The following message comes to us from Cristosal, the Episcopalian foundation for El Salvador.
On March 24 the world will mark the 30th anniversary of the Martyrdom of Archbishop Oscar Romero. The Cristosal Board of Directors invites you to participate in and organize events marking this important date in your local community.
Oscar Romero was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador from 1977-1980, during a time of terrible government repression which sparked the country’s 12-year civil war. Through his sermons and his work with his “crucified people” Romero became the “voice of the voiceless” in El Salvador. On March 24, 1980 he was gunned down while celebrating the Eucharist for his outspokenness on behalf of the poor and oppressed. Romero was officially included on the Episcopal Church’s calendar of Lesser Feasts and Fasts in 2009 and is among ten martyrs of the 20th century represented at the Anglican Westminster Abbey. March 24, 2010 marks the 30th anniversary of his martyrdom.
Below is a list of activities and materials that you can use to help remember and share the life of Saint Romero of America.
The Violence of Love Blog by The Rev. Amy Denney Zuniga The Reverend Amy Denny Zuniga is the priest-in-charge of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Hollister, California. Before coming to St. Luke’s Amy served for three years at a congregation and day school of the Anglican Episcopal Church of El Salvador. She is blogging her reflections on chapters of the English-language book, The Violence of Love which contains excepts from Romero homilies. Please visit the blog to see Amy’s favorite quotes and post your own comments and reflections. The Violence of Love discussion blog is at theviolenceoflovebyoscarromero.blogspot.com
The Violence of Love-book can be downloaded for free in English or Spanish at www.plough.com/ebooks/violenceoflove.html
Watch the Movie Romero Another option to educate your community about the story of Romero is to organize a movie night and invite people to come and watch.
Share Information about Romero’s Life and Witness
· An article about General Convention’s decision for include Romero in the calendar of Lesser Feasts and Festivals. http://www.elsalvadorproject.org/Generalconventionarticle.html
· The Diocese of California website describe the commemoration event at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco. http://www.diocal.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=540&Itemid=215
· This website makes available a resource bank of materials on Archbishop Romero’s life and martyrdom; texts of his homilies as Archbishop between 1977 and 1980, his four Pastoral Letters all in English translation, photographs from childhood to his assassination and funeral, and lectures and literature about Archbishop Romero http://www.romerotrust.org.uk/
· An English translation of Archbishop Oscar Romero’s letter to President Jimmy Carter asking him not to send military aid to El Salvador http://www.share-elsalvador.org/25anniv/romero-carter.htm
Download a copy of the Romero photo book “ Photos of Prophet” and make it available to your community An exhibition of 30 photographs presenting the life and ministry of Archbishop Oscar Romero will be launched at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, California, March 8-28. The exhibition is a collaborative venture of The Photography Center of El Salvador; Trinity Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas; Grace Cathedral, San Francisco; The Bay Area Episcopal Salvador Mission Coalition; and the Episcopal Diocese of California. It opens in San Francisco, a city that is home to a significant number of people who were forced to flee their homeland during the Salvadoran Civil War (1980-1992).
Celebrate with a Service A Eucharist commemorating Romero’s life would be very appropriate this month! Cristosal also has available an attached Stations of the Cross liturgy which uses quotes from Romero’s sermons (in English) at each Station. This liturgy could be used with your traditional station images, paired with photos from El Salvador, or paired with Adolfo Perez Esquivel’s (1980 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate from Argentina) powerful Stations of the Cross from Latin America, which can be found online at http://www.alastairmcintosh.com/general/1992-stations-cross-esquivel.pdf