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Monday, March 26, 2012

Tributo ad un Martire

Ho accennato nell'ultimo post che Oscar Romero è stato nominato arcivescovo di El Salvador in parte perché era considerato "sicuro" sia dal Vaticano che dal governo salvadoregno, in un momento in cui molti nel clero e religiosi di Salvador venivano radicalizzati dal pensiero della Teologia della Liberazione. Io devo fare un post o due in futuro sulla Teologia della Liberazione in quanto è una questione molto complessa, ma il difetto fondamentale che la Chiesa trova con esso è che utilizza l'analisi marxista della lotta di classe per interpretare i principi della fede religiosa. Marx aveva detto che la religione è l'oppio dei popoli, e anzi spesso è stato così abusato. Le promesse di una vita felice dopo la morte sono state offerte ai poveri e agli oppressi come un sonnifero per dissuaderli dal cercare ciò che è giustamente loro in questa vita. La Giustizia Divina non è giustizia umana, tanto meno qualsiasi tipo di equità. Quello che intendiamo per giustizia è quello stato in cui ciascuno dei figli di Dio ha la quota dei beni di questa terra che Dio ha voluto per lui. Alcuni passi delle Scritture, come la storia di Lazzaro e del ricco in cui l'uomo ricco è all'Inferno proprio perché, e per nessun altro motivo, ha avuto una grande abbondanza di beni in questa vita, mentre Lazzaro è in Paradiso perché ha avuto solo problemi in questa vita (Lc 16,25), sono estremamente sovversivi dell'ordine sociale esistente. Uno non ha bisogno di Marx, ma solo di Luca, per immaginare un mondo capovolto, con i ricchi mandati via vuoti e i poveri nutriti; il potente gettato verso il basso e i nessuno di questo mondo promossi (Luca 1: 52-53). Quando Rutilio Grande è stato ucciso per essere un "comunista" Romero sapeva che questa etichetta era falsa. Rutilio Grande era un prete che conosceva la forza del Vangelo di chiedere il cambiamento sociale, né più né meno. La perdita del suo amico è stato il punto di conversione per l'arcivescovo che ha assunto il grido di Rutilio Grande, non molto diverso da come Gesù aveva preso il messaggio del Battista e del Regno di Dio, quando Erode aveva messo Giovanni a morte. E come Gesù, Romero aveva circa tre anni di predicazione prima che il suo zelo per la Buona Novella di Dio portasse la violenza su di lui.

      Come ho sottolineato nell'ultimo blog, dopo la morte di Rutilio Grande, Monsignor Romero rifiutò qualsiasi invito del governo a partecipare a funzioni pubbliche, e questo ha lasciato il governo nudo dalla rispettabilità morale, sia davanti ai propri cittadini che nel mondo. Inoltre, l’Arcivescovo, dissociandosi dal governo e dai militari ha chiarito agli occhi del popolo salvadoregno che lo stato era intrinsecamente peccaminoso. Anche se il metodo era diverso i risultati non erano così diversi dal modo in cui Becket aveva minato l'autorità del re nel 12° secolo in Inghilterra. Senza legittimità morale, il governo non poteva pretendere alcuna autorità reale. Senza legittimità morale, la gente avrebbe potuto resistere al governo; anche rovesciarlo per sostituirlo con un governo legittimo. La situazione diventava sempre più pericolosa. Sempre più persone, in particolare quelle legate alla Chiesa, sono scomparse, assassinate, o torturate. E ovunque il governo ha utilizzava la violenza per sottomettere la gente, Romero denunciava il governo e legittimava la lotta del popolo per il cambiamento sociale.

       Ora Romero non ha, a differenza di alcuni teologi della liberazione, legittimato l'uso della violenza per combattere la violenza. Ha condannato coloro che avevano preso le armi contro il governo e ha riconosciuto la giustizia della loro causa. Come Gandhi, King, Tutu e altri leader morali del XX° secolo ed è stato consacrato alla nonviolenza, ma la nonviolenza, mentre lavora più lentamente, è molto più pericolosa per l'autorità illegittima della violenza. La nonviolenza reclama costantemente un alta condotta morale. Nel 1980 El Savador era completamente destabilizzata, in non piccola parte dalla predicazione dell’Arcivescovio. Il 23 marzo 1980 tenne un famoso sermone in cui predicava direttamente ai soldati, i comuni soldati dell'esercito.

