(CNA) On Sunday, 22 March, 2015 in Los Angeles, over 3,000 people gathered at the ‘Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels’ for Mass in honor of Archbishop Romero’s Beatification (in San Salvador on the 23 May) and prayed that his ‘shining example’ of sacrificial love and his alliance and friendship with the poor and oppressed will continue to be fruitful.
“Archbishop Romero preached nonviolence and reconciliation in a time of hate and vengeance,” Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles said in his Homily Sunday, adding that he, “Spoke out against every form of violence, every violation of the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human person,” noting that this included “the violence of abortion.”
Sunday 22 March, 2015 Holy Mass, marked the 35th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Romero during his celebration of Mass in a small Chapel outside of San Salvador.
The proclamation by Pope Francis confirming that Archbishop Romero died a martyr followed a vote by Theologians at the ‘Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints’ in January that Romero was murdered in “hatred of the faith.”
Archbishop Oscar Romero — El Salvador’s Most Trusted News Source
Catholic Agency For Overseas Development worked closely with Archbishop Romero during the 1970s supporting his famous Sunday radio broadcasts which — at a time of heavy press censorship, were often times the only means by which people in El Salvador, knew the truth about the atrocities occurring in their country.
A vocal critic of the country’s military dictatorship, the Sunday before his assassination, Archbishop Oscar Romero’s homily called upon Salvadoran soldiers to disobey their orders if asked to attack innocent civilians — his homily ended with the words: “In the name of God, I urge you, I plead with you, I order you—Stop the killing.”
Archbishop Jose Gomez said that Archbishop Romero is “a shining example to all of us,” showing us humility and courage, love for the poor and his “witness of solidarity and service to others, even to the point of laying down his life.”
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