St. Oscar Romero

Pope Francis has declared Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador a saint. The following day I painted this in his honor.

Bishop Oscar Romero was a conservative traditionalist. The corrupt elite of his country, the wealthy and the military, felt pleased in 1977 when he was appointed Archbishop of San Salvador.

Only weeks later, Romero's friend, Jesuit Fr. Rutilio Grande, who ministered to the poor, was murdered by a right-wing death squad. This loss had a profound effect on Archbishop Romero, who declared, "If they have killed him for doing what he did, then I too have to walk the same path."

Archbishop Romero shocked the right wingers who ran El Savador by speaking in favor of the poor and encouraging their organizing to throw off the chains that kept them disenfranchised.Three years later, on March 24, 1980, Oscar Romero was at the altar celebrating mass when a gunman drove up, assassinated the Archbishop, and sped away. He had been loved by the people because he came to their defense, and this enraged his enemies. At his funeral, scores of mourners were murdered. 

The life of this saint gives me hope that today's Church, shamed by sexual abuse and coverups, will see its hierarchy converted, that they will become faithful shepherds who are willing to sacrifice themselves in the cause of truth, peace, and justice.


St. Oscar, pray for the poor and disenfranchised.
St. Oscar, pray for the Church.

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Addendum: 
I came across this 8-minute video on the life and death of St. Oscar Romero.