The title of this brief piece on Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero (IN PHOTO) is not adopted in order to be part of the celebrations of the Year of the Eucharist, but rather to highlight the fact that Archbishop Romero celebrated his Sunday Eucharist in such a manner that he not only proclaimed the faith but denounced the injustices the poor of his country, El Salvador, were suffering at the hands of the oligarchy and the military.

His Eucharistic celebrations were truly acts of thanksgiving and invitations of hope to the oppressed and of conversion to the oppressors. It is reported that both friend and foe alike, and even those who lived outside of El Salvador listened to these Sunday sermons, part of the liturgy of the Word in the Eucharistic celebration.

Rediscovering his roots

When his nomination as archbishop of San Salvador was announced on February 3, 1977 , many of the ruling elite saw it as a triumph for the status quo, convinced that he was their choice and would not rock the boat.

The reaction from the majority of priests and also from the bishop whom he was to succeed was one of disappointment, as they would have preferred Bishop Rivera Damas, who was much more in tune with the struggles of the people of Latin America. But whatever forces helped the nomination of Romero, the Holy Spirit was to transform him into a true pastor of his people, a voice for the voiceless and a beacon of hope for Latin America .

A salient hour of his conversion, or as he preferred to refer to it, “rediscovering his roots” came about three weeks after his ordination as Archbishop of San Salvador when a young Jesuit priest Rutilio Grande, whom he had known for over ten years, his 12 year old acolyte, and a senior catechist were assassinated while on their way to celebrate Mass in the village of El Paisnal on March 12, 1977.

Along with the Jesuit Provincial, Archbishop Romero celebrated Mass in the small village church of Aguilares , where the three bodies were lying in state on the dirt floor. Following the Mass, he spent part of the night in prayer with the rural people, who had come from far and wide to pay their respects to their fallen pastor.

As he related this experience later on, Archbishop Romero said that night he read the Gospel message anew “through the eyes of the poor and the oppressed.” This “conversion” was soon to express itself in some bold decisions, which he made after much consultation with the priests and the people.

A faith that finds expression in the struggle for justice

Soon after returning to San Salvador following his night in prayer and sorrow with the poor and the marginalised in Aguilares, Archbishop Romero met with his priests and lay councillors and made public the following decisions:

•  To suspend all activities in the Catholic schools and universities, and all other Catholic institutions of learning until a time to be determined;

•  To call on all members of the hierarchy not to participate in official government functions, until there is a sincere and open investigation into the assassinations, especially of Church personnel, including the killing of Fr Grande, his altar server and his catechist;

•  To set up a Watchdog Committee on the violations of human rights in the country;

•  To celebrate only one Mass in the capital of San Salvador at the cathedral on the Sunday following the assassination of Fr Rutilio Grande and his helpers. All others churches were to be closed for that day, March 20, 1977.

All of these decisions set a new direction for the Church and its archbishop for which he was to pay the supreme price, his life. But Archbishop Romero was conscious that to take a stand for justice was to face the anger and hatred of those who benefit from injustice, the economically and militarily powerful.

On this issue of the archbishop's martyrdom, Karl Rahner, writing in Concilium , a theological periodical, in March 1983 argues that the Church needs to rethink its classical concept of martyrdom which is rooted in “hatred of the faith” ( odium fidei ) to include those who are killed on account of “hatred of justice” ( odium iustitiae ).

Ranher considers Romero an obvious example of one who was killed because of a hatred of justice.

The above decisions by themselves might have soon lost their impact but for the fact that Archbishop Romero celebrated the Sunday Eucharist of March 20 with 150 concelebrants and an estimated crowd of over 100,000 in attendance and this was seen as both a protest to the government and an act of solidarity with Fr Grande and those who had died for the cause of justice.

His sermon that day and for the Sundays which followed until his death were to reflect the suffering of the poor and the oppressed as he had heard it all from themselves; he became the voice of the voiceless, a mission which deepened his faith as it strengthened his sense of God's justice.

He was able to write in reference to this mission: “If I denounce and condemn injustice, it is because this is my duty as pastor of an oppressed and downtrodden people. The Gospel enjoins me to do this and, in its name, I am ready to go before the courts, to prison and to death” (Homily – May 14, 1978).

His spirit will live on

His death came at the hands of a hired gunman, who shot him during his homily in the chapel of Divine Providence hospital on the evening of March 24, 1980 , three years after his ordination as archbishop of San Salvador . Of his death, he had this to say to a journalist who questioned him about his death threats:

“May my death, if accepted by God, be for the freedom of my people and as a witness to hope in the future. You can say, if they come to kill me that I forgive and bless those who do it. Hopefully they may realise that they are wasting their time. A bishop will die, but the Church of God , which is the people, will never perish.”

The day before in his homily of Sunday, March 23, he preached on the commandment “Thou shall not kill” and directed his final words of the homily to the Salvadoran soldiers: “Stop the oppression in the name of God! Do not obey orders to kill your brothers and sisters!”

It was fitting that he should be rewarded with the gift of martyrdom while preaching during his celebration of the Eucharist. It is God who chose him to be his witness and pastor of his people of El Salvador , and it is God who today has brought peace and some relief to the people.

But the struggle from the faith perspective for justice continues as the people of El Salvador and the vast majority of the people of Latin America still live in dire poverty. Archbishop Romero continues to be an inspiration to us all as we in turn grapple with the injustices of today's world.

As the people of God, we have the duty to live our preferential option for the poor in concrete ways so that our faith will be a clear sign of hope and an expression of love for our brothers and sisters. In this way, the spirit of Archbishop Romero will live on gloriously in the virtue of solidarity.