       "Fratelli, voi venite dal nostro popolo. State uccidendo i vostri propri fratelli. Ogni ordine umano di uccidere deve essere subordinato alla legge di Dio, che dice: Non uccidere. Nessun soldato è obbligato a obbedire a un ordine contrario alla legge di Dio. Nessuno deve obbedire a una legge immorale. E' giunto il momento di osservare la vostra coscienza, piuttosto che ordini peccaminosi. La chiesa non può tacere di fronte ad un tale abominio. ... in nome di Dio, nel nome della sofferenza di queste persone, il cui grido sale al cielo ogni giorno più forte, io vi supplico, vi prego, vi ordino: fermate la repressione"

       Tale discorso stava chiamando i militari all’ammutinamento. Non poteva essere tollerato. Il giorno seguente, 24 Marzo 1980, l'arcivescovo Romero è stato ucciso da un sicario del governo mentre alzava il calice durante la Messa.

       La morte di Romero ha causato un enorme scalpore. Il Papa ha denunciato il sacrilegio di uccidere un vescovo mentre diceva messa. I leader mondiali denigrato l'omicidio. Vescovi e figure di molte e diverse denominazioni cristiane e religiose accorrevano a San Salvador al funerale per rendere omaggio all'arcivescovo. Ma la violenza non si è fermata. Durante il funerale dell'arcivescovo, in un atto di disprezzo morale, l'esercito salvadoregno per provocare il panico ha lanciato fumogeni sulla folla riunita davanti alla cattedrale. Poi, nel panico generale, hanno cominciato a sparare sulla folla. Decine di persone sono state uccise.

      La guerra in Salvador continuò per altri 12 anni. Quando la pace è finalmente arrivata nel paese, Oscar Romero era l'eroe nazionale. La sua immagine è dappertutto. Decine di canzoni popolari raccontano la sua storia. Anche se non ufficialmente riconosciuto come santo dalla Chiesa cattolica, egli è venerato in El Salvador e la sua tomba nella cattedrale è un luogo di pellegrinaggio. La sua causa di canonizzazione è stata introdotta a livello ufficiale e gli è stato dato il titolo di "Servo di Dio" dal Vaticano, ma a El Salvador è San Romero. La sua statua si trova accanto a quella di Martin Luther King, della Granduchessa Elizabeth di Russia, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Massimiliano Kolbe, e altri martiri del XX° secolo, nella Grande Porta Occidentale di Westminster Abbey. Più importante però, la sua memoria e l'esempio sono impressi nei cuori del popolo di San Salvador e nella loro storia nazionale.

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Monday, March 26, 2012

Tribute to a Martyr III

 I mentioned in the last posting that Oscar Romero was appointed Archbishop of El Salvador in part because he was considered “safe” by both the Vatican and the Salvadoran Government at a time when many of the clergy and religious of Salvador were being radicalized by “Liberation Theology.”  I will have to do a posting or two in the future on Liberation Theology as it is a very complex issue, but the fundamental flaw that the Church finds with it is that it uses the Marxist analysis of class struggle to interpret the principles of religious faith.  Marx had said that religion is the opium of the people—and indeed it often has been so misused.  Promises of a happy afterlife have been offered the poor and downtrodden as a soporific to deter them from seeking what is justly theirs in this life.  Divine Justice is not human justice, much less any sort of “fairness.”  What we mean by justice is that state in which each of God’s children has the share of this earth’s goods that God has willed for them. Such passages of scripture as the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man in which the Rich Man is in hell precisely and for no other reason than because he had an abundance of goods in this life while Lazarus is in Paradise because he had only trouble in this life (Luke 16:25)  are extremely subversive of the existing social order.  One doesn’t need Marx, only Luke, to envision a world turned upside down with the rich sent away empty and poor fed; the powerful cast down from power and the nobodies of this world raised up (Luke 1:52-53).  When Rutilio Grande was killed for being a “communist” Romero knew that this label was false. Grande was a priest who knew the power of the Gospel to call for social change, no more and no less.  The loss of his friend was the conversion point for the Archbishop who took up Grande’s cry, not much different than how Jesus had taken up the Baptist’s message of the Kingdom of God when Herod had put John to death.  And like Jesus, Romero had about three years of preaching before his zeal for God’s Good News brought down violence upon him. 

      As I pointed out in the last blog, after Grande’s death, Monsenor Romero refused any and all invitations from the Government to participate in public functions and this left the Government naked of moral respectability both in front of its own citizens and of the world.  Moreover, the Archbishop’s separating himself from the government and military made it clear in the eyes of the Salvadoran people that the establishment was inherently sinful.  Though the method was different the results were not unlike the way Becket had undercut  the authority of the King in 12th century England.  Without moral legitimacy, the Government could not claim any real authority.  Without moral legitimacy, people could resist the Government; even overthrow it to replace it with a legitimate government.  The situation became ever more perilous.  More and more people, especially those connected to the Church, were murdered, “disappeared” or tortured.  And wherever the Government used violence to put down the people, Romero showed up to denounce the Government and legitimize the struggle of the people for social change.

