Tuesday, August 31, 2021

The Key to the Salvadoran Martyrology

 


[ Español ]

#Beatification

#Canonization

 

Martyrs are perennially the best the Church has to offer,” Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chávez (photodeclared at a press conference last Friday after the announcement that he will lead the beatification of four new martyrs in El Salvador on January 22, 2022. (The new blesseds will be the Jesuit Fr. Rutilio Grande, the Franciscan Friar Cosme Spessotto and the laymen Manuel Solórzano and Nelson Lemus.)

Rosa Chávez posits a constant truth in the history of the Church: martyrs are the highest exemplars of holiness and that’s the reason the catalogue of saints is referred to as the "martyrology." That is why the ancient father of the Church Tertullian famously said “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church.” Their example is so powerful and compelling that it energizes the growth of belief. Somehow, though, we have managed to make it very complicated with the bureaucratic process for the recognition of new martyrs.

Part of the complication arises from the fact that the study of each case takes so long that the results do not come out — as we can see in the case of these new martyrs from the Salvadoran Civil War — until the conflict that produced their deaths has been resolved and archived. When the result finally comes out, all the urgency and immediacy that drove that cause has already dissipated. For this reason, during the process for the now sainted Oscar Romero, many wished to hasten the process so that the declaration of his holiness could bring relief and encouragement to the suffering, to the poor who desperately looked to him.

This attenuation between the martyrs and the elapsed history in which their martyrdom took place requires a gloss that explains the importance and implications of their martyrdom. For the four new martyrs for El Salvador, there is no greater reference guide for their martyrdom than the work of Saint Romero: above all, his homilies and his pastoral letters.

The biographer of the soon-to-be-Blessed Rutilio Grande has said that “Archbishop Romero cannot be understood without Rutilio Grande” — meaning that it was the murder (we would say martyrdom) of Grande that moved Romero to prophetically denounce that injustice and many others. But we can say in a similar fashion that Rutilio and the other martyrs cannot be understood without Romero's teaching, which explains why these Christians were so immersed in that cruel Salvadoran reality, what their ministry consisted of, and what violent reaction awaited them, among so many things catalogued so systematically in Romero's opus, which is a true theology of martyrdom in El Salvador. Romero expressed his ecclesial vision thus: “a Church that is alive, a Church of martyrs, a Church that is filled with the Holy Spirit” (Dec 31, 1978 Hom.). This is the Church that will be presented on January 22, 2022 in the atrium of the Salvadoran Cathedral.

The beatification of Grande, Spessotto, Solórzano and Lemus is the second installment required to understand the Salvadoran martyrology. The first installment was the canonization of Romero. But alongside the beatification of these new martyrs is another installment, which is Romero's teaching. There is still another chapter that is the recognition of WOMEN’S martyrdom, but we will leave that for another day.

La Clave del Martirologio Salvadoreño

 


[ English ]

#Beatificación

#Canonización

Siempre los mártires son lo mejor que tiene la Iglesia”, declaró el Cardenal Gregorio Rosa Chávez (foto) en una conferencia de prensa el viernes pasado tras el anuncio de que será el purpurado quien estará a cargo de la beatificación de cuatro nuevos mártires en El Salvador el 22 de enero del 2022. (Los nuevos beatos serán el jesuita P. Rutilio Grande, el franciscano Fray Cosme Spessotto y lo los laicos Manuel Solórzano y Nelson Lemus.)

Rosa Chávez propone una verdad constante en la historia de la Iglesia: los mártires son los máximos ejemplares de santidad y por eso el elenco de los santos se llama el “martirologio”. Por eso el antiguo padre de la Iglesia Tertuliano dijo famosamente “La sangre de los mártires es la semilla de la Iglesia”. Su ejemplo es tan poderos y convincente que energiza el crecimiento de los creyentes. Pero, de alguna manera, como que lo hemos vuelto más complicado con el proceso burocrático que produce el reconocimiento de nuevos mártires.

Parte de la complicación surge de que se tarda tanto el estudio de cada caso que los resultados no se dan—como vemos en el caso de estos nuevos mártires de la Guerra Civil Salvadoreña—hasta que el conflicto que causó su muerte ha quedado superado y archivado. Cuando se da el resultado, ya toda la urgencia e inmediación que impulsó aquella causa ya se ha desgastado. Por eso, durante el proceso del ahora santo San Óscar Romero, muchos hubiesen querido apresurar el proceso para que la declaración de su santidad llevara alivio y aliento al sufrido pueblo, a los pobres que de él dependían.

Este distanciamiento entre estos mártires y aquella historia ya archivada en que se dio su martirio requiere de una glosa que explique la importancia y las implicaciones de ese martirio. Para los cuatro nuevos mártires de El Salvador, no existe mayor guía de referencia para explicar sus martirios que la obra de San Romero: más que todo, sus homilías y sus cartas pastorales.

El biógrafo del próximo beato Rutilio Grande ha dicho que “Mons. Romero no se comprende sin Rutilio Grande”—queriendo dar a entender que fue el asesinato (diríamos martirio) de Grande lo que conmovió a Romero para impulsarlo a denunciar esa injusticia y muchas otras proféticamente. Pero podemos decir de igual manera que no se entiende a Rutilio ni a los otros mártires sin el magisterio de Romero que nos explica por qué estaban estos cristianos tan inmersos en la cruel realidad salvadoreña, en qué consistía su ministerio, y que reacción violenta les esperaba, entre tantas cosas plasmadas tan sistemáticamente en la obra de Romero, que es una verdadera teología del martirio en El Salvador. La visión eclesial de Romero la expresó así: “esta Iglesia que son ustedes, tan viva, una Iglesia tan mártir, una Iglesia tan llena del Espíritu Santo” (Hom. 31 dic. 1978). Es la Iglesia que se va a presentar el 22 enero de 2022 en el atrio de la Catedral salvadoreña.

La beatificación de Grande, Spessotto, Solórzano y Lemus es la segunda entrega en para entender el martirologio salvadoreño. La primera entrega fue la canonización de Romero. Pero a la par de la beatificación de estos nuevos mártires va otra entrega, que es la enseñanza de Romero. Todavía falta otro capitulo que es el reconocimiento del martirio MUJER, pero eso lo dejamos para otro día.

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Saints for Our Time

 


Introduction

 The canonization of the four U.S. Catholic women killed in El Salvador in Dec. 1980 is “an idea whose time has come.” [FN1.] The canonization of Archbishop Romero in October 2018, and the upcoming beatifications of Frs. Rutilio Grande and Cosme Spessotto, also killed in El Salvador as martyrs, may make this a “propitious” moment to ponder sainthood for the U.S. women who were killed for similar reasons. [FN2.] 

