzobispo de San Salvador y, también como esa cinta cinematográfica, presenta un cambio profundo en Romero después del asesinato de su amigo, el P. Rutilio Grande.

Como lo sugiere el título, el libro siempre ha tenido un enfoque especial en la predicación de Romero, tal vez porque los sermones de Romero habían sido transcritos y publicados localmente por la arquidiócesis y sirvieron como uno de los recursos documentales más completos para el P. Brockman en la investigación de su libro. Esta fue una feliz coincidencia, ya que Romero había alcanzado gran renombre como un predicador cautivador, que dejó su marca principalmente a través de sus sermones. Proporcionando una visión general con una amplia muestra de citaciones memorables de los sermones de Romero, Brockman trajo el mensaje y la voz de Romero a una amplia audiencia internacional. Además, moviéndose a escribir su libro con celeridad, Brockman logró entrevistar a colaboradores y amigos de Romero y documentar sus recuerdos de Romero, mientras que esos recuerdos estaban muy frescos.

Además de permitir a Romero hablar a través de sus homilías, diarios, cartas y otros documentos, Brockman por su parte se hace en gran medida a un lado. No incluye análisis teológicos, o teorías interpretativas en la que sitúa los hechos. Sólo expone los hechos y deja a los lectores sacar sus propias conclusiones sin querer imponer su agenda personal o darle un sesgo a los hechos. Brockman nos hace conocer su punto de vista a través de lo que elige presentar y el orden en que lo presenta. Uno de los esquemas organizativos más notables en el libro de Brockman es que comienza en el momento que Romero es nombrado arzobispo, y luego se revierte al pasado para narrar todos los 60 años de vida de Romero antes de convertirse en arzobispo en un solo capítulo, para luego reanudar con el resto de los tres años de Romero como arzobispo en el resto del libro. Obviamente, esa secuenciación nos dice mucho sobre lo que el Padre Brockman considera que es importante en la vida de Romero.

Por último, el P. Brockman es un amigo de cualquier persona que desee ser amigo de Monseñor Romero. Puedo decirlo en base a mi experiencia personal. Yo era un adolescente en el momento que el libro del P. Brockman fue publicado. Me había mudado de El Salvador a Nueva York en ese entonces, y hacia un peregrinaje cada sábado a una biblioteca pública lejos de mi casa que almacenaba el libro del P. Brockman para estar en comunión con Brockman y Romero; tenía que tomar dos autobuses para llegar. Al poco tiempo, entablé una leve amistad por correspondencia con el autor de lo que sería el primer libro que había encontrado sobre el héroe de mi infancia y encontré que él era muy generoso con su tiempo e indulgente con el ingenuo chamaco salvadoreño que se atrevía a pensar que Romero era un santo. (Brockman me dijo que estaba de acuerdo, pero trató de bajarme suavemente de las nubes sobre la posibilidad de que Romero sería jamás reconocido oficialmente como tal.) El P. Brockman dejó sus papeles Romero a la Universidad DePaul, donde los investigadores serios pueden comulgar con Brockman y Romero en la actualidad.

Por su documentación diligente de la vida de Romero comenzada tan sólo unos meses después de su asesinato, su enfoque objetivo que permiten a Romero y los hechos hablar por si mismos, y su devoción personal a la causa, la palabra del padre James Brockman “queda” como una voz autorizada sobre el Beato Òscar Romero.

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Romero the bishop, yesterday and today

BEATIFICATION OF ARCHBISHOP ROMERO, MAY 23, 2015
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Collage of Romero’s episcopal ordination and the Liceo Salvadoreño today.

 

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This weekend marks the 45th anniversary of the episcopal ordination of Blessed Oscar Romero. On Sunday June 21, 1970 began what we would recognize today as a transformational episcopate that redefined what being a bishop means. That was the opinion of a conference at the University of Notre Dame, which included Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, who referred to Romero as “a bishop for the third millennium.” And Brazilian bishop Pedro Casaldáliga stated that “The history of the Church in Latin America is divided into two parts: before and after Archbishop Romero.” This was said even before his beatification.

If all this seems exaggerated, consider:

• The fact that Romero, in his three years as archbishop addressed the hot topic in the groundbreaking encyclical «Laudato Si'»—as noted in an earlier post—the link between environmental damage and its impact on the lives of the poor.
• Cardinal Peter Turkson, who led the drafting of «Laudato Si'», after presenting at the Notre Dame Conference on Romero, said that “drawing near to Archbishop Romero … I feel encouraged in my role as as President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and a close-co-worker of the Holy Father ... He has given me much to take back to Rome with me.”
• Bishop Romero is conjured, without being named, in the minds of the Latin American episcopate when the Aparecida document summarizes the characteristics of the model-bishop, says Cardinal José Luis Lacunza of Panama.