       Now Romero did not, unlike some “liberation theologians’ legitimize the use of violence to fight violence.  He condemned those who had taken up arms against the government though he recognized the justice of their cause. Like Gandhi, King, Tutu and other moral leaders of the twentieth century he was consecrated to non-violence but non-violence, while it may work more slowly, is more dangerous to illegitimate authority than is violence.  Non-violence consistently claims moral high-ground.  By 1980 El Savador was totally destabilized, in no small part by the Archbishop’s preaching.   On March 23, 1980 he gave a famous sermon in which he addressed the soldiers—the common soldiers—of the army. 

       "Brothers, you came from our own people. You are killing your own brothers. 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 obeyed your consciences rather than sinful orders. The church cannot remain silent before such an abomination. ...In the name of God, in the name of this suffering people whose cry rises to heaven more loudly each day, I implore you, I beg you, I order you: stop the repression" 

       Such a speech was calling the military to mutiny.  It could not be tolerated.  The following day, March 24, 1980, Archbishop Romero was shot and killed by a government assassin as he raised the chalice at Mass.  

       Romero’s death caused a huge outcry.  The Pope denounced the “sacrilege” of killing a bishop while he was saying Mass.  World leaders decried the murder.  Bishops and religious figures—from many different Christian denominations and religions—flocked to San Salvador to the funeral to pay tribute to the Archbishop.  But the violence did not stop.  During the Archbishop’s funeral, in an act of moral contempt, the Salvadoran military to cause panic dropped smoke bombs on the huge crowd gathered before the Cathedral.  Then in the panic they began firing on the crowd. Dozens of people were killed.  

      The war in Salvador continued for another 12 years.  Peace has finally come to the country.  Oscar Romero stands as the national hero.  His picture is everywhere.  Scores of folk songs tell his story.  Although not officially recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church, he is venerated as on in Salvador and his tomb in the Cathedral is a place of pilgrimage.  His cause for Sainthood has been introduced at official levels and he has been given the title “Servant of God” by the Vatican, but in Salvador he is “San Romero.”   His statue stands alongside those of Martin Luther King, the Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia, Dietrich Bonheoffer, Maximilian Kolbe, and other “Martyrs of the Twentieth Century” over the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey.  Most important however, his memory and example are imprinted on the hearts of the People of San Salvador and in their National story.   

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Sunday, March 25, 2012

Tribute to a Martyr II

Oscar Romero was born to a working class family in El Salvardor—a country where a small clique of less than twenty families owned almost 50% of the arable land, the vast majority of Salvadorans being share-croppers on the extensive ranches of the oligarchs.  The Romero family, though working class, was not poor by Salvadoran standards and Oscar and his siblings were tutored at home.   Romero was an introverted child and deeply religious who spent much time studying or hanging out in the town’s churches.  The Church sent him to Rome for seminary training and he was ordained to the priesthood in Rome in 1942.   The following year his bishop summoned him back to Salvador.  He spent years as a parish priest before being called to be rector of the seminary. 

A lot of things had changed in the Latin American Church from the time that Romero had gone off to study.  In 1955 the Bishops of Latin America had organized the Latin American Episcopal Conference.  At the time of the Second Vatican Council the Bishops in Latin America, or at least the vast majority of them, made a drastic shift in their alliances.  Traditionally the bishops had been closely tied to the political and economic oligarchies that ruled most of the Latin American nations but as the Gospel began to take root in the hearts of so many of the clergy and faithful, the bishops themselves came to see the radical demands Christ makes on his disciples to embrace the plight of the poor.  The 1968 meeting of CELAM (the Spanish language acronym of  Latin American Episcopal Conference) at Medellín in Columbia gave a strong endorsement to what is called “Liberation Theology.”  The timing of this endorsement was not opportune as 1968 was not only a year of great political unrest and riots in various countries,  around the world but was also the year that Pope Paul VI released—to very mixed reviews—his encyclical, Humanae Vitae, repeating the Church’s condemnation of artificial contraception.  In many ways 1968 can be seen as the year in which the optimistic enthusiasm in the Catholic world unleashed by the Second Vatican Council met the resistance of those in the Church determined to undo the work of the Council.  It certainly was a time when Paul VI’s confidence in Church reform faltered as his difficult decision to maintain the teaching against contraception resulted in an immense fall not only in his popularity but in his credibility.  Paul aged terribly that year and in many ways his papacy faltered, giving him the sobriquet “the Hamlet Pope” for the agonizing indecision that marked the last eight years of his papacy.  It was in this atmosphere of reevaluation of Vatican II that Romero was named an auxiliary bishop.  After a few years in a small diocese, he was named Archbishop of San Salvador in 1977. 

