Evening Prayer on the Feast of St. Oscar Romero

111 Whalley Avenue,New Haven CT 06511

24 March, 2022

Description

With this Evening Prayer service on our Facebook Page, we honor St. Oscar Arnulfo Romero, (https://www.facebook.com/WhalleyAve/); Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero (1917 – 1980) was killed by a right wing death squad during the Salvadoran civil war, shortly after appealing to the soldiers of the Salvadoran army, in the name of God, to stop killing their brothers and sisters. He is considered by many to have died for his faith, and was canonized as a Catholic saint in October of 2018 by Pope Francis. Pope Francis declared that his "ministry was distinguished by his particular attention to the most poor and marginalized." As the fourth archbishop of San Salvador, Romero spoke out against social injustice and violence amid the escalating conflict between the military government and left-wing insurgents that led to the Salvadoran Civil War. In 1980, Romero was shot by an assassin while celebrating Mass. Though no one was ever convicted for the crime, investigations by the UN-created Truth Commission for El Salvador concluded that Major Roberto D'Aubuisson, founder of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) political party, had ordered the killing. Seen as a social conservative at the time of his appointment as archbishop in 1977, Romero was deeply affected by the murder of his friend and fellow priest Rutilio Grande and thereafter became an outspoken critic of the military government of El Salvador. Hailed by supporters of liberation theology, Romero, according to his biographer, "was not interested in liberation theology" but faithfully adhered to Catholic teachings on liberation and a preferential option for the poor, desiring a social revolution based on interior reform. Romero actively denounced violations of the human rights of the most vulnerable people and defended the principles of protecting lives, promoting human dignity and opposing all forms of violence. Romero is also honored by the Church of England and Anglican Communion, through the Calendar in Common Worship.