The four missionaries should be formally proposed as saints “because they are women, and in El Salvador, women were killed for the faith alongside men in barbaric numbers, yet we think of the Latin American martyrology as a male institution,” but “[i]t is not.” [FN3.] 

Additionally, the fact that Jean Donovan, a laywoman who had completed missionary training at a Maryknoll center, was killed in the massacre illustrates how the laity, too, paid with their lives for following the Gospel. [FN4.]  The presence of lay missionary Jean Donovan in the group is also a reminder that many laypeople — catechists, delegates of the word, sacristans, volunteers and simple parishioners — also shed their blood in this great persecution.” [FN5.] 

The murder of the U.S. churchwomen shocked the world because it was abhorrent to the international community’s sense of decency to respond with such vile hatred toward those advancing the common good. [FN6.] 

The Facts of Their Martyrdom

 Jean Donovan was devoted to Saint Oscar Romero, and often went to the cathedral to hear him preach. [FN7.] After his assassination on March 24, 1980, about eight months before their own murders, she and Sister Dorothy Kazel took turns keeping vigil at Romero’s coffin during his wake, and they were in the overflow crowd at his funeral. [FN8.] 

At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, December 2, 1980, Dorothy Kazel and Jean Donovan drove to the San Salvador airport to pick up Ita Ford and Maura Clarke, who were returning from a religious conference in Nicaragua. [FN9.] All the women except Donovan were Roman Catholic nuns. [FN10.] Ford, 40, and Clarke, 49, belonged to the Maryknoll Order. Kazel, 40, belonged to the Ursuline Order. [FN11.] Donovan, 27, the youngest, was a lay worker who had recently given up a job with Arthur Andersen to volunteer in El Salvador. [FN12.] 

Subsergeant Luis Antonio Colindres Alemán, the officer in charge of the airport detachment of the Guardia Nacional, made a telephone call to an unknown superior who told him to execute the operation to eliminate the churchwomen. [FN13.] Colindres has never testified as to who issued the order to him. [FN14.] Nevertheless, after presumably receiving an order to do so, Colindres commissioned five Guardia officers to carry out the mission. [FN15.] When Ford and Clark's flight was delayed, uniformed soldiers boarded a plane at the San Salvador airport and questioned a different nun. [FN16.] 

After the plane arrived, the women drove in a van toward Teoteque in La Libertad, a coastal region of El Salvador, south of the airport. [FN17.] Unbeknownst to them, Colindres and his men had set up a double roadblock along the road. [FN18.] At the first roadblock, Guardia officers screened vehicles. [FN19.] When they discovered the van carrying the nuns, they were to divert it to the second roadblock, where Colindres and his men, now in civilian clothes, lay in wait. [FN20.] A van carrying a Canadian delegation was stopped and questioned at length. [FN21.] 

The women were stopped, taken to an isolated location, and questioned. [FN22.] Colindres made a telephone call, apparently to ask for orders. [FN23.] When Colindres returned, he ordered the women shot. [FN24.] When his subordinates asked him if there were written orders to that effect, Colindres said yes. [FN25.] The men raped and killed the women and left their bodies on the side of the road. [FN26.] The next day, the churchwomen's burned van was found. [FN27.] A local justice of the peace ordered that the bodies of the women be buried in shallow, roadside graves after a furtive initial investigation failed to identify the bodies as those of the missing American churchwomen. [FN28.] 

The Case for Sainthood 

The canon law standard for establishing martyrdom would require the proponents of the women’s cause to prove that they were killed in «odium fidei» (out of “hatred of the faith”) by showing: (1) a cruel or violent death; (2) freely accepted by the victims; (3) imposed out of hatred of the faith. [FN29.] To do this, the cause for the women could rely on the arguments used to support St. Oscar Romero’s martyrdom; after all, “they were killed the same year as St. Romero, in the same country and for the same cause.” [FN30.] Thus, “if he was a martyr [FN31] and a saint [FN32], it follows that they are, too, unless someone can prove otherwise.” [FN33.] To prove St. Romero’s martyrdom, his postulators showed that: I. there was persecution in El Salvador; II. its violence was directed toward members of the Church; III. the same persecution impacted the women. «Positio Super Martyrio» for Saint Oscar Romero, chapter XX. [FN34.] 

St. Romero himself gave a heartfelt protestation of the widespread persecution: 

In less than three years more than fifty priests have been attacked, threatened and slandered. Six of them are martyrs, having been assassinated; various others have been tortured, and others expelled from the country. Religious women have also been the object of persecution. The archdiocesan radio station, Catholic educational institutions and Christian religious institutions have been constantly attacked, menaced, threatened with bombs. Various parish convents have been sacked. 

[FN35.] In the same year the U.S. churchwomen were killed, at least twenty priests and religious workers were killed also, including the four women and the Archbishop. [FN36.] One list of Church casualties, maintained by the Jesuit University of Central America, named two bishops, sixteen priests, one seminarian, three nuns and at least twenty-seven lay workers who were assassinated during the conflict, in a country the size of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. [FN37.] 

It will not be hard to prove widespread persecution. After all, the same sociopolitical milieu that led to the women’s deaths has already produced five martyrs from the diminutive country (Romero, Spessotto, and Grande and his two peasant companions). If the cause for the women’s canonization is introduced today, it would probably take at least five years for the process to run its course so that, by the time it came on for hearing at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, its researchers and experts would already have a more or less established play book for El Salvador. Similar use of templates facilitated the processing of sainthood causes from countries whose internal conflicts churned out large numbers of martyrs, such as Spain and Mexico and, more recently, former Nazi and Communist countries. 

Nor will it be hard to prove that the women were motivated by Christian fervor and had gone to Salvador at the instigation of a saint (Romero). The Salvadoran “play book” will also show that the risks involved in taking up a “committed” position vis-à-vis the poor was well understood in the circles of Salvadoran society, such that the women were well aware of the danger to their lives and therefore they knowingly accepted those risks. 

Conclusion 

Therefore, short of some dramatic or scandalizing discovery—and none is believed to have been detected or even suspected—there is no reason to decline a canonization process for the women where one was pursued for St. Oscar Romero and the Venerables Spessotto and Grande. If anything, the reasons for pursuing sainthood causes for them abound, in part because they were women and one of them was a lay person.

 

 Notes: 

1.      See Rhina Guidos, “Some say it’s time to discern sainthood for U.S. women slain 40 years ago,” Catholic News Service, available at http://licatholic.org/some-say-its-time-to-discern-sainthood-for-u-s-women-slain-40-years-ago/.

