Scottish Catholic Observer

The anniversary of the death of Archbishop Oscar Romero was marked with the celebration of Mass and presentation of the Romero lecture in St Andrews and Edinburgh Archdiocese last week.

Cardinal Keith O’Brien celebrated Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh last Thursday—31 years to the day after Archbishop Romero was shot while celebrating Mass in a hospital chapel in El Salvador—and was joined by Werner Matias Romero, ambassador from El Salvador and his consul general, Beatriz Alfaro Rivas.

Fr Juan Hernandez Pico SJ who, the previous evening, had delivered a wonderfully insightful Romero lecture at the Lauriston Jesuit Centre, was present at the Mass.

Relic presentation

During the Romero Day Mass, Cardinal O’Brien was presented with a relic—from the alb Archbishop Romero was wearing when he was murdered—by Jan Graffius, curator at Stonyhurst College, who had restored the vestments in El Salvador and had received the relic as a gift. The relic will be put on display at St Mary’s Cathedral.

The cardinal said that the relic would be a constant reminder ‘to myself, as a bishop, and to my successors in office, as well as to the priests, religious and people of our archdiocese of the valiant apostolate of Romero as a hero for human rights.’

Oscar Romero

Archbishop Romero of San Salvador spoke out against repression by the US-backed regime during El Salvador’s 12-year civil war, in which at least 75,000 people died and Cardinal O’Brien highlighted that the archbishop’s death had been marked by the visit of US President, Barack Obama, to his burial site in the cathedral of San Salvador.

“Surely this was another acknowledgement of the outstanding, almost unique place, which Romero holds in the eyes of every person in the world who values freedom,” the cardinal said.

“This was indeed a prophetic visit from a president of the US—and I am sure that other steps will follow from this one.”

Lecture

The previous evening Fr Hernandez, a Central American Jesuit theologian, based at the Romero Pastoral Centre, had captured the attention of the many gathered at the Lauriston Jesuit Centre to hear his lecture, entitled: Romero and the Social Gospel—the challenge for us today.

The priest gave a comprehensive and insightful presentation on the life and ministry of Archbishop Romero which was described, by a St Andrews and Edinburgh Archdiocesan priest to Cardinal O’Brien, as being ‘far more than a lecture.’

“It was also the very giving of himself with passion and conviction after the pattern of Oscar Romero—he took us step by step through his life and death—ever so moving and challenging,” the priest said. “It was as if the archbishop was at the lectern speaking to us—pleading with us.”

In addition to speaking in Edinburgh, Fr Hernandez delivered the lecture at three venues in England last week, while he also preached the homily at the Romero Day Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral.

The purpose of the Romero Day celebrations and lecture were most aptly summed up in the cardinal’s message of thanks.

“To acknowledge the memory of Archbishop Oscar Romero and to pray that the memory of this man, who stood for everything that is good in society, will continue to inspire us all as we journey in faith in these troubled times,” the cardinal said.

— Read this year’s Romero lecture, given at Lauriston Jesuite Centre in Edinburgh, online in the opinion section at http://sconews.co.uk/opinion/remembering-romero-and-the-social-gospel/

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Pic Paul McSherry