+Archbishop Oscar A. Romero

!Viva, Romero, en nuestros corazones!

No hay amor mas grande, que dar la vida por los amigos...

Live, Romero, in our hearts!

There is no greater love than to give one's life for one's friend.

"Cantico al Martir"/"Canticle for a Martyr" -- Lisa, 1985

Twenty-eight years ago earlier this evening, the Archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador, Oscar Arnulfo Romero, was martyred, shot in cold blood, while celebrating Holy Mass in the Chapel of the Hospital. The "voice for the voiceless," his life and death call us to continue to speak for those whose voices are silenced, those whose existences are marginalized, those whose lives are invisibilized for the benefit of the powerful.

In many ways, it's hard to believe that it happened over a quarter of a century ago. It seems like only yesterday, my memory of that year as clear as crystal. While reality is different for the Salvadoran people in a number of tangible ways, the world is not so different than it was in 1980 when Romero was murdered. An attempt to silence his speaking of the truth, murdering him only made his voice, the voice of truth, resonate louder and more widely. The truth of the Gospel cannot be silenced: it is God's truth; it is a truth that crosses over boundaries, a truth that cannot be contained by hatred.

Eternal rest grant to Archbishop Romero. May He rest in peace and may we be strengthened in our resolve to be faithful to the Gospel to the end of our days and for the sake of all God's children and creations.

Eternal rest grant unto all those who have given their lives or have had their lives taken because of their work for justice, their work for the Gospel.