2.      Id.

3.      Id.

4.      Id.

5.      Id.

6.      See Carlos X. Colorado, “Justice and the Generals: Holding foreign military officers accountable for rape and extrajudicial killing; the case of the U.S. Churchwomen killed in El Salvador,” 12 Southern California Review of Law and Women’s Studies 107, 113-114, Fall 2002.

7.      See InterReligious Task Force on Central America (IRTF), “Martyrs of Central America and Colombia, Sr. Dorothy Kazel, Jean Donovan, Sr. Maura Clarke, Sr. Ita Ford.” Original link: http://www.irtfcleveland.org/Churchwomen_Biographies.htm (archived here).

8.      Id.

9.      See Colorado, supra.

10.  Id.

11.  Id.

12.  Id.

13.  Id.

14.  Id.

15.  Id.

16.  Id.

17.  Id.

18.  Id.

19.  Id.

20.  Id.

21.  Id.

22.  Id.

23.  Id.

24.  Id.

25.  Id.

26.  Id.

27.  Id.

28.  Id.

29.  See William H. Woestman, Canonization: Theology, History, Process 143 (St. Paul University, 2002)

30.  See Guidos, supra.

31.  See Nicole Winfield, “Pope decrees slain Salvadoran Archbishop Romero a martyr,” Associated Press, February 3, 2015, available at https://apnews.com/article/4c5ce0bfa85d47bca21dd3da75cf9644.

32.  See “Pope: ‘Saints risk everything to put the Gospel into practice’,” Vatican News, October 10, 2018, available at https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-10/pope-francis-canonization-mass-paul-vi-romero0.html.

33.  See Guidos, supra.

34.  See also “How they proved Romero’s martyrdom,” «Super Martyrio» Blog, February 10, 2015, available at http://polycarpi.blogspot.com/2015/02/how-they-proved-romeros-martyrdom.html.

35.  See Colorado, supra, 12 So.Cal. Rev. L. & Women's Stud. at 130 (citing Romero’s Feb. 2, 1980 speech at Lovaine University, Belgium).

36.  See Colorado, supra.

37.  Id.

 

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Romero’s Fortieth, online


[ Español ]



Today’s 40th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Oscar Romero has been a subdued affair, given the state of affairs with the COVID-19 pandemic, which has put El Salvador under one of the strictest quarantines in the world (mostly preventative; there are relatively few cases). As a result of this situation, commemorations are largely private affairs, with masses and vigils that usually take to the streets going online this year. So too are private reflections, and I want to share my own with you.

My main reflection this year is a piece I wrote for Catholic News Service, in which I reflect on the passage of forty years and the biblical significance of that period of time. In the Bible, forty years represents a generational change, a time when people who may have been around originally have passed away, resulting in a change in the spirit, atmosphere or dynamics of a situation. Using this standard, we can look at the world in which St. Romero died, and our own world, and recognize many significant changes.

Few places are those changes more remarkable than in El Salvador. In a post on El Salvador Perspectives, I lay out the changes in El Salvador which accompanied Romero’s changing fortunes, as he went from a taboo subject to an ubiquitous presence that nonetheless seems “hidden in plain sight.” It was very special to write this piece because the blog’s author, Tim Muth, was an early and consistent supporter of my own blogs.

Writing for El Salvador under quarantine is as unique an angle as I have ever had to consider, but that angle was put in even more intense focus in a post I wrote for Where Peter Is, a new influential Catholic site of associated pro-Francis bloggers. In this post, I defended the Church’s decision to cancel public masses in favor of broadcasted or webcasted masses, using St. Oscar as a reference point, in particular certain aspects of martyrdom which are misunderstood by some hardliners.

Here, in my own blog, I posted Spanish-language pieces intended for a Salvadoran audience on the 40th anniversary of Romero’s last Sunday sermon (the so-called “Fire Sermon” in which he exclaimed, “Stop the repression!”) yesterday, and a piece today about commemorating Romero in an intimate, family setting (as opposed to in a large gathering, as had typically been the case). I also shared this paper cut-out of a Romero light for home use!

Finally, the Vatican also was ‘Johnny on the Spot’ this year, with Vatican News stories and a video, in English, Spanish and Italian, on Romero’s legacy on the 40th anniversary of his martyrdom. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints also disseminated its robust page on Romero, including materials from his beatification and canonization (so far, only in Italian).

I will update other sources, to include other notable reflections authored by others.

San Romero — Cuarenta & Cuarentena


[ English ]

Una ramita de romero en casa, y al santo en el corazón”. Con ese eslogan, el Cardenal Gregorio Rosa Chávez promovía hace un par de años una peregrinación al pueblo natal de San Óscar Romero, invitando al mismo tiempo a los fieles a sembrar la planta aromática que lleva su nombre en cada hogar. Sin saberlo, el purpurado estaba preparando la celebración del 40° aniversario del martirio de Romero que se marca hoy en El Salvador sin misas públicas, sin procesiones, sin conciertos—todas las actividades acostumbradas para un aniversario de Romero—a causa del Coronavirus. (El cardenal está, de hecho, guardando cuarentena por haber viajado afuera del país y haber estado obligado a hacerlo al volver.)
Para este magno aniversario, se les ha pedido a los salvadoreños conmemorar a Romero en casa: poniendo velas en las ventanas, aflorando un altar, subiendo una selfie con su homenaje. De hecho es “Romero en casa y el santo en el corazón”.
Ha de ser la celebración de Romero más intima que se ha tenido, y esto ofrece muchas posibilidades más que todo espirituales para los salvadoreños. En primer lugar, se trata del 40° aniversario, un plazo que tiene gran significado en la Biblia. En el Viejo Testamento, es un periodo generacional, que marca un cambio de épocas. Por ejemplo, Dios exilia los israelitas al desierto por ese tiempo, “hasta que fue acabada toda la generación de los que habían hecho mal ante los ojos del Señor” (Números 32, 13). La pandémica del COVID-19 tiene todas las marcas de un episodio apocalíptico, y la cuarentena en que se celebra este aniversario aproxima un exilio. También hace pensar de la Pascua judía, el Pésaj, cuando la muerte “saltó” las casas de los justos que pintaron sus puertas con la sangre de un cordero. Quizá los salvadoreños que pongan velas para recordar la sangre de Romero puedan esperar que esta plaga salte sus umbrales.
En segundo lugar, la intimidad de esta conmemoración hará de ella necesariamente una ocasión básicamente familiar. La beatificación de Romero en El Salvador reunió a un mar de fieles; su canonización en Roma también fue multitudinaria, como lo han sido las procesiones y grandes liturgias que siempre han marcado la fecha de su martirio. Han sido ocasiones internacionales en su alcance, y ciertamente nacionales: del pueblo. Esta vez no. Esto quedará en familia, y eso cambia radicalmente el carácter de los que se celebra. Puede ser de verdad “Romero en casa y el santo en el corazón”. Las posibilidades son grandes. Cabe que una abuela o abuelo hable por primera vez abiertamente con sus nietos sobre Romero, sobre la guerra, sobre aquellas cosas que jamás se han dicho: que fulano fue partidario de la derecha, que tu tío mengano fue de la guerrilla, y cosas de ese estilo. Esto puede ser así muy grande.
Finalmente, en tercer lugar, el ambiente sombrío de este aniversario tiene mucho en común con la época del asesinato de Mons. Romero. La generación que no había nacido cuando San Romero ofrendó su vida puede probar la amargura de estar escondidos, sin poder salir, en un ambiente de pavor, de muerte, bajo Estado de Sitio. Y tal como Romero ayudo a la generación anterior a vivir su hora negra señalando los acontecimientos en la Biblia y las enseñanzas de los antiguos profetas, ahora esta generación puede dejarse guiar del profeta que vivió en El Salvador antes de que ellos nacieran.
Romero en casa y el santo en el corazón”.

