Biography of Monseñor Romero (Summary)

Oscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdamez was born on August 15, 1917, in the “Ciudad Barrios”, Department of San Miguel. His father was a telegrapher and his mother, a homemaker. After college, he was devoted to learning basic woodworking and music.

By 1930, the thirteen-year-old Oscar received his call to the service of God.  He entered the minor seminary in San Miguel and then, in 1937, he moved to Rome where he completed his theological studies at the Gregorian University on April 4, 1942.

He returned to “El Salvador” in 1943, to his hometown of San Miguel and the bishop entrusted Anamorós parish, a town near San Miguel which honors the patron saint of El Salvador, Our Lady of Peace.

In 1966, he was appointed Secretary of the Conference of Bishops in El Salvador, a position which remains for eleven years. During this time, Oscar released hundreds of emotional and spiritual sermons via radio throughout the country, thus earning the respect of the Catholic community.

In 1970, he was appointed Bishop Oscar and exercises alongside the then Archbishop of San Salvador, Monsignor Chávez y González. He also played his office in 1974 in the parish of Santiago de María, in the Department of Usulutan.

On February 3, 1977, the Catholic Church in the Vatican under the command of Paul VI, was awarded the title of Archbishop of San Salvador, just weeks before the presidential election that brought General Carlos Humberto Romero for President of the republic.

Blood, torture, and persecution framed the three years, so, he served as Bishop of San Salvador During the country’s civil war that was started in 1979, Romero became the “voice of the voiceless” and “the shepherd of the flock that God had entrusted” for his strong defense of the rights of the poor and marginalized.

After the murder of his colleague and good friend, the priest Rutilio Grande, Romero cites the teachings of his favorite Pope Pius XI: “The mission of the Church is certainly not political, but when politics touches the altar, the Church defends the altar. “This is why Monseñor intervened in the social conflict that was destroying his country and his people”.

Romero turned to the words of St. Augustine and St. Thomas to justify who rises against oppressive laws. The defense of the poor has always been their policy criteria for judging. Monseñor Romero, after struggling for human rights of the poor and oppressed by the government, was assassinated by a 25 gauge accurate shot to the heart,  March 24, 1980, while celebrating Mass in the chapel of the Hospital of Divine Providence in San Salvador.

For many people, the image of Monseñor Romero is the largest religious symbol of the country and, since his murder; his legacy has crossed borders because he has become a universal symbol of justice and peace.

His process of beatification and canonization began on March 24, 1994, by the priest Rafael Urrutia, pastor of the same chapel where Monseñor was killed. Now he is known as “The Prophet and Martyr of the Americas.”