Óscar Romero

Life events

1. Born — 1917

   Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was born on 15 August 1917 to Santos Romero and Guadalupe de Jesús Galdámez in Ciudad Barrios, San Miguel department, El Salvador.

2. Ordained — 1942

   Romero was ordained to the priesthood in Rome on 4 April 1942, after completing a Licentiate in Theology cum laude at the Gregorian University; his family could not attend because of World War II travel restrictions.

3. Consecrated — 1970

   On 25 April 1970 Romero was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of San Salvador and Titular Bishop of Tambeae; he was consecrated on 21 June 1970 by Girolamo Prigione, Titular Archbishop of Lauriacum.

4. Consecrated — 1977

   On 3 February 1977 Romero was appointed fourth Archbishop of San Salvador, assuming office on 22 February; the appointment was welcomed by the government but met with apprehension from progressive clergy who feared his conservative reputation.

5. Wrote — 1980

   In February 1980 Romero wrote an open letter to U.S. President Jimmy Carter warning that increased military aid to El Salvador would 'sharpen the injustice and the political repression inflicted on the organized people'; Carter did not respond directly.

6. Martyred — 1980

   On 24 March 1980, while celebrating Mass at the chapel of Hospital de la Divina Providencia in San Salvador, Romero was shot through the heart by a gunman acting on orders later attributed by the UN Truth Commission to Major Roberto D'Aubuisson; no one has ever been prosecuted.

7. Other — 2015

   Pope Francis declared Romero a martyr on 3 February 2015 and he was beatified on 23 May 2015 in the Plaza Salvador del Mundo in San Salvador, with an estimated 250,000 people attending.

8. Other — 2018

   Pope Francis canonized Romero on 14 October 2018 in Saint Peter's Square, Rome; he was the first Salvadoran raised to the altars and the first martyred archbishop of the Americas declared a saint after the Second Vatican Council.

Relationships

Documented claims

• The assassination of Jesuit priest Rutilio Grande on 12 March 1977 — three weeks after Romero became archbishop — transformed him from a known social conservative into an outspoken critic of the Salvadoran military government. (certain)
• Romero's weekly sermons broadcast on YSAX radio were estimated to reach 73% of El Salvador's rural population and 47% of its urban population, making them the country's most-listened-to programme by the time of his death. (likely)
• Romero is one of ten 20th-century martyrs depicted in statues above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey in London; sculptor John Roberts's figure was unveiled in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II in 1998. (certain)
• On 21 December 2010, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 24 March — the anniversary of Romero's assassination — as the International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims. (certain)
• Before his Catholic canonization in 2018, Romero had already been included on the Anglican Church's list of official saints and on at least one Lutheran liturgical calendar; he is commemorated in the Church of England and Episcopal Church on 24 March. (certain)