Martyr’s Witness

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Martyr’s Witness

On Tuesday 3rd February 2015, Pope Francis officially declared that Archbishop Óscar Romero had been martyred - that is, killed as a result of “hatred of the faith” (odium fidei) . This has opened up the path to his beatification (in 2015) by removing the need for an authenticated miracle . Many have speculated that the first pope from Latin America was able to ‘unblock’ a process which had stalled; however, it is clear that his immediate predecessor was also sympathetic . In early 2007, Pope Benedict XVI travelled to Latin America for the first time as pope, to open the Fifth General Assembly of the Council of Bishops of Latin America (CELAM) at Aparecida in Brazil . On the aeroplane he gave an extended interview during which he reflected on past and future directions in liberation theology . He also gave the following reply to a question about moves to beatify the Servant of God1 Óscar Romero, fourth Archbishop of San Salvador, who was shot while saying Mass on 24th March 1980: “Archbishop Romero was certainly an important witness of the faith, a man of great Christian virtue who worked for peace and against the dictatorship, and was killed while celebrating Mass . Consequently, his death was truly ‘credible’, a witness of faith . ”2

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Sainthood

Ten years after Romero’s death, the Archdiocese of San Salvador submitted documents for the consideration of the cause for his beatification and eventual canonisation . In the countries of Latin America - the small country of El Salvador and many other places - a popular cult of Óscar Romero developed very quickly, and in many places he is already venerated as a saint . Among Catholics, other Christians, and many others without religious beliefs, he has become an iconic figure in the struggle of the poor and oppressed throughout the world; in countless Latin American homes and churches his image is to be found as a source of strength for some of the poorest people of the world .

Throughout the history of the Church, movements for canonisation have often begun at grass-roots level, beginning with the simple faith of the people . In Romero’s case we can see how the Church as a whole has responded to this; while a cause has to be examined with care, some of the delays in this case do reflect the troubled years of the archbishop’s ministry . However, Romero’s death has also taught us about the nature of martyrdom, and this is timely as we are sadly very aware of the suffering and martyrdom of a growing number of Christians, particularly in the Middle East .

Since Romero’s death the Catholic Church has been engaged in a renewed theological reflection about martyrdom; in the teachings of St John Paul II much of this hinged on the Great Jubilee of 2000 . In his letter looking

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forward to this event, Tertio Millennio Adveniente (1994), and elsewhere, the pope called on all of us to be aware of the place of martyrs and their ‘stories’ . He wrote: “The Church has once again become a Church of martyrs .” In his 1998 encyclical about the relationship between religious faith and philosophy he also wrote:

I am thinking first of all of the witness of martyrs . The martyr, in effect, is the most authentic witness to the truth about existence . He knows that he has found in the encounter with Jesus Christ the truth about his life and no one and nothing can ever take away that certainty . Neither suffering nor a violent death will force him to separate from the adherence to truth that he has found in his encounter with Christ . This is why the witness of martyrs is accepted, listened to, and followed even in our day . It is the reason why we trust their word; we perceive in them the evidence of a love that has no need of long arguments to be convinced, since it speaks to each person of what they already perceive internally as true and long-sought-after . Certainly, the martyr produces great confidence in ourselves, because he articulates what we already feel, and he makes evident what we would also like to have the strength to express . 3

Romero’s true place Pope St John Paul also stresses that the phenomenon of martyrdom has brought Christians from different traditions

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and backgrounds closer together: the Archbishop Romero Trust in Britain is a good example of this, and in 1998 a statue of Romero was erected above the west door of Westminster Abbey, with images of other modern martyrs . 4 However, while Christians from all traditions draw strength from the witness of modern-day martyrs, we have to recognise that the concept is controversial . For many it is a sign of religious fanaticism; moreover we need to be aware of how it can be misused . In our tradition it is necessarily linked to a commitment to non-violence; therefore, while recognising that martyrdom is an important part of the shared inheritance of most religions, we cannot see how it is authentic if applied to a jihadist who happily gives up his or her life while trying to kill innocent people (nor, of course, would most Muslim theologians) . For the Christian, the key to understanding martyrdom is the faith of the martyr and his or her relationship with Christ, walking in his footsteps along the way of the cross .

Another key concept is that of “hatred of the faith” (odium fidei), cited in the Vatican decree declaring Romero to be a martyr . While this is a traditional criterion for martyrdom it is crucial in this case because it had been claimed that Romero was killed for political reasons, on account of his support for the poor . Again and again when looking at the archbishop’s life we can see how false such a view is . He was at odds with those who had a deep hatred of the faith . It is no accident, for example, that the killings in the

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village of Aguilares (see pages 21 ff .) were accompanied by desecration of the village church by the soldiers, who shot at the tabernacle, scattering consecrated hosts on the floor (an event vividly captured in the film Romero) . In his homily at a Mass held after the parishioners had reclaimed their church, Archbishop Romero alluded to the link between killing the human bodies of members of the Body of Christ, and desecration of his sacramental Body .

While his martyrdom is the most important aspect of Romero’s life, it is also good to be reminded of his teachings as a bishop . In particular, the notion of the “preferential option for the poor” has become far more at the centre of Catholic life than would have been true at the time of his death - perhaps partly because of his death . It is not simply now an idea associated with the “theologies of liberation”, but rather something which is mainstream and part of the Church’s whole body of authoritative teaching . 5 Along with important developments in the theologies of liberation, what this means is that much of the message of Romero is far less controversial among Catholics than would have been the case a quarter of a century ago . It is still a challenging message and still raises up martyrs, such as the Guatemalan bishop Juan Gerardi, killed in 1998,6 but there is far more unity and coherence within the Catholic community about this witness .

As many writers have pointed out, telling the story of martyrdom is an important “act of memory” for the

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whole Christian community, but particularly for oppressed communities, as history is so often written by the victors, by the powerful . 7 There has been a wealth of writing and research about Romero since his death in 1980, which has shown that the archbishop was not martyred for political activism, or indeed simply for being “on the side of the poor”, but for his faithfulness to Christ and his Church, symbolised by his motto as a bishop: “Sentir con la iglesia” - “To feel with the Church” . We will see how his theology and teaching is deeply rooted in his love for the Church . There has also been much research done on how a strong ecclesiology - a strong doctrine of the Church - is essential for the Church’s witness in the face of persecution . 8 This research has helped the whole community in the years leading up to the beatification; it also helps us form a rounded picture of Romero’s ministry as a teaching bishop, since much of what he taught and lived out in that ministry would have been important even if he had not been martyred .

The life and teachings of Óscar Romero are a vast and evolving subject, and a booklet of this kind will necessarily leave out many details and perspectives . The beatification will prompt many, more complete, studies . Fr James Brockman’s biography9 remains the most comprehensive account in English of the archbishop’s life and death; Romero’s own homilies and diary entries are an invaluable source of knowledge about his Christian witness and spirituality .