His appointment reflected an alliance among the Salvadoran military, the small oligarchy of rich families, and the Church.  He was considered “safe” by the establishment.  On the other hands, the clergy and faithful were distraught, feeling that they had been deprived of a genuine pastor. 

While the people were unenthusiastic and most of the clergy shunned him, one priest who reached out in friendship was Father Rutilio Grande.  This was somewhat ironic as Grande was among the most radical of the “liberation theologians,” organizing the poor campesinos into Bible study groups that gave the poor an understanding that their suffering was not God’s will but the product of human sinfulness.  Grande’s method of using the scriptures to open the eyes of the poor and to give them a sense that God is on their side was thought by those in power to be very subversive.

On March 12, 1977 Grande and two laymen—one only a lad of 16—were driving to the village of El Paisnal where Grande was to say mass.  Their car was racked by machine gun fire and all three men were killed. 

Romero went at once to the village church to which the three bodies had been brought and celebrated Mass there.  He sent the evening there listening to the local peasants as they told him story after story of their suffering.  This event radicalized the Archbishop.

Romero demanded of the government that they do an investigation of the murders—rumors were strong that Grande and the others had been killed by the Salvadoran military—but President Molina refused.  The newspapers, under duress from government censors, published a highly sanitized version of the murders.  The Archbishop had an independent investigation of the murders and published an accurate account of what happened.  Moreover, the Archbishop announced that he would not attend any Government function nor meet with President Molina until the government investigated the murders and punished the offenders.  This was a huge embarrassment for the government as the presence of the Archbishops—Romero and his predecessors—had always given a legitimacy to the government.  Romero’s blockade of government functions signaled the world that the Church no longer recognized the legitimacy of the government in representing the people.   From this point on, Romero became a public enemy in the sight of the military and the government.

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Saturday, March 24, 2012

Tribute to a Martyr I

Today is the 32nd anniversary of the murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador, killed by an assassin trained at Fort Benning Georgia’s infamous “School of the America’s,” now reconstituted as “The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.” I will do a future posting on Monsignor Romero’s story, but I was moved this morning at Mass when a young Religious Brother from Latin America gave this tribute.

I didn’t have the opportunity to know Monsenor Romero during his life but I have come to know him through a very special way: I know him by his word which became flesh in in the hearts of the Salvadorian people, not only because of his way of life, but also in the way he died. Meeting him in his easy to understand words was for me meeting a man of God whose humility and strength call me to conversion, to conciliation, and to action.

Therefore, In 2006, when I was in the novitiate in Lima, a Carmelite came to our house, and that Carmelite was Father Peter Hinde, who lives in “Ciudad Juarez” where he helps the victims of the violence of the Mexican Drug wars. Father Peter introduced Monsenor Romero’s life to all the novices with a deeply moving reflection about faith and justice, and about Romero’s martyrdom. Moreover, when I moved to El Salvador in 2009, one month before this anniversary, I began to experience and see how Monsenor Romero is alive in the lives of the people there. My experience deepened when I met at UCA (The Jesuit University of Central America) people who have lived and shared with Monsenor Romero during his lifetime. So, now I want to share with you my experience, my understanding and my hope about Monsenor Oscar Romero.

Monsenor Romero was confronted by the particular historical reality, in which the Salvadorian people were living at the time. El Salvador was led by a dictator-president for more than 20 years. In 1979, when the president proposed an agrarian reform favoring exclusively the land-owning minority of the very wealthy, most people disagreed with it as the majority of Salvadorans are very poor. The poor farmers began to protest against the government, asking for justice and for their rights, but, rather than seeking a fair solution, the Government initiated a war in an attempt to silence and oppress the camposinos. Monsenor Romero became archbishop at a time when the war got worse and the historical situation of El Salvador could be defined only as a situation of injustice and oppression. Many priests, religious, and lay leaders of the church were killed, tortured, and “disappeared.” There was no light, but darkness, and therefore, the Presence of God was not to be found.

