Archbishop Romero Martyr Of Salvador

This book responds to Pope Francis's challenge to construct an expanded definition for martyrdom today. Using the work of Jon Sobrino, Thiede examines four case studies--Rutilio Grande, Oscar Romero, the U.S. churchwomen, and the UCA Jesuits and their collaborators--to offer an expanded definition of martyrdom.

Revised translation of: Monse©łor Romero, m©Łrtir de la Iglesia popular.

Annotation Invokes the memory and the challenge of the martyrs of El Salvador, including Sobrino's friends and colleagues of the Central American University and the poor and nameless who continue to suffer today.

Rutilio Grande, SJ, was the first Jesuit to be assassinated in El Salvador. He was killed on March 12, 1977, for having done the works that Jesus commands with regard to one's neighbor as a priest in the Roman Catholic Church. This volume of his writings and homilies illustrates how he applied the social and ecclesial teachings of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) in his ministry with the poor and marginalized of El Salvador. His use of the social sciences to understand the problems in his context, his prophetic denunciation of power and wealth, and his ministry to empower laypeople to lead their faith communities all speak to the Holy Spirit working through the courage of a true servant leader.

Who would murder one of the most respected priests of South America? Óscar Romero, a respected Catholic priest, called on soldiers, as Christians, to put down their arms and stop carrying out the governments order to strip citizens of the most basic human rights...for this he was assassinated. For over 30 years, his murder has gone unsolved. Who would murder a priest who only wanted to stop the injustice? And more importantly, why is it that, with substantial evidence naming the murderers involved, was nothing done to convict those guilty of murdering the country's beloved archbishop?

Who is Oscar Romero, assassinated in 1980 while saying mass, beatified by Pope Francis in 2015, a man Latin Americans already claim as Saint Romero of America? This biography, a Romero primer, sets out to answer this question for the general public ages fifteen up--readers who may know little about El Salvador, Romero's homeland, or the Roman Catholic Church. Based on interviews with some of Romero's seminary mates and siblings, this title reveals not-yet-published information to fill gaps in Romero's first twenty-five years of life. One chapter explores the archbishop's surprising relationship with "misguided" young adults. The author takes painstaking effort to convey the context in which this old-school cleric emerged as an audacious voice of the voiceless. That he did so is remarkable; Vatican officials named him archbishop confident he would remain silent, rein in activism, and ruffle no status-quo feathers. How and why Romero defied expectations ranks among the most compelling faith stories of the late twentieth century. Jose Inocencio Alas honors this work with a foreword. A former priest and colleague of Romero who narrowly survived abduction and torture by El Salvador's notorious National Guard, Alas has exclaimed, "I hope just about everyone in the world reads this book."