Oscar Romero was born into a large family on August 15, 1917 in El Salvador. Although they had more money than many of their neighbours, Oscar’s family had neither electricity nor running water in their small family home, and the children slept on the floor. Oscar’s parents could not afford to send him to school after the age of twelve, so he went to work as an apprentice carpenter. He quickly showed great skills, but Oscar was already determined to become a priest. He entered the seminary a the age of fourteen and was ordained a priest

when he was 25 in 1942. Recognising the power of radio to reach the people, he convinced five radio stations to broadcast his Sunday sermons to peasant farmers who believed that they were unwelcome in the churches. In 1970, he became Auxiliary Bishop in San Salvador. In 1974 he became Bishop of Santiago de Maria. At his time, Oscar Romero was described as a conservative, not wanting to break from tradition. He supported the hierarchy who encouraged conformity. He was uncomfortable with social action that challenged political leaders.

Voice of the Voiceless

In his actions and words. Romero demanded a peace that could only be found by ensuring people had access to basic needs and their rights upheld. He raised awareness globally about the people in this country who had been killed or ‘disappeared’. When he visited the Vatican in 1979, Oscar Romero presented the Pope with seven detailed reports of murder, torture and kidnapping throughout El Salvador. In 1979, the number of people being killed rose to more than 3000 per month. Oscar Romero had nothing left to offer his people except faith and hope. He continued to use the radio broadcast of his Sunday sermons to tell people what was happening throughout the country, to talk about the role of the Church and to offer his listeners hope that they would not suffer and die in vain. 

Martyrdom

On March 23, 1980, after reporting the previous week’s deaths and disappearances, Oscar Romero began to speak directly to soldiers and policemen. ‘I beg you, I implore you… in the name of God, stop the repression!’ The following evening, while saying Mass in the Chapel of Divine Providence Hospital, Archbishop Oscar Romero was shot by a paid assassin.

Only moments before his death, Romero spoke these prophetic words ‘Those who surrender to the service of the poor through love of Christ we live like the grain of wheat that dies…. The harvest comes because the grain dies.’ Like many great leaders who have fought for truth. Oscar Romero was killed and became a Martyr, but his voice could not be sentenced. He is a symbol of hope in a country that has suffered poverty, injustice and violence.