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Óscar Romero |
Yesterday was the 33rd anniversary of the assassination of Óscar Romero. To honor the occasion, I watched the film titled Romero, which is the story of the period in his life when he served as Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Salvador. The movie is available in it's entirety at YouTube.
Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (August 15, 1917 – March 24, 1980), commonly known as Monseñor Romero, was a priest of the Roman Catholic Church in El Salvador. He later became prelate archbishop of San Salvador. As an archbishop, he witnessed numerous violations of human rights and began a ministry speaking out on behalf of the poor and victims of the country's civil war. His brand of political activism was denounced by the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church and the government of El Salvador. In 1980, he was assassinated by gunshot while consecrating the Eucharist during mass. His death finally provoked international outcry for human rights reform in El Salvador.From Wikipedia.
In the sermon just minutes before his death, Archbishop Romero reminded his congregation of the parable of the wheat. "Those who surrender to the service of the poor through love of Christ will live like the grains of wheat that dies. It only apparently dies. If it were not to die, it would remain a solitary grain. The harvest comes because of the grain that dies… We know that every effort to improve society, above all when society is so full of injustice and sin, is an effort that God blesses; that God wants; that God demands of us."From Caritas Europa.
Never seen "Romero". I like Raúl Juliá though. Any good? ...
ReplyDeleteLovely words in his final sermon. I wonder if the whole sermon is available to read somewhere. I must have a look.
Cathy, The movie is not great, but it is good and worth watching. Raúl Juliá does a fine job as Romero, and the other leads do well in their roles.
DeleteI thought you were lost in space and was about to email you to ask, "Cathy, Cathy, where are you?"
yes sorry again Mimi - been very distracted - work mainly (redundancies happening, all very up in the air), will email xx
DeleteA great man, a saint. Your post led me to go look at his bio in Wikipedia, and this line jumped out at me, about the church in El Salvador:
ReplyDeleteTraditionally, the church had been seen as complicit in the aims of the state and military to privilege the wealthy and powerful while the majority of the population remained in abject poverty.
This has usually been the case, more times than not, all around the world, in all religions. It reveals something dark about human nature, doesn't it. But how particularly appalling in Christianity, which claims to worship a Savior born in the dust and stench of a stable.
Romero did not start out as an advocate for the poor and persecuted, but he listened to them and did not turn away when he came to know of the the arrests, the killings, and the torture. The movie shows Romero's gradual conversion to the cause of the people.
DeleteTo our shame, it was US arms that supported so many of the despots in South and Central America, and governments forces were trained at the infamous School of the Americas at Fort Benning, GA.
Nostra maxima culpa, yes.
ReplyDeleteAmen.
DeleteAB Romero has been a hero of mine even before his death. It always seemed to me that he was living the Gospel as Jesus taught and that is hard to dispute. And so I wonder what his enemies preach? I was never more shocked when JPII shot down Liberation Theology. The official church actually insisted that good men do nothing in the face of the most blatant evil.
ReplyDeleteThe movie was very in-your-face revealing. Well worth watching again!
nij
AB Romero has been a hero of mine even before his death. It always seemed to me that he was living the Gospel as Jesus taught and that is hard to dispute. And so I wonder what his enemies preach? I was never more shocked when JPII shot down Liberation Theology. The official church actually insisted that good men do nothing in the face of the most blatant evil.
ReplyDeleteThe movie was very in-your-face revealing. Well worth watching again!
nij
I was never more shocked when JPII shot down Liberation Theology.
DeleteWhat a tragedy that was, Nij.
The film is very much worth watching, despite the flaws. After what I thought was a slow start, the pace picked up, and I was quite caught up in the rest of the story.