Immortalizing Americas’ San Romero and countless martyrs

March 29, 2021

001 154 — Catholics visit the crypt of the Salvadoran Saint Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero (1917-1980) during the events commemorating the 41th anniversary of his assassination, at the Cathedral of San Salvador, on March 24, 2021. (Marvin Recinos/AFP)

Immortalizing Americas’ San Romero and countless martyrs

On March 24, the United Nations commemorated the International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims.

Little do many people know about this day, but for the Salvadorean people, it is the day they lost their dearly beloved Saint Oscar Arnulfo Romero, globally known as San Romero of the Americas.

Memories of the tiny country of El Salvador came back to my mind in kaleidoscopic vividness. The Carmelite Chapel in San Salvador was a witness to the brutal killing by a mercenary sniper that caused Msgr. Romero’s instant death due to shock and loss of blood.

A day before that fateful day 41 years ago today, in a sermon, directly addressed to the security forces, Msgr. Romero’s call reverberated in all nooks and crannies of his country: “I want to make a special appeal to soldiers, national guardsmen, and policemen: each of you is one of us. The peasants you kill are your own brothers and sisters. When you hear a man telling you to kill, remember God’s words, ‘thou shalt not kill.’ No soldier is obliged to obey a law contrary to the law of God. In the name of God, in the name of our tormented people, I beseech you, I implore you; in the name of God I command you to stop the repression.”