Today is the anniversary of the martyrdom of Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was killed on March 24, 1980, while celebrating Mass in a small chapel in a hospital named La Divina Providencia. The day before, in a sermon which was recorded, he made an impassioned for an end to violence in El Salvador. Here is an audio excerpt from that sermon, whose translation is below. I would like to make a special appeal to the men of the army, and specifically to the ranks of the National Guard, the police and the military. Brothers, you come from our own people. You are killing your own brother peasants when any human order to kill must be subordinate to the law of God which says, Thou shalt not kill. No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God. No one has to obey an immoral law. It is high time you recovered your consciences and obeyed your consciences rather than a sinful order. The church, the defender of the rights of God, of the law of God, of human dignity, of the person, cannot remain silent before such an abomination. We want the government to face the fact that reforms are valueless if they are to be carried out at the cost of so much blood. In the name of God, in the name of this suffering people whose cries rise to heaven more loudly each day, I implore you, I beg you, I order you in the name of God: stop the repression. Santo subito. (Prefatory text of Fr. James Martin, SJ.)
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 13:15:36 +0000
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