Monday, March 23, 2020

De los 40 años desde ‘El sermón del fuego’


[ English ]

Hace cuarenta años, Mons. Romero pronunció su inmortal homilía del Quinto Domingo de Cuaresma del ciclo litúrgico “C”. La llamo así porque seguramente Romero así ideó su sermón basado principalmente en la parábola de la adúltera que iba a ser apedreada, aunque el resto del mundo recuerda la homilía por su dramática frase culminante, “¡Cese la represión!” Esta breve reflexión sobre la última homilía dominical de Romero busca recordar su contexto teológico, repasar su impacto social y analizar la aplicabilidad del mensaje a nuestro momento.

Primero, vale recordar el marco de referencia que el mismo Romero dio a su homilía. Al presentarla, Romero trazó los puntos esenciales de su homilía, titulada “La Iglesia, un Servicio de Liberación Personal, Comunitaria, Trascendente”, así:

Estos tres calificativos marcan los tres pensamientos de la homilía de hoy: 
1º. La dignidad de la persona es lo primero que urge liberar. 
2º. Dios quiere salvar a todo el pueblo. 
3º. La trascendencia da a la liberación su verdadera y definitiva dimensión.
Es evidente que Romero quería desprender de la parábola de la adúltera la lección de que la ley no se puede aplicar arbitrariamente, sin tomar en cuenta la dignidad humana. Los que acusaban a la mujer estaban dispuestos a apedrearla sin más, a aplicar la ley sin la misericordia o cualquier otra consideración para evitar su muerte. En cambio, Jesús la defiende y acusa a los acusadores: ‘Aquel que esté sin pecado, que tire la primera piedra’. Para Romero, esto implica toda una serie de conclusiones que derivan del concepto “La ley para el hombre, no el hombre para la ley”. No se puede hacer caer sobre la dignidad de las personas ideologías—ya sean marxistas o capitalistas—o legalismos, ni mucho menos ordenes de seguridad nacional para reprimir el pueblo. Desde esa línea de pensamiento deriva directamente la famosa frase final: “En nombre de Dios, pues, y en nombre de este sufrido pueblo cuyos lamentos suben hasta el cielo cada día más tumultuosos, les suplico, les ruego, les ordeno en nombre de Dios: ¡Cese la represión!

Esta frase ha tenido un impacto tremendo. Inmediato. Al siguiente día, Mons. Romero fue asesinado, se cree, basado en esta frase. He oído a expertos que dicen que al escuchar las palabras pronunciadas por Mons. Romero inmediatamente presumieron que sería asesinado—es más, algunos de los que lo aconsejaban al arzobispo le rogaron no pronunciar estas palabras ya que presentían el grave peligro que resultaría. La valentía de Romero en pronunciarlas es parte de la potencia de las palabras. “¡Nadie hará callar tu última homilía!”, declaro don Pedro Casaldáliga en su famoso poema. La frase ‘¡Cese la represión!’ ha sido reproducida en camisetas, stickers, y consignas y ha sido hasta transmitida a alto volumen hacia instalaciones militares estadounidenses. El activista John Dear ha calificado la homilía como la más grande interpelación por la justicia social en la historia de la Iglesia latinoamericana desde el sermón de Fray Antonio Montesinos en defensa de los indígenas en 1511.

Aquí una pequeña corrección: la frase ha sido históricamente interpretada como una invitación a la desobediencia, incluso en su momento, la dictadura salvadoreña dedujo que Romero estaba haciendo un llamado a la insubordinación de los soldados contra sus superiores, que podía provocar una sublevación formal. Esa interpretación se entiende, ya que Romero deja claro que los soldados deben desacatar ordenes inmorales: “Ningún soldado está obligado a obedecer una orden contra la Ley de Dios. Una ley inmoral, nadie tiene que cumplirla”. Sin embargo, el punto de referencia correcto NO sería la rebeldía sino que la obediencia: la obligación. El punto no es llamar a la gente a desobedecer a nadie, sino llamar a todos a OBEDECER A DIOS. Se trata de la primacía de la ley de Dios: “ante una orden de matar que dé un hombre, debe de prevalecer la Ley de Dios,” dice Romero (el énfasis es mío). Esto deja entrever que la lección tiene un aspecto positivo (obedecer la ley de Dios) y un aspecto negativo (desobedecer la ley del hombre cuando esta contradice la ley de Dios).

Esto nos trae a nuestro momento. Es interesante ver los paralelos: un sentido de crisis, una escala ascendiente en espiral de muerte. En el segmento de la vida nacional de la homilía, Romero hace un catálogo detallado de las muertes: 600 muertos identificados por Amnistía Internacional tras una exhumación de cadáveres, 140 muertos por un Estado de Sitio que vio varios enfrentamientos incluyendo un tiroteo contra la Universidad de El Salvador, 9 campesinos muertos en la población de San Bartolo Tecoluca, 25 campesinos muertos en San Pablo Tacachico, y varios otros casos que Romero informa que incluyen muertes y asesinatos en Arcatao, en Calera de Jutiapa, en El Jocote, en Mogotes Tacachico, y en la UCA. Una verdadera “pandémica”. Ante todos estos, Romero proclama que “la Pascua es grito de victoria, que nadie puede apagar aquella vida que Cristo resucitó y que ya la muerte, ni todos los signos de muerte … podrán vencer” (el énfasis es mío).

