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Photo: Wikimedia Commons · Óscar Romero

San Salvador

Óscar Romero · El Salvador

Óscar Romero was a cautious, bookish priest when he became archbishop of San Salvador in 1977. When his friend, the Jesuit Rutilio Grande, was murdered weeks later, Romero began to speak out on the radio every Sunday against the killing of poor farmers. On 24 March 1980 he was shot while celebrating Mass in the chapel of the Divina Providencia hospital. Today you can visit that chapel and the small house where he lived, and his tomb lies in the crypt of the cathedral.

Did you know?

He was made a saint in 2018. His statue stands above the west door of Westminster Abbey in London.

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An inspiring story

The archbishop who changed

What does it take for a careful person to become brave?

Óscar Romero was chosen as archbishop in 1977 because he was quiet and careful. Three weeks later his friend, the priest Rutilio Grande, was murdered for standing up for poor farmers. Romero stood by the body all night. Why did that change him? Because he saw that staying silent meant choosing the side of the killers. From then on he became the voice of the voiceless, reading out on the radio every Sunday the names of people who had been killed or had disappeared.

On 24 March 1980 he was shot while celebrating Mass. The quiet man had become the conscience of a whole country.

Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.John 12:24, from Romero's last sermon

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