ROMERO then and now

ROMERO then and now

          In 1998, the ten niches which Nicholas Hawksmoor in the 18^th. Century had left vacant over the door of Westminster Abbey were filled by ten modern martyrs of which one was Romero. It is hoped that visitors to the abbey will be reminded of the individual stories of heroic faithfulness.

Slain Archbishop Romero’s “Cause” was opened in Rome in 1997 and Pope John Paul II bestowed on him the title “Servant of God.” Since then the bureaucratic wheels have turned slowly, and Romero’s disconsolate devotees will have to exercise some more patience. Canonisation is a long gruelling process, the end product of which would be the official recognition of Romero as a Christian martyr who courted death for the faith. Right after his murder his body was placed in one of the cathedral’s naves, a spot that was soon laden with votive items and thanks memos for favours received and, indeed, miracles worked. Pope John Paul II himself, in his two visits to El Salvador, included a spot of prayer at Romero’s tomb. This was later transferred to the crypt where other archbishops are interred. His is spacious enough for the offering of weekly Masses in anticipation of the festive anniversary of his death every month of March. Unending streams of visitors have forced the crypt to be kept open everyday. The Divine Providence Hospital that witnessed his martyrdom and his personal living quarters have also become hallowed spaces for prayer and contemplation. It is a known fact that shortly after Romero’s death, the Brazilian liberation theologian Bishop Pedro Casaldaliga called him “St. Romero of the Americas” (and not merely of El Salvador).

Hailed as the “universal Salvadorean”, his journey was nonetheless a chequered one. Initially, he was held in high dudgeon by the establishment (political and religious) and even many years after his assassination. Many conservative Catholics and groups associated with the political Right do not share the common people’s enthusiasm for him, and find fault with promoter groups, thereby preventing Romero’s life and legacy from entering the school curriculum. Hopefully the new government will use their good offices to place him as an integral part of the nation’s history. They are further irritated by the UN Truth Commission (1992) that has identified the founder of the death squads and the intellectual author of Romero’s assassination.

A salubrious sea change began to blow over mainstream Salvadoreans after the elections of 2009 (just last year) that brought the left wing FMLN party to power, headed by its Catholic leader Mauricio Fumes, who made the grand gesture of dedicating his presidency to Archbishop Romero. His government promised a complete and impartial investigation into the assassination of the late Archbishop, and a public apology to Romero’s family and the Salvadorean people who had been denied justice for so many years. Invoking Romero’s memory in his presidential address, Fumes declared, “I reaffirm today my preferential option for the poor, as it was expressed by our martyred bishop and spiritual guide of the nation, Monsenor Oscar Arnulfo Romero.”

We may confidently believe that while the Vatican’s official seal is being moulded and burnished, the Monsenor is already, indeed, ranked among the Communion of Saints of the Church Triumphant.