También vemos en los dos casos—el de entonces y el de hoy—un paralelo en el actuar del estado, la imposición de la ley, la intervención fuerte de un gobierno. Estado de Sitio. Las calles patrulladas. Las fuerzas del gobierno desplegadas por todo el territorio, imponiendo la voluntad estatal. Hasta algunos han sentido el instinto de la rebeldía: el querer desobedecer. Aquí es donde se tiene que analizar bien lo que dijo Romero: diferenciar la intención de la ley, de la orden que se enfrenta: ¿es orden para matar, o es orden para el bien común? ¿Es orden que ofende la dignidad de la persona, o es una ley que quiere salvaguardar el bienestar del pueblo?

Aquí repito a Romero:

Estos tres calificativos marcan los tres pensamientos de la homilía de hoy: 
1º. La dignidad de la persona es lo primero que urge liberar. 
2º. Dios quiere salvar a todo el pueblo. 
3º. La trascendencia da a la liberación su verdadera y definitiva dimensión.

Los principios aplican—porque son eternos y universales—pero hay que saber aplicarlos. Siempre desobedecer a algo implica obedecer a algo.

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Romero and Rutilio

“The Great Amen” by Peter Bridgman




The announcement of the approval of the martyrdom of the Salvadoran Fr. Rutilio Grande highlights the friendship of this new personality headed to the altars with the most famous Salvadoran martyr Saint Oscar Romero. The two men were friends, and the martyrdom of the now venerable P. Grande in 1977 is seen as the trigger for the martyrdom of St. Romero three years later. In this post, we will see that the truth is a multi-layered story, which turns on the mystery of the enigmatic friendship between a conservative bishop and a progressive, younger priest.

The first take on the relationship between Romero and Grande comes through sources such as the “Romero” movie (1989), which portrays the murder of the priest as moving the archbishop such that it leads to a “conversion” in his way of analyzing Salvadoran reality, and eventually leads to his own martyrdom. “It is impossible to understand Romero without understanding Rutilio Grande,” says Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the Roman postulator of Romero’s canonization cause. Although most people familiar with the subject would consider it an exaggeration to say that the death of Grande was the only factor in Romero’s “conversion,” it is generally acknowledged that the murder provided a substantial boost to a process that was many years in the making. At a minimum, it helped Romero recognize the injustice of repression when it befell a priest he knew and about whom it would be hard to say that he instigated violence or deserved such a brutal death.

We cannot imagine Father Grande,” Romero said six months after his death, “hating, asking for vengeance or inciting violence.  These words were the slanderous words of his assassins.  Those who knew him know that it was impossible for him to have feelings of hatred in his heart even though his assassins were able to and continue to imagine such a reality.” (November 1, 1977 Homily.)

A second way of analyzing the relationship between Romero and Grande is from the interpersonal standpoint: two human beings and their friendship. But, like “The Odd Couple” in Neil Simon’s play, Romero and Grande come across like characters who should not be friends. This is the central mystery of their friendship: Romero got along well with Grande precisely at a time when he alienated himself from the young progressive clergy in San Salvador, in the early 1970s, and when he had a conflictive relationship with the Jesuits (Grande was a Jesuit). Father Rodolfo Cardenal, SJ, historian of Father Grande’s beatification cause, admits that “there is not much information on the development of the friendship.” Therefore, it is not known precisely how they met, what they had in common, and what kept them together: “But there is evidence that [their friendship] was strong and ran deep.”

In her book, Rutilio Grande: A Table for All, Rhina Guidos presents Rutilio and Romero as two sides of the coin in relation to the Church. They perfectly embody the two currents in conflict in the Latin American Church after the Second Vatican Council: Rutilio with his broad and reformist vision, and Romero with an approach attached to hierarchy and tradition. However, honor, love for the Church and genuine loyalty (because they were real friends) keeps them together, like Pironio and Quarracino in Argentina.

José Inocencio “Chencho” Alas, a former Salvadoran priest who met them both, says: “Father Rutilio had no ideological barriers, he was kind and helpful to everyone. He was a pastor just like Saint Oscar. “

A third approach tries to explain the Romero-Rutilio relationship from a psychological point of view. Father Cardenal explains: “They met at the seminary, at a time when both were going through difficult times.” It was 1967, and Romero had been both named a monsignor and secretary of the episcopal conference, transferred from his home province of San Miguel after twenty years working there, to work in the capital San Salvador where he had no allies. Father Grande finds him a room in the seminary, which was run by the Jesuits, in which Grande was positioning himself to become the rector. Romero is made a bishop and he asks Grande to organize the ordination ceremony, which he does with such attention to detail, that Romero, an infamous perfectionist, is eternally impressed. “At culminating moments in my life, he was very close to me and I will never forget his gestures of friendship,” Romero would remember at Grande’s funeral. (Hom. 14-Mar.-1977; see also dramatization from “Romero” film.)

However, Grande provokes the establishment with a bold homily and loses the favor to become the rector, while Romero also finds conflict in his work as auxiliary bishop. Romero ends up bishop of a rural diocese, and Grande pastor of a marginal parish. Grande’s generosity with Romero, and their mutual adversity seems to have linked the two clerics, and perhaps also the similarity between Grande and a friend from Romero’s youth, Msgr. Rafael Valladares, who also passed away before he turned 50 (Valladares died at 48 and Grande at 49).

A fourth reading, more spiritual but related to the first, is the one that sees Grande as a precursor prophet for Romero — there has been talk of Grande as John the Baptist, who announces the coming of one greater than he. Pope Francis also speaks in spiritual terms when he refers to Romero as “Rutilio Grande’s first miracle.” Cardinal Angelo Amato, former prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, presented the two martyrs as partners in a shared ministry when he beatified Romero: after the assassination of Grande in 1977, “the peasants were now orphaned of their good father and Romero wished to take his post.” (Beatification Homily, May 23, 2015.) Romero takes Grande’s place to sub in as ‘Father of the Peasants.’ It is an idea echoed among the Salvadoran faithful, who claim they heard Grande’s prophetic tone in Romero’s preaching as soon as he began to denounce the assassination. In any case, a theological relationship is attributed, not just one of cause and effect on the human plane, but also in the encounter between the actions of men and the providence of God.

Finally, a fifth view of the relationship between Fr. Grande and Archbishop Romero is based on the first perspective, but modifies it to account for the remaining information, to reach an integral analysis of the facts: Yes --- Rutilio Grande pushed Abp. Romero to conversion, but he did so from before his assassination. In other words, it was not only Rutilio’s death that inspired Romero, but also his life. In fact, Rutilio also underwent a sort of “conversion” of his own, leaving the comfort of the seminary to immerse himself in the life and cause of the poor. Pope Francis himself highlights that option: “He left the 'center' to move to the outskirts. He was a great one.” Rutilio was also radicalized, which is evidenced in his style of preaching through the years. But he never departed from his essentially ecclesial mission: he died en route to celebrate a St. Joseph novena (just as Romero died celebrating mass). Romero took note of it, and he was impacted by the example.