The second point to consider is that Monsenor Romero made himself responsible for the historical transformation of the reality of the people of El Salvador. Like Jesus, Monsenor Romero put his faith in God, and sought God’s will for his native land, where the death or life of the people was constantly at risk. He was named archbishop in order to keep the Church there

“orthodox” and to distance the Church from a social activism. However, being confronted by the stories of so many people who suffered violence in the concrete historical situation of the Government’s war on the poor caused him to change and to speak out against all the powers which were responsible for the murders of countless people. In El Salvador the Church was, and is still, the official religion of the Government. Therefore, the presence of the archbishop was and is still very important in political events. But, after Jesuit Father Rutilio Grande, a young boy, and another man were killed, Monsenor Romero decided not attend any political events until the government explained the death of these people. Confronting this experience of death made Archbishop Romero believe that there is no Christian love if there is not justice. As a result, he proclaimed that he would never tire of preaching love and that the Christian has to work to marginalize sin and to plant instead the seeds of the Kingdom of God. Social Activism is not communism. It is not enough for us to save our souls at the last minute before our deaths. The Gospel requires people, the Christians of today, to enter into the historical situation in which we find ourselves and to participate in making the Gospel alive. Salvation comes about in a historical context.

Monsenor Romero, not only spoke against injustice and oppression; he carried on his own shoulders the suffering, the oppression and death of the people suffering the same persecution. He said “the shepherd does not want security if his sheep don’t have it”. Expressing a sign of true and deep humility he said “with this people, it is not difficult to be good shepherd. I ask your prayers, to be firm on this promise, that I will not leave my people, but I will suffer all the risks that my ministry requires”. Also, he understood that in a situation where many people were killed, where the blood of many innocents, of the poor, and of the oppressed, runs on the streets, if the church does not suffer the same persecution, it is not a Church truly rooted in Christ. The church’s mission is to defend the human rights that are being oppressed.

In addition, Monsenor Romero let himself be guided by the reality of offering his life as hope of freedom for his people. John Sobrino says “Monsenor Romero allowed God to be God”. And Ignacio Ellacuria, one of the martyrs of the UCA, reinterpreted Romero’s life saying “By Monsenor Romero, God came down to El Salvador” because Monsenor Romero confessed “the Christian is someone who loves deeply, the Christian is Christ”. Romero had deep faith in God. God was the beginning and the end of life, of justice, of love and of truth. Therefore, Monsenor Romero found God’s presence and mastery in the poor; and the mystery of God Was shown to him by the poor, those who in the eyes of the powerful of this world mean nothing. He was loved by his people and his people felt loved by him acknowledging him a man who comes from God as Good News and as hope of liberation.

Therefore, Brothers, the challenge is how Monsenor Romero can inspire us today. Monsenor Romero invites us to find God in the simplicity, in “la nada”, and live our faith completely. As soon as he became Archbishop, the rich people and the government offered him a beautiful home with every need met. But being consistent with the gospel, and with his people, Archbishop Romero preferred live in a small room adjoining the chapel of the Carmelite Sisters’ chapel. Finally, Brothers, during this Lent, God invites us by the example of Monsenor Romero to conversion becoming the voice that cries in the desert because Lent is preparation for our resurrection, the Resurrection with Chirst that is our salvation. But if we are to be raised with Christ, it is also necessary for us to accompany Jesus in his suffering and cross. Thus, God is knocking the door of our house, and it will depend of us if we open or not our door to him, and invite him to come in and eat with us at our table.

That's the homily--now let's look at the Gospel for tomorrow, the 5th Sunday of Lent, year B and see Monsignor Romero in this context

Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast

came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,

and asked him, "Sir, we would like to see Jesus."

Philip went and told Andrew;

then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

Jesus answered them,

"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Amen, amen, I say to you,

unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,

it remains just a grain of wheat;

but if it dies, it produces much fruit.

Whoever loves his life loses it,

and whoever hates his life in this world

will preserve it for eternal life.

Whoever serves me must follow me,

and where I am, there also will my servant be.

The Father will honor whoever serves me.

"I am troubled now. Yet what should I say?

'Father, save me from this hour?'

But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.

Father, glorify your name."

Then a voice came from heaven,

"I have glorified it and will glorify it again."

The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder;

but others said, "An angel has spoken to him."

Jesus answered and said,

"This voice did not come for my sake but for yours.

Now is the time of judgment on this world;

now the ruler of this world will be driven out.

And when I am lifted up from the earth,

I will draw everyone to myself."

He said this indicating the sort of death that awaited him.

It does give us something to think about--we can see why the Church calls Jesus "The King of Martyrs" Archbishop Romero is only one of many who follows in the footsteps of his king.