Oscar Romero

Oscar Arnulfo Romero GaldámezDom Romero (Ciudad Barrios, San Miguel, August 15, 1917 – San Salvador, March 24, 1980) was a Salvadoran Catholic priest, the fourth metropolitan archbishop of San Salvador (1977-1980), the capital of El Salvador.

Romero was born in Ciudad Barrios, a coffee-growing town in the Department of San Miguel, 156 kilometers from San Salvador, on August 15, 1917, into a family of humble origins.

In 1931 he entered the San Miguel Minor Seminary, where he became known as 'The boy with the flute', for his skill in using a bamboo flute that he inherited from his father.

In 1937, he entered the San José de la Montaña Major Seminary in San Salvador, and seven months later, he traveled to Rome to study theology, where he witnessed the calamities of World War II.

He was ordained a priest on April 4, 1942.

On June 21, 1970, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of San Salvador, and on October 15, 1974, bishop of Santiago de María in the Department of Usulután.
On February 3, 1977, he was appointed Archbishop of San Salvador. He was chosen as archbishop because of his apparent conservatism.
In March 1977, his friend, Father Rutilio Grande, was assassinated along with two peasants. This incident transformed Romero, who began denouncing social injustices through the Catholic radio station Ysax and the weekly newspaper Orientación. For this reason, he became known as "The Voice of the Voiceless."

Because of his adherence to the ideals of non-violence, he was compared to Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. In his Sunday homilies, Óscar Romero denounced the numerous human rights violations in El Salvador and publicly expressed his solidarity with the victims of political violence in the context of the Salvadoran Civil War.

Óscar Romero was assassinated while celebrating Mass on March 24, 1980, by a sniper from the Salvadoran army, trained at the School of the Americas. His death sparked a wave of protests around the world and international pressure for reforms in El Salvador.

In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed March 24 as the International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims, in recognition of Archbishop Romero's work in defense of human rights.