The epic Romero episcopate began with an investiture ceremony in the gymnasium of the Liceo Salvadoreño, a Catholic high school in San Salvador. The ceremony was organized, as is now known, by Fr. Rutilio Grande, SJ. Grande and Romero were friends; they both lived in the San Jose de la Montaña Seminary, where Father Rutilio was a teacher with the prospect of becoming rector in his future. Romero picked the date based on his devotion to the Virgin of Peace, whose feast is celebrated on November 21 (Romero commemorated it monthly). The ordination was a crowded affair; from San Miguel they came in bus loads. Church and government dignitaries were present, including the President of the Republic. It was a big production, but no one could have suspected that they were celebrating a bishop for the ages.

Collage of Romero’s episcopal ordination and the Liceo Salvadoreño today.

Reviewing the Romero episcopate, we must recognize that it was a story of overcoming, not a sudden triumph. Not only it did success not come overnight, but failure and disappointment were first to arrive. Despite the great hope and good faith of Bishop Romero at the outset, the new bishop was full of doubts. He doubted his own ability, and those who had elected him had chosen mostly for reasons of efficiency and bureaucracy. His administrative responsibilities sharpened Romero’s exclusion from the rest of the clergy, and his natural inclination to be reclusive and independent, as well as his traditionalist tendencies, kept him at the margin of diocesan life. Those years were marked by disappointments and setbacks, including his role in the failed attempt to take over the management of the major seminary on behalf of the bishops' conference. Lack of funds and operational problems dogged the project and it had to be scrapped.

The real change in the episcopal life of Romero occurs almost exactly halfway, when on June 21, 1975—exactly five years since the day of his investiture as bishop—the Salvadoran army committed a peasant massacre in a town called “Las Tres Calles,” which was under the episcopal jurisdiction of Romero at the time. That’s the other anniversary we observe this weekend. When Romero was appointed to the post in Santiago de María a year before, Archbishop Luis Chavez y Gonzalez, then Archbishop of San Salvador, reassured a cleric in the area, saying: “Rest assured, the bishop you are going to have will be a pastor.” Whereas his priesthood had thrived on his administrative skills, Romero the bishop would succeed as a pastor.

Reacting to the Tres Calles Massacre, Romero wrote a letter to President of the Republic, denouncing the killing and demanding justice. Speaking “also on behalf of the voiceless poor,” the Bishop went on record as feeling in complete empathy with the victims in such circumstances: “It broke my heart to hear the bitter tears of widowed mothers and orphans who, between inconsolable sobs, narrated, without any erudite explanations, the cruel blow even as they lamented the state of orphanage they were left in.”

In October of the same year, Romero signed a joint statement with two other bishops denouncing “the disappearance of students, peasants, workers and leaders of marginalized areas” as well as acts of insurrectional violence. Calling for a root cause solution, Romero and two fellow bishops exhorted: “Before the lust for power and money, let us cultivate a sense of service and solidarity, to feel with the needy and effectively assist in their self-realization in a peaceful society, ordered in justice.”

The episcopal motto of Bishop Romero in 1970 “To Feel with the Church” had become “To Feel with the Needy” by 1975, when Romero crossed the halfway point of the decade of his episcopate, two years before being appointed archbishop. Romero himself had explained his pastoral maturation saying: “I ran into misery in Santiago de María.”

The rest is history. In 1977, Romero was appointed Archbishop of San Salvador. According to the biography read by Archbishop Paglia at the beatification ceremony:

The last three years of life Romero spent as Archbishop of San Salvador are the most precious treasure he left us. They were the culmination of his life, even more resembling that of Jesus in his three years of public life.

In his homily for the beatification, Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, called him “a wise bishop” and Pope Francis said in his letter to the Salvadoran Church that Romero was “a zealous bishop who ... became an image of Christ the Good Shepherd.”  By this official endorsement, and by the very fact of his beatification, Romero’s success as a bishop is overwhelming. “I would like to distinguish myself,” Fr. Romero had written on the eve of his episcopal ordination “as the bishop of the Heart of Jesus.” Forty-five years later, we have the Apostolic Letter for Beatification calling him a “Shepherd after the heart of Christ.” We could say: mission accomplished!

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