Free Essays on Oscar Romero

Oscar Romero was born on August 15, 1917 in Ciudad Barrios, a town east of El Salvador. He was the second of seven children. When he was thirteen he declared a vocation to the priesthood. He went to a seminary in San Miguel and from there Rome. He was ordained in 1942. In January 1944 he was recalled to San Miguel by his bishop and was soon secretary of the diocese. This position he held for twenty-three years. In San Miguel his work flourished and his reputation grew. He established a succession of new organizations and inspired many with his sermons, broadcasted by five local radio stations and heard across the city. Romero was impressed of the new Catholicism that was affirmed with such confidence in Vatican II. In 1970 he became auxiliary bishop of San Salvador, and there he busied himself with administration. In 1974 he became bishop of a rural diocese, Santiago de Maria. Three years later, in February 1977, Oscar Romero became archbishop of San Salvador. In that month a crowd o f protesters were attacked by soldiers in the town square of the capital. Then, on 12 March 1977, a radical priest, Rutilio Grande, was murdered. Romero had known him. Now he observed that there was no official inquiry. He recognized that power lay in the hands of violent men, and that they murdered with impunity. The wealthy sanctioned the violence that maintained them. Death squads committed murder in the cities while soldiers killed as they wished in the countryside. When a new government, which represented many powerful interests was elected it was seen to be by fraud. There was talk of revolution. More and more Romero committed himself to the poor and the persecuted, and he became the instigator for moral prophecy in the church and outside it. Meanwhile, his church began to document the abuse of human rights, and to establish the truth in a country governed by lies, where men and women simply disappeared without account. The press said, "The Church an... Free Essays on Oscar Romero Free Essays on Oscar Romero El Salvador during the 1970s and 1980s was a country filled with violence and oppression. One of the most vocal and influential people in El Salvador during that period was Archbishop Oscar Romero. Many have accused him of being communist, â€Å"left-winged†, or radical, but others have praised him by calling him a man who lived according to Christ’s example and one who died the death of a martyr (Berryman 176). Oscar Romero believed that each human being should have the rights to work, food, and freedom from oppression. Further, Romero believed that in order to truly follow the teachings of Christ, it was both the Catholic Church’s responsibility as a community of believers, and his own responsibility as a high-ranking church leader to preserve and defend the basic rights of all humans. During his life, and especially during his term as Archbishop, Romero believed that the poor people of El Salvador were being deprived of their fundamental rights, and he worked actively to end this injustice in his homeland through his words, actions, and ultimately through his assassination. Oscar Romero was born in a remote mountain village in Ciudad Barrios on August 15, 1917, and was the second of seven children (Berryman 160). His father worked at the local telegraph office and his family grew some crops (Berryman 160). Romero attended the major seminary in San Miguel, studied with the Jesuits at the National Seminary in San Salvador, and spent six years studying at the Gregorian Seminary in Rome, where he was ordained as a priest and given a degree in theology in 1942 (Forchà © 58). Romero returned to his own country to serve as priest in January 1944 (Berryman 161). The community where Romero served was rural and very poor, like most of El Salvador. After a few months the Bishop of San Miguel asked Romero to serve as the secretary of the diocese and Romero left the poor village behind, but it may have been during the short time that he s... Free Essays on Oscar Romero Oscar Romero was born on August 15, 1917 in Ciudad Barrios, a town east of El Salvador. He was the second of seven children. When he was thirteen he declared a vocation to the priesthood. He went to a seminary in San Miguel and from there Rome. He was ordained in 1942. In January 1944 he was recalled to San Miguel by his bishop and was soon secretary of the diocese. This position he held for twenty-three years. In San Miguel his work flourished and his reputation grew. He established a succession of new organizations and inspired many with his sermons, broadcasted by five local radio stations and heard across the city. Romero was impressed of the new Catholicism that was affirmed with such confidence in Vatican II. In 1970 he became auxiliary bishop of San Salvador, and there he busied himself with administration. In 1974 he became bishop of a rural diocese, Santiago de Maria. Three years later, in February 1977, Oscar Romero became archbishop of San Salvador. In that month a crowd o f protesters were attacked by soldiers in the town square of the capital. Then, on 12 March 1977, a radical priest, Rutilio Grande, was murdered. Romero had known him. Now he observed that there was no official inquiry. He recognized that power lay in the hands of violent men, and that they murdered with impunity. The wealthy sanctioned the violence that maintained them. Death squads committed murder in the cities while soldiers killed as they wished in the countryside. When a new government, which represented many powerful interests was elected it was seen to be by fraud. There was talk of revolution. More and more Romero committed himself to the poor and the persecuted, and he became the instigator for moral prophecy in the church and outside it. Meanwhile, his church began to document the abuse of human rights, and to establish the truth in a country governed by lies, where men and women simply disappeared without account. The press said, "The Church an...