Oscar Romero

Oscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was born on August 15, 1917. Oscar had always longed to be a priest, and he left home at the age of fourteen so he could begin preparing himself for his vocation. On April 4, 1942, Romero was ordained a Catholic priest in Rome. Oscar was a very loving man. He always wished for what he thought was best for the people in the eyes of the church. He had a very conservative reputation and was never interested in causing any harm. People looked up to him, and believed that they could have faith in him. Romero’s kind and caring personality was easily worshiped by the fellow people of San Salvador because they knew he wanted what was best for them. In 1970 he was appointed auxiliary bishop to San Salvador Archbishop Luis Chávez, a move not welcomed by the more progressive members of the Priesthood in San   Salvador. On February 23, 1977, he was appointed Archbishop of San Salvador. His appointment was met with surprise, dismay, and even incredulity. Rome named him Archbishop of San Salvador because it was believed that he would not disturb the status quo. It was also because of his solid track record of being loyal to the institution and personally reserved. He was predictable, orthodox, and pious.   He was known to criticize the priests who were increasingly aligned with the poor in a way that seemed to Romero to challenge the proper role of the church.  
While this appointment was welcomed by the government, many other bishops and priests were disappointed, especially those openly aligning with Marxism. The Marxist priests feared that his conservative reputation would negatively affect liberation theology's commitment to the poor. They thought Romero was not the right fit in attempting to return the gospel of the early church where Christianity is politically and culturally decentralized. With one exception, all the Salvadoran bishops turned their backs on him, going so far as to send a secret document to Rome reporting him,... [continues]

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