Romero and Rutilio: friends, an odd couple, embodiments of competing Church models, associate prophets, or a template and imitator? It may be that each of these paradigms takes us a little closer to the truth about these two men that the Church now proposes as models of holiness.

Romero y Rutilio

El Gran Amén” de Peter Bridgman

[ English ]

El anuncio de la aprobación del martirio del P. Rutilio Grande ha puesto en relieve la amistad entre este nuevo personaje que va rumbo a los altares y el más famoso mártir salvadoreño San Óscar Romero. Los dos eran amigos, y el martirio del ahora venerable P. Grande en 1977 ha llegado a ser visto como el detonante para el martirio de san Romero tres años después. En esta nota veremos que la verdad es una historia de varias capas, que envuelven el misterio de la enigmática amistad entre un obispo conservador y un cura ‘progre’.
La primera toma de la relación entre Romero y Grande viene a través de fuentes como la película “Romero” (1989) en cual el asesinato del sacerdote conmueve tanto al arzobispo que le provoca una “conversión” en su manera de analizar la realidad salvadoreña y lo conduce a su propio martirio. “Es imposible comprender a Romero sin comprender a Rutilio Grande”, afirma monseñor Vincenzo Paglia, el arzobispo postulador romano de la causa de canonización de Romero. Si bien la mayoría de los conocedores del tema consideran que es una exageración decir que la muerte de Grande fue el único factor en la “conversión” de Romero, casi todos reconocen que el asesinato dio un gran impulso a un proceso que ya venía en desarrollo desde muchos años. Como mínimo, le ayudó a Romero reconocer la injusticia de la represión cuando le cayó sobre un sacerdote que conocía y que difícilmente se podía acusar de haber provocado la violencia o haber merecido una muerte tan brutal.
No podemos imaginar al Padre Grande”, dijo Romero a seis meses de su muerte, “odiando, pidiendo venganza, azuzando a la violencia, como se le calumnió. El que lo conoció sabe que aquel corazón era imposible para estos sentimientos de odio, que los vulgares asesinos se pueden imaginar y lo imaginan, en su corazón de sacerdote y de apóstol”. (Homilía del 1 de noviembre de 1977.)
Una segunda forma de analizar la relación entre Romero y Grande es desde el punto de vista interpersonal: dos seres humanos y su amistad. Pero como “La Pareja Extraña” de la obra teatral de Neil Simon, Romero y Grande nos parecen personajes que no deberían ser amigos. Esto es el misterio central de su amistad: Romero se llevó bien con Grande precisamente en un momento en que se enajenó del clero joven progresista en San Salvador, a principios de la década de los 70, y que se enemistó con los jesuitas (Grande era jesuita). El P. Rodolfo Cardenal, SJ, historiador de la causa de beatificación del P. Grande, admite que “no hay muchos datos sobre el desarrollo de la amistad”. Por ende, no se sabe con precisión cómo se conocieron, que cosas tenían en común, y qué fue lo que los unía: “Pero hay evidencia de que [su amistad] era fuerte y profunda”.
En su libro, Rutilio Grande: A Table for All (“Rutilio Grande: Una Mesa Para Todos”), Rhina Guidos presenta a Rutilio y Romero como dos caras de una moneda en cuanto a la Iglesia se refiere. Encarnan a cabalidad las dos corrientes en conflicto en la Iglesia Latinoamericana después del Concilio Vaticano Segundo: Rutilio con su visión amplia y reformista, y Romero con un acercamiento apegado a la jerarquía y la tradición. Sin embargo, el honor, el amor a la Iglesia y la verdadera fidelidad (siendo verdaderamente amigos) los mantiene unidos como a Pironio y Quarracino en Argentina.
Dice José Inocencio "Chencho" Alas, exsacerdote salvadoreño que los conoció a los dos: “El P. Rutilio no tenía barreras ideológicas, con todos era amable y servicial. Era un pastor al igual que San Óscar”.
Un tercer vistazo trata de explicar la relación Romero-Rutilio desde un punto de vista psicológico. Lo explica el P. Cardenal: “Se conocieron en el seminario, cuando los dos pasaban por malos momentos”. Era 1967, y Romero había sido nombrado tanto monseñor como secretario de la conferencia episcopal, trasladado de su provincia natal San Miguel después de veinte años ahí trabajando, a trabajar en la capital San Salvador donde no tenía aliados. El P. Grande le encuentra un lugar en el seminario, operado por los jesuitas, en cual Grande se estaba posicionando para ser el rector. Romero es nombrado obispo y le pide a Grande organizar la ceremonia de ordenación, cosa que hace con tanta atención a los detalles, que Romero, un infame detallista, queda eternamente impresionado. “En momentos muy culminantes de mi vida él estuvo muy cerca de mí y esos gestos jamás se olvidan”, recordaría Romero en sus funerales. (Hom. 14-mar.-1977.)
Sin embargo, Grande provoca al establecimiento con una homilía atrevida y pierde el favor para ser rector, mientras que Romero como obispo auxiliar también encuentra conflictos en su trabajo. Romero termina obispo de un área rural, y Grande pastor de una parroquia marginal. La generosidad de Grande con Romero y la mutua adversidad parece haber ligado a los dos clérigos, y tal vez también la similitud entre Grande y un amigo de la juventud de Romero, Mons. Rafael Valladares, quien también falleció antes de cumplir los 50 años (Valladares vivió a los 48 y Grande a los 49).
Una cuarta lectura, más espiritual pero relacionada a la primera, es la que ve a Grande como un profeta precursor de Romero—se ha hablado de Grande como Juan el Bautista, que anuncia la venida de uno aún más grande que él. El Papa Francisco también habla en términos espirituales cuando se refiere a Romero como “el primer milagro de Rutilio Grande”. El Cardenal Ángelo Amato, ex prefecto de la Congregación para las Causas de los Santos, al beatificar a Romero presentó a los dos mártires como integrantes de un ministerio compartido: después del asesinato de Grande en 1977, “los campesinos estaban ahora huérfanos de su padre bueno y Romero quiso tomar su puesto”. (Homilía, Beatificación, 23 de mayo del 2015.) Romero agarra el lugar de Grande para sustituirlo como el ‘Padre de los Campesinos’. Es una idea que encuentra expresión entre los fieles salvadoreños, que han asegurado escuchar el mismo tono profético de Grande en la prédica de Romero desde que comenzó a denunciar el asesinato. De todos modos, se supone una relación teológica, no solo de causa y efecto en el plano humano, sino que en el encuentro entre el actuar de los hombres y la providencia de Dios.
Finalmente, una quinta vista a la relación entre el P. Grande y el arzobispo Romero se basa en la primera lectura, pero la modifica según la demás información para lograr un análisis integral de los hechos: Sí---Rutilio Grande empujó a mons. Romero a la conversión, pero lo hizo desde antes de su asesinato. O sea, no fue solo la muerte de Rutilio que inspiró a Romero, sino también su vida. De hecho, Rutilio también sufrió su propia “conversión”, dejando la comodidad del seminario para sumergirse en la vida y la causa de los pobres. El mismo Papa Francisco destaca esa opción: “Dejó el centro para ir a las periferias. Fue un grande”. Rutilio también se radicalizó, cosa que se evidencia en su estilo de predicar a través de los años. Pero nunca se apartó de su misión sumamente eclesial: murió en ruta a hacer una novena de San José (así como Romero murió celebrando misa). Romero se dio cuenta, y de alguna manera se dejó impactar por el ejemplo.
Romero y Rutilio: ¿amigos, un par extraño, representantes de modelos enfrentados de Iglesia, profetas asociados, o ejemplar e imitador? Puede ser que cada uno de estos esquemas nos lleve un poco más cerca a la verdad sobre estos dos hombres que la Iglesia ahora propone como modelos de santidad.

