St. Oscar Romero: A life of faith in action

A Refugee Group in Birmingham – Hope Garden – helped to judge the Columban Schools Competition this year which took the title ‘Jubilee: Pilgrims of Hope’.  They were supported by Columban lay missionary Nathalie Marytsch, and they told her that, “the images convey a clear message of hope, highlighting areas of injustice – brokenness and challenges – and the need for action to restore hope in the world.” This project and Columban involvement with the running of Fatima House in Birmingham, which offers shelter to female asylum seekers who would otherwise be homeless, are inspired by the Church’s Social Teaching.

Catholic Social Teaching also underpins Columban mission for Justice, Peace and Ecology, looking at structural issues which cause injustice. We are hearing and acting on ‘the cry of the Earth and the poor’, as the papal encyclical Laudato Si’ put it.  And we seek inspiration from the prophets in the Church today who analyse the oppressive systems of the modern world from the perspective of the Gospel and fearlessly stand with the poor in the quest to make the world more just.

One of these prophetic voices pointed out that the poor are the only ones whom Jesus called “blessed.” He was an Archbishop who was murdered 45 years ago after calling on the military in his country to “stop the oppression” of the poor and the Church. And in this month of March we remember him – Archbishop – now Saint – Oscar Romero of El Salvador.

Romero was a spiritual leader in El Salvador at a time of brutal oppression and crimes against the people. He literally walked with the poor and oppressed and spoke out for them – even if this meant danger to his life. Many people in El Salvador were living in poverty, while an elite group manipulated all political and economic power. Death squads ensured things stayed that way. Just three weeks after becoming Archbishop in 1977, Romero’s good friend, Jesuit Father Rutilio Grande, was murdered by one of those death squads. Another five priests would be assassinated in the Archdiocese of San Salvador during the three years Romero was Pastor.

When a military junta seized power in 1979, Archbishop Romero began broadcasting weekly sermons over the radio. He openly criticised the regime and those supporting it, denouncing cases of abduction, torture and mass murder.  And he set up pastoral programs to assist the victims of persecution, with support from CAFOD and other international Catholic agencies.

On 24th March 1980, Archbishop Oscar Romero was shot dead while celebrating Mass. Recognising him as “a martyr for the faith”, Pope Francis canonised him on 14th October 2018, in Rome. For the occasion, the Pope chose to wear the same blood-stained belt that Romero was wearing at the altar when he was murdered.

How does St. Oscar Romero inspire us today?

Under Pope Francis, the Church is continuing that solidarity with vulnerable and suffering communities. We see in 2025 that power is increasingly in the hands of those who shape the economic systems of the world and upheld by powerful individuals. It traps the poor globally in a cycle of poverty, which many of our parishes and schools respond to with food banks, welcome to refugees and campaigning work urging politicians to promote a more equal society.

An element of international structural injustice is the debt burdens in the poorest countries. Many countries in the global south are struggling to pay back even the interest on their debt which exceeds the amount they can spend on health, education, and social services. So, calls for cancelling this debt is a big theme in this Jubilee Year 2025.

Our Catholic Social Teaching, which St. Oscar Romero lived out with such courage and faith, calls us to see the face of Jesus in every face, but more especially in people who are poor and powerless. The Church urges us to work towards a global community of compassion and sharing, so that there can be a future for all – because unless a future and a life with dignity is made possible for the poor, there will soon be no future for anyone, including the rich and powerful. What our world today needs more than ever is an ethic of justice.

Romero showed that Jesus’ desire that all “have life, and life to the full” (John 10:10). can and must be fulfilled. Even in the midst of a cruel 12-year civil war that eventually took the lives of 75,000 people, and forcibly displaced over a million people, Romero communicated a sense of hope. It was rooted in his conviction that, “the hand of God is at work in the historical journey of the people.” And Hope is another theme of Jubilee Year 2025.

In this Season of Lent, Pope Francis invites us to take heart from those whom the Church has proclaimed as saints and martyrs, and this includes St. Oscar Romero. May we call on St. Oscar Romero to make our own the radical hope in a God of life who is always at our side, calling us to a radical love beyond our fears.