Remembering Oscar Romero: God Hears the Cries of the Poor

 

Today is the anniversary of Oscar Romero's assassination in 1980.  Since several readers have mentioned in comments here lately that they don't know much about Romero, in commemoration of his life and profound witness to the gospel, I thought I'd point readers to some valuable resources to learn more about Romero.

The first is a wonderful set of articles and liturgical resources about Romero at the U.S. Catholic website.  The second is a collection of Romero's homilies, in a volume entitled The Violence of Love, compiled and translated by James R. Brockman, SJ.  It's online at the Plough website, and has a good foreword by Henri Nouwen.

Finally, I never think of Romero and the struggle of the poor in Latin America for socioeconomic security and humane lives without thinking of the magnificent 1986 film "The Mission," tracking the history of the establishment of the Jesuit Reductions in Paraguay.  Here's a YouTube clip of Carlo Romano and the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI playing the theme music of the film, "Gabriel's Oboe":

And, since one memory always links to another, remembering Romero and "The Mission" always brings to my mind the memory of the wonderful Jesuit whose scholarly work laid a foundation for "The Mission," C.J. McNaspy, the anniversary of whose death in 1995 recently came around.  Not only did C.J.'s book on the Jesuit Reductions play a role in providing the scholarly underpinnings for the 1984 Roland Joffé film, but he served as a musical advisor for the film, as well.

C.J. was my teacher when I was an undergraduate at Loyola in New Orleans.  I learned much from him--about music, philosophy, history.  But above all about the Jesuit ideal of living as a man for others.  His stories about what some of the early advocates of integration in New Orleans--he was among them--endured as they met and planned strategy in a culture hostile to racial reconciliation were hair-raising, and very moving.  These were people who put their lives on the line, as did Romero, to proclaim the gospel.

And so I never think of Romero without thinking of C.J.  Both are saints who occupy prominent spots on my own personal iconostasis.  C.J. died soon after Steve's and my careers as Catholic theologians were definitively ruined by what Belmont Abbey College chose to to do us, by firing us without providing a reason for the firing in my case, and on spurious grounds in Steve's case.  He was very unhappy about this, since he had recommended us for our jobs there.

And, above all, because he believed profoundly in justice and charity.  And so I pray to C.J. McNaspy along with Oscar Romero for the reform of our church, and for its renewed commitment to justice and charity for everyone, including those on the margins of church and society.

One More Piece Worth Reading Now: Michael Sean Winters on Obama's Visit to Romero's Tomb

In my posting earlier today, I provided a link to a posting at Jayden Cameron's Gay Mystic blog with a video of a recent performance in Prague of Rene Ochoa's Misa del Pueblo to honor St. Óscar Romero.  (I have my own iconostasis of saints, which doesn't always correspond to ones Rome has officially canonized--Oscar Romero is on my iconostasis.)

And now I'm seeing Michael Sean Winters' latest posting at his blog site at National Catholic Reporter, noting that President Obama will visit the tomb of Óscar Romero this coming Wednesday.  If I'm not mistaken, that's the vigil of Romero's martyrdom.  As Winters notes, this presidential act is of great symbolic importance, since Romero was gunned down by troops armed and egged on by the United States.

As he also says--and I agree wholeheartedly--if the President of the U.S. can understand the significance of Romero, it's puzzling that Rome seems unable to do so, and continues to drag its feet re: the canonization of Romero.

One of the reasons I continue to oppose the canonization of John Paul II is that John Paul treated Romero shamefully, and placed a moratorium on his canonization.  To canonize the pope who had decided to remove Romero from his position in the Salvadoran church shortly before Romero was assassinated, who shunned Romero on one occasion when Romero sought an audience with him, and who then blocked his canonization for a period of time, scandalizes me.

To canonize John Paul II while Romero, who was martyred for his faith and is widely venerated as a saint by the poor of Latin American, remains uncanonized is a scandalous decision on the part of the Vatican.  There may not have been banners at Romero's funeral saying, Santo subito!, bought and paid for by conservative Catholic groups.  And there may not have been an orchestrated, bought and paid for campaign by some Catholics to have Romero canonized immediately.

But the poor of his nation, among whom he walked and with whom he showed solidarity, even to the extent of laying down his life for them, were there in droves.  Even when they knew that violence would likely be directed at those attending the funeral--violence coming from the same people who put Romero to death.  And there was, with some of those attending the funeral murdered. 

The decision to move forward John Paul's canonization while putting Romero's in limbo is a statement about how the Vatican regards the struggling people of Latin America and the worth of their lives.  A scandalous statement.  In the extreme.

(And I hope that as Obama visits Romero's tomb, the saint will cause the president to reflect a little about his unconscionable decision to up the ante of war in recent days.)