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Saint Romero’s «Quadragesimo Anno»



This year marks the fortieth (40th) anniversary of the martyrial death of Saint Oscar Romero. That is why the Salvadoran Church has declared a Jubilee Year that includes other milestones in the Salvadoran martyrology, which is expected to have four new blessed this year: Fr. Rutilio Grande and his two companion martyrs, as well as Fr. Cosme Spessotto, an Italian priest killed in 1980, for whom this year will also mark four decades since his martyrdom. Finally, this year will also be the 40th anniversary of the deaths of four American women killed by the Salvadoran army in December 1980, and the 50th anniversary of the oldest Salvadoran martyr, the almost forgotten (but recently recovered) Fr. Nicolás Rodríguez, killed in 1970. These dates are all featured in the Romero 40th Jubilee Year.

The message of the Salvadoran bishops announcing the Jubilee Year places it in the context of several outstanding issues challenging Salvadoran society, including the need for “an authentic National Reconciliation Law” in the Central American country, which experienced a bloody internal conflict between 1980 and 1992. The specter of this conflict is haunts this anniversary, which in its biblical connotation, implies a generational change and comes as El Salvador has elected a president who is not from the political parties associated with the war, but from a newly formed one, with the evocative name “New Ideas”. (However, events in progress in which the president took the Legislative Assembly accompanied by an army detachment have raised serious doubts in some sectors about the validity of reforms.)

In the Church, the 40th anniversary of Romero’s martyrdom appears to be reinterpreted in the light of generational changes in the social doctrine of the Church, which under the teaching of Pope Francis (on the fifth anniversary of «Laudato Si» and the wake of the publication of the post-synodal exhortation «Querida Amazonía») focuses on environmental considerations. Not surprisingly, in the framework of the Jubilee Year, the Rutilio Grande Vicariate of the San Salvador Archdiocese presented a seminar entitled “The Environment in the Light of Thought of Monsignor Romero.” In Canada, the Dominican Pastoral Institute has entitled its 40th anniversary commemoration “Nonviolent Action and Ecological Crisis: Oscar Romero, an inspiring figure for today.” And the national needs highlighted by the Salvadoran bishops included the need for a law to protect the water.

In London, the Romero Trust has scheduled speeches in various cities by the theologian Edgardo Colón-Emeric, entitled “Romero 40 years on.” Colón-Emeric is the author of a book on Romero's theological vision, which focuses on the mystery of the transfiguration. Colon-Emeric hopes that his work will inspire academics to think in solidarity with the poor inspired by Romero's vision, which is summed up in his saying: “Gloria Dei, vivens pauper”: “The glory of God is that the poor should live.” The dissemination of Romero's thought could also pave the way for his eventual recognition as a “Doctor of the Church.”

This blog predicts that there will be news for the Romero anniversary in March regarding the beatification causes of Frs. Grande, Spessotto and their fellow martyrs — possibly as soon as next week — which will make Romero, the only canonized saint of El Salvador, for the moment, the patriarch of the Salvadoran martyrs during his Jubilee Year.

El «Quadragesimo Anno» de San Romero


[ English ]

Este año marca el cuadragésimo (40°) aniversario de la muerte martirial de San Óscar Romero. Por ello la Iglesia Salvadoreña ha declarado un Año Jubilar que comprende otros hitos en el martirologio salvadoreño, que espera contar este año con cuatro nueve beatos: el Padre Rutilio Grande y sus dos compañeros mártires, como también el Padre Cosme Spessotto, sacerdote italiano asesinado en 1980, para quien también se estarán marcando cuatro décadas de su martirio. Finalmente, este año también marca el 40° aniversario de las mujeres norteamericanas asesinadas por el ejército salvadoreño en diciembre de 1980, y el 50° aniversario del más antiguo mártir salvadoreño, el casi olvidado (pero recientemente recuperado) P. NicolásRodríguez, asesinado en 1970. Las fechas de todos estos mártires figuran en las conmemoraciones del Año Jubilar.

El mensaje de los obispos salvadoreños que anunciaba el Año Jubilar lo ubica en el contexto de varios temas pendientes en la sociedad salvadoreña, incluyendo “una auténtica Ley de Reconciliación Nacional” en el país centroamericano que vivió un fratricida conflicto armado entre 1980 y 1992. El espectro de ese conflicto ronda en el trasfondo de este aniversario, que por su connotación bíblica, implica un cambio de generaciones y se da cuando El Salvador ha elegido a un presidente no proveniente de los partidos políticos asociados con la guerra, sino de uno recién formado, con el nombre evocador de “Nuevas Ideas”. (Sin embargo, eventos en desarrollo en que el presidente tomó la Asamblea acompañado por una tropa han causado graves dudas en algunos sectores sobre la veracidad de los cambios.)

En la Iglesia, el 40° aniversario del martirio de Romero parece ser reinterpretada a la luz de cambios generacionales en la doctrina social de la Iglesia, cual bajo el magisterio del Papa Francisco (en el quinto aniversario de «Laudato Si» y el año de la publicación de la exhortación postsinodal «Querida Amazonía») se centra en consideraciones ambientales. No sorprende entonces que en el marco del Año Jubilar la Vicaría Padre Rutilio Grande de la Arquidiócesis de San Salvador presente un seminario titulado “Medio Ambiente a la Luz del Pensamiento de Monseñor Romero”. En Canadá, el Instituto Pastoral Dominicano ha titulado su conmemoración del 40° aniversario “Acción no violenta y crisis ecológica: Óscar Romero, una figura inspiradora para hoy”. Entre las necesidades nacionales resaltadas por los obispos es la necesidad de una ley para proteger el agua.

