Oscar Romero Assassination

Little was known about the clergy during the Black Death. For a long time people believed that the Catholic Church had fled from its duty to serve the people, but that could not be further from the truth. In recent discovery it was found that greater than 50 percent of clergy were killed during the Black Death. This was not because the clergy were running away; rather, the clergy stayed and helped the people in villages, knowing the likelihood they would survive would be slim throughout this epidemic. It is my goal in this paper to describe what was occurring during the Black Death and how the Catholic Church and its clergy reacted to the epidemic.

In Lasallian schools the core principle of concern for the poor and social justice invites students and staff to be in solidarity with the poor and advocate for those suffering injustices. This means that people should have awareness of the poor and those who are victims of injustices and respond to their needs by means of community service and advocacy. This core principle is illustrated in the novella, “Saint Emmanuel the Good, Martyr” by Miguel de Unamuno. The main character, Don Emmanuel is the parson of the city of Valverde. The congregation of this parish look up to Don Emmanuel, admire him, and are overtaken by his words in mass. However, the narrator reveals that Don Emmanuel was not a man of faith. “Metamorphosis” by Kafka, presents a story of a young man who one day wakes up and is transformed into a bug. As a result of this transformation, he is mistreated by his family and considered useless in society. In the case of Saint Emmanuel the Good Martyr, there is a character that does not believe in God, yet practices concern for the poor and social justice on a daily basis. On the other hand, we have a character that yearns what Don Emmanuel gives to the citizens in Valverde, care and concern.

As Oscar Romero had said, “History will not fail; God sustains it.” In the speech The Last Sermon, Oscar Romero the Archbishop, is trying to get the men with more power to listen to what he has to say about the deaths they are casting upon the civilians. Oscar needs these men to obey the laws of god, otherwise they are ignoring higher authority.

“That moment, I understood her hatred. My family had not been personally hurt by Trujillo, just as before losing my baby, Jesus had not taken anything away from me. But others had been suffering great losses” (Alvarez, 1994, p. 53). This quote had been stated by Patria in relation to religion.

For instance, one of the passages. For instance, when Lupe says, “And when they changed, we also began to change. It was nicer that way. Knowing that someone called existed. The right to health care, to food and to schooling for our children” (Argueta 31). This illustrates how the people did not view religious figures as ordinary people. Instead, Lupe states that when the liberation theological movement started to occur that the priest started to demand the rights to the poor. This was unheard of during those times. Therefore, it was a relief that the priest started to demand health care, food and schooling. Furthermore, Lupe goes on to say, “Previously, they used to instill fear in us; we believed they were like magicians who could annihilate us with the simplest gesture” (Argueta 23). In other words, Lupe is see’s the priest different because previously the priest acted as a superior towards the people. Hence, this changed has opened the eyes to the lower class. Thus, priest are now fundamentally important in opposing the oppressive regime in El Salvador. This shines the light on liberation theology and how it has changed the the roles of several;

Father Gregory had served as an associate pastor at the poorest parish in Los Angeles, the Dolores Mission Church, since from 1984-1958. After his service there, he was tasked to serve in a student service program, however, his trip to aid the poor in Bolivia, where he gained the desire to help the poor. He was sent back to Dolores Mission instead as a pastor. There in Dolores Mission, he was able to learn about the lives of the gang members. He witnessed their violence towards one another, how it affected how they lived and acted towards one another, and how people knew that it was a toxic community to live it. Back then, the church would be known to segregate the “good” from the “bad”, meaning, the gang members were not always

Óscar Romero was a Roman Catholic priest that stood up for the poor and injustice in the troubled nation of El Salvador. In the early stages of his life, Romero had entered a boarding school for priests at the age of thirteen. Then he went to the national boarding school in San Salvador. He finished his studies at the Gregorian University in Rome, and was appointed a priest in Rome in 1942. Although Romero wanted to acquire a doctorate in theology, he had to go home to El Salvador in 1944 due to a lack of priests. He initially served as pastor, but because of his outstanding talent, he was marked for greater responsibilities. In 1970, he became the auxiliary bishop for San Salvador. As Romero began to rise as a notable Catholic bishop, a

He was admitted into a seminary at 14 and then was eventually, in 1942 at the age of 25, ordained a priest. Romero then managed to convince 5 radio stations to broadcast his Sunday sermon allowing Romero’s words to reach peasant farmers who did not believe they were welcome in church.

