Oscar Romero
Oscar Romero was born on August 15th 1917 in Ciudad Barrios, El Salvador. El Salvador was an unfair country, where people with more power could torture those without. He was born into a large family with 7 other siblings. His parents were Guadalupe de Jesus Galdamez, and Santos Romero. His family were neither rich nor poor, they were wealthier than most of their neighbours, but the children had to sleep on the floor. Oscar was determined to become a priest, so when he was 14 he entered the seminary. 11 years later, at the age of 25, he became a priest in 1942. On the 12th of March 1977 Oscar Romero became an Archbishop. Soon after his friend Rutilio Grande assassinated. When he had heard this news he was deeply affected. He realised that what the government was doing to the poor was very bad, and that someone had to stick up for those without voice against those with too much power.
At that point he decided that he would be the one to stick up for others, especially the poor. Oscar then visited the outskirts of El Salvador where a lot of poor people lived without the necessities of life. He assured and helped them, so that they knew that someone was there. He gave them hope. Oscar Romero even made radio broadcasts to proclaim his Sunday sermons, made public protests and organised peace marches against poverty. These public announcements made the government angry because they didn’t want people to know about the Christian message, particularly their soldiers.
Since the government didn’t want Archbishop Romero to continue ex-mayor General Roberto D-aubuisson ordered his death. Oscar’s last sermon was to the soldiers saying that they shouldn’t kill people for we are all the same. On the 24th of March 1980, Oscar Romero was saying mass in the Church of Divine Providence. While he was consecrating the Eucharist, a gunman pulled up infront of the Church, took aim, and shot Romero in the heart. A huge crowd gathered for Archbishop Romero’s funeral. Snipers hiding in the rooftops, killed 40 people and injured several. He was declared a martyr on the 3rd of February 2015 by Pope Francis, and he was beatified on the 23rd of May 2015.
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Hi Estelle Great piece of writing in your own words LOVE IT - good rewindable learning - I can read it again and again. Thanks for sharing.
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