En Londres, la Romero Trust ha programado discursos en diversas ciudades del teólogo Edgardo Colón-Emeric, titulados “Romero 40 años después”. Colón-Emeric es el autor de un libro sobre la visión teológica de Romero, que encuentra su foco en el misterio de la transfiguración. Colón-Emeric espera que su obra inspire a los académicos a pensar en solidaridad con los pobres desde la visión de Romero, que se resume en su dicho: “Gloria Dei, vivens pauper”: “La gloria de Dios es que el pobre viva”. La propagación del pensamiento de Romero podría también abonar su eventual reconocimiento como un “Doctor de la Iglesia”.

En las causas de beatificación de los PP. Grande, Spessotto y compañeros mártires, este blog pronostica que habrán noticias ya para el aniversario Romero en marzo—posiblemente tan pronto como la próxima semana—lo que convertirá a Romero, el único santo canonizado de El Salvador, por el momento, en el patriarca de los mártires salvadoreños durante su Año Jubilar.

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Romero For Doctor - 2019 Report

St. Romero figured at the Amazon Synod in October.


The movement in the nomination of any candidate for Doctor of the Church advances at a glacial pace and therefore I even wondered if it was worth offering an end-of-year balance in the case of St. Oscar A. Romero, the Salvadoran martyr who was just barely canonized in October 2018. Reacting to demands that we might call “dottore subito” (doctor right away), similar to the ones that called for John Paul II to be canonized immediately, the current archbishop of San Salvador asked Pope Francis to initiate a process to name Romero “Doctor of the Church” the day after he was canonized.

Despite the slow motion that usually characterizes such a process, there is enough to report to justify this post. First, Eminens Doctrina can confirm a predictable and not altogether surprising application of brakes to the request from some sectors to open a process in the Vatican, perhaps to avoid having a premature or runaway cause. The Roman authorities have confirmed that it is too early to begin a process with any seriousness, given that the opening of such a case presumes that the candidate’s teachings have been widely disseminated and absorbed, which for Archbishop Romero, it is still too early to say.

On another note, the death of Fr. Robert Pelton and Archbishop Leon Kalenga, the most enthusiastic promoters of the cause, has made 2019 an annus horribilis for the doctoral cause. Father Pelton proposed Romero as a “Pastoral Doctor of the Universal Church” in March 2017. The proposal was taken up in May of that year by Archbishop Kalenga, then Apostolic Nuncio in El Salvador, who presented it to an assembly of the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM), “spontaneously and effusively inciting great and massive applause,” according to a CELAM report. Both had continued cheering on the cause from their respective posts. In fact, Archbishop Kalenga identified it as a to-do item he assigned to his successor in his farewell address when Nuncio was appointed in Argentina.

Archbishop Kalenga died on June 12 in Rome, after a serious illness. The Congolese prelate was a canonist and had some closeness with Pope Francis, who appointed him as his representative for his homeland. This should have given him great authority to promote the cause. Archbishop Kalenga is credited with mobilizing the Salvadoran episcopal conference to promote the cause for the beatification and canonization of the first Salvadoran saint. When the new Nuncio in El Salvador, Archbishop Santo Gangemi, celebrated the Mass for the first anniversary of Romero’s canonization this year, his lengthy homily did not speak about “Romero, doctor of the Church.”

Father Pelton died on November 4 at the age of 98. Among his pending projects, he was compiling a history of Latin American theology, in which he situated both Archbishop Romero and Pope Francis. He also wanted to establish an advisory board made up of theologians and scholars to coordinate research and studies on Romero to provide support to the Salvadoran Church to promote Romero’s cause for doctor. I know, because Fr. Pelton had invited me to join the project. With his death, there is no one left who would call me to talk about Romero, Doctor of the Church. It may well be that some may accept my call and talk enthusiastically about the issue, but now there is no one who would initiate such a call.

Another death of a great Romero devotee came when Robert Waldrop, founder of the Oklahoma City “Oscar Romero” Catholic Worker House died on August 30. Although he was neither a cleric nor a theologian nor a scholar, Waldrop helped spread the Romeroist spirituality. In 2002, he presented “Seven Lent Sermons by Oscar Romero”, a collection of fragments of homilies, grouped into seven headings, which this blog will publish next year. Waldrop also wrote prayers and other works of spirituality in homage to Romero and other saints and heroes of social justice, including Dorothy Day and Stanley Rother, among others. Waldrop was a great fighter and a great Catholic worker.

But not all the news is discouraging. An important, positive development was that the influential theologian Gustavo Gutierrez has endorsed the idea of ​​Romero, doctor, calling it an “excellent” initiative. To the extent that Fr. Gutierrez, “Father of Liberation Theology,” is an influential theologian, he could urge other theologians to study Romero and incorporate him into their analysis, which would help advance the cause. Gutierrez has experienced a kind of vindication in Peru, where he was recently awarded an honorary doctorate and was praised by the new Archbishop of Lima Carlos Castillo (“He taught us to see reality with the eyes of the poor “). Another positive note that may go unnoticed is the vote by the conference of American bishops in favor of granting the title Doctor of the Church to the former Christian Father San Irenaeus. The import is that Irenaeus was a martyr, and his acceptance would leave the field free for other martyrs, including St. Oscar Romero (until now, no martyr has been named a doctor).

The first Salvadoran saint will also have company next year, when Eminens Doctrina predicts that there will be four new blessed—martyrs, all—from the Central American nation. In the first quarter of the year, favorable decrees can be expected for Fr. Rutilio Grande, S.J. and his two companions, Manuel Solorzano and Nelson Lemus, killed in 1977, as well as Father Cosme Spessotto, OFM, of Italian birth, but murdered in El Salvador in 1980. The new blesseds will raise the profile of Saint Romero, as he tops the list. As Francis said in 2014: “there are others who were killed, but none as prominent as Romero.”

Finally, Pope Francis was asked when he was returning from his recent trip to Asia if he was still planning to publish an encyclical on just war theory. It has been thought that this would include some reference to Romero, who discussed nonviolence in his fourth pastoral letter. “Yes, the project is there, but the next Pope will do it, because I barely have time,” Francis said with his usual candor. “There are other projects on the back burner ...: one on peace for example, it is there, it is maturing.” This is another thing that would help a lot to promote the doctorate, but for now there is little movement.

Therefore, 2019 cautions us to moderate expectations and settle in for a long wait.

The Key to the Salvadoran Martyrology

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