On the 44th anniversary of the assassination of Salvadoran archbishop and martyr, St. Oscar Arnulfo Romero, Washington Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar issued an urgent call to stop violence immediately and launch into the future with hope and optimism.
In recalling the martyrdom of the saint, the bishop – himself a native of El
Salvador – stressed that immigrants are also being martyred a result of violence in marginalized communities.
“Romero condemned injustice, evil, violence, and social sin. He always spoke from the perspective of the Gospel, without losing sight that what is important is to seek the salvation of the whole human person,” Bishop Menjivar said during a March 22 Mass at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in honor of St. Oscar Romero. “Even in most difficult moments, in most heart-wrenching situations, Romero never lost his joy, optimism, and hope. He understood very clearly that denouncing evil and preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God were two inseparable things.”
The Salvadoran martyr was fatally shot on March 24, 1980, while celebrating Mass at the Divine Providence Hospital chapel in the capital city of San Salvador. At that time, Archbishop Romero and his people understood very well that one’s suffering was another’s suffering as well, said Bishop Menjivar.
The bishop said that the martyrdom of the shepherd became the martyrdom of his flock as well, where they all shared a mutual hope in the resurrection. Archbishop Romero put it very well in his well-known phrase: “If they should kill me, I will rise again in the Salvadoran people.”
Archbishop Romero's profound connection with his people and their struggles and even the “smell of sheep” he had, Bishop Menjivar said, “arose from the same connection and personal identification the Salvadoran saint had with Jesus of Nazareth and His Gospel.”
“In Archbishop Romero’s death, Jesus became death again, as He becomes death every day in the nakedness of his people, of those who suffer, of those who cry, of the immigrant who is always living in fear,” Menjivar said in his homily.
Bishop Menjivar stressed that our world continues to bleed in wars, mass killings, and violence. “How can we forget the terrible suffering and killing of so many innocent lives in the current conflicts in Ukraine, the Holy Land, Palestine, Gaza, Sudan, Haiti and in so many parts of the world,” he added.
Bishop Menjivar referred to St. Oscar’s now-famous phrase: “Stop the violence now,” and said that this should now be our cry and our prayer.
“Moreover, how can we forget the unjust repression, unprovoked persecution, arbitrary imprisonment, and forced exile suffered by so many of our brothers and sisters in various Latin American countries,” he said.
The bishop said the Church continues to be martyred in Latin America and the world. “Martyrdom is an almost daily experience in our community, especially because of the insecurity and discrimination environment in which we live, with the aggravating factor of stigmatization that victimizes immigrants,” he said.
He mentioned the death of a 3-year-old boy who was killed 40 days ago in Langley Park, Maryland, in a shooting where his mother was also shot and wounded. “That's what the immigrant community is experiencing. Politicians come and say that we as immigrants are bringing violence to his place. But immigrants are also victims of violence,” he said. “It has been demonstrated, however, that immigrants are not more violent than the rest of the population.”
While immigrants are being blamed, weapons continue to be made, and sold legally and illegally, and many of these weapons fall into the hands of wrong people. Many of those weapons cross the Southern Border and create violence in our countries, Bishop Menjivar said.
“Politicians in this country turn a blind eye and, in doing so, are promoting a culture of gun violence. And when violence erupts, when killings occur, and if an immigrant is involved, all of us are deemed criminals. It is not fair that the innocent should pay for the guilty,” he stressed.
He remarked that many feel forced to flee our countries to escape violence. So many are making great financial and family sacrifices to send a child to the United States to escape the spiral of violence and poverty in our countries. Sadly, when they arrive here many fall victim of the spiral of violence that is pervading the U.S. society.
“In every victim caused by war, violence, persecution, rejection or discrimination, it is Jesus who continues to die,” the bishop said.
Jesus invites us, he said – now that we are enlightened by His word and by St. Oscar Romero’s example – to allow ourselves to be touched by his presence, his love, and his mercy so our wounds can heal, and to be able to catapult ourselves into the future with faith and hope.
Otherwise, he said, we will continue to be enslaved by the past, dragging our chains, and wasting our energies as well as those of the whole country and of an entire generation.
“St. Oscar Romero pray for us, for our country, for our families, and for the whole world,” he pleaded.
After the Mass on the saint’s feast day, more than 200 faithful participated in a fellowship gathering enjoying Salvadoran dishes.
Alba Funes was one of eight volunteers who cooked for the occasion. She said she remembers as if it were yesterday the moment when the martyr was shot. “I was watching my black-and-white TV. Suddenly they announced that there had been a shooting and that Archbishop Romero had lost his life. I started to cry in front of the TV next to my cousin.”
“Now, I am glad that he is now a saint, but to become a saint he had to die,” she added with tears flowing from her eyes. She also remembered her father, who died on the same day, March 24, two years ago. “For us Salvadorans, Archbishop Romero is not dead, he still lives in our hearts,” she said.