Following his arrival to the American Southwest in 1862, Brigadier General James Henry Carleton of the Union Army would oversee the process of destroying Native American powers throughout the Territory until his reassignment in 1867. The Navajo s or Diné , in their language, were one such power that Carleton set about destroying. The process of destruction took many forms as the tribes faced both physical and cultural assaults from the American military, while the New Mexican citizens, and rival tribes of Native Americans engaged in raids, attacks, and taking captives from the Navajos. In its final stage, this destruction took form as Bosque Redondo, a reservation planned as an experiment by Carleton to finalize the pacification of Native

The author mentions several major incidents that served as catalyst to the uprising of activist who speak out against the aforementioned and the he challenges the church to step up and be the salt and light to the world. He highlights four biblical traits we as a church should display in the face of such circumstances.

Author Edward T. Brett argues that Romero had a very “prophetic approach [that] was a highly effective method of leadership during his three-year tenure of office” (Brett 717). He uses the term “prophetic” to refer to the similar ways in which Romero preached his sermons to the underprivileged campesinos in order to also publically represent them, much like Jesus preached to the poor to represent the persecuted Christians. However, the term itself can be problematic because also like Jesus, Romero was tormented by his fellow bishops for catering to the needs of the poor. Not all bishops and clergymen at the time had captured the essence of liberation theology teachings and feared they were too radical to preach to the campesinos. However, Romero believed that the equality of Salvadorans was more important than their integration into the elite society. He focused many of his preachings on the need to put an end to violence and determine a right from wrong. In Romero’s last sermon, just before “he called for soldiers to refuse to obey orders,” (Wood 27) he gave special attention to the need to reinstall distinct human rights within a country in “its own exodus” (Romero 3) and that both groups alike should call for, “respect for the dignity of the person, hope for humanity’s common good, and the transcendence that look before all to God and only

One important indicator on the Catholic Church’s stance on Liberation Theology and general social activism in Latin America will be to see if Archbishop Oscar Romero is accepted into sainthood. The iconic and controversial religious leader worked tirelessly to help the lower-class in El Salvador. His teachings and beliefs that the marginalized peasants should be treated justly made him a living legend among his countrymen and isolated him from the nation’s corrupt elites. Although he never specifically condoned violence, his sermons played no small part in fomenting a bloody peasant uprising and civil war that raged for over a decade. In the last few years, a strong effort has been made to canonize Romero. Although he is revered not only in his own country but throughout the world, there exist a few issues that could possibly preclude him for becoming a saint. He is still strongly disliked by the vast majority of the wealthy and powerful ruling class of El Salvador, he, indirectly and inadvertently, helped bring about a violent conflict that ravaged his nation and, perhaps most importantly, his canonization may appear to be a carte blanche validation of Liberation Theology and the Marxist uprisings that were often associated with the movement. The canonization of Oscar Romero will redefine the seminal ideal of a modern-day saint and could quite

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK) was the youngest president elected to the office. JFK was born on May 29th,1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts. JFK was the 35th president in the United State of America (USA). JFK was president for the USA since 1961 until 1963. There are a lot of things to discuss about JFK, but his early life, education, and the assassination are the most three interesting points.

The year is 1977 in El Salvador, a time of deep public and political unrest, where injustices are high among the people and there exists a great divide between the rich and the poor, it is during this time that the Vatican elevated Oscar Romero to the position of Arch Bishop of San Salvador. Romero is elevated in hopes that with his quite, passive demurer and diminishing health that he would accept the status quo and not cause a military dispute; however, much to everyone’s surprise, Romero became the voice of the poor and took a stand against the exiguous government and hostile military, which begin to target priests. Romero was passive at first, afraid of government’s hostility, but over time, he did not give up on his people and was

Matthew Lewis’s The Monk, published in 1796, depicts the Catholic Church in Madrid as the victim of religious perversion caused by the pride and lust of its leaders. The events of the novel, including the monk Ambrosio’s surrender to temptation, leading to the rape and murder of innocent Antonia, as well as Agnes’s imprisonment by the vain Prioress of St. Clare’s Convent, serve to emphasize the lack of true religious devotion in the city of Madrid. However, despite the shocking events of the novel, the city had already fallen prey to temptation, and had ultimately strayed from the path of the Church long before these new atrocities took place.