St. Óscar Romero
As a bishop he devoted himself to the defence of the poor, and as Archbishop of San Salvador, in years of repression, he led and protected his people. He was killed while celebrating Mass among the sick of a hospital, and the Church honours him as a martyr.
Born 1917 · Died 1980 · Canonized 2018 · Beatified 2015
Óscar Arnulfo Romero Galdámez was born on 15 August 1917 at Ciudad Barrios, in El Salvador, into a modest family. By the age of twelve he was working for a carpenter. In 1930 he entered the minor seminary of San Miguel, and in 1943 he took a licence in theology at the Gregorian University.
Once ordained a priest he returned to his own country and gave himself with passion to work as a parish priest. He was later made director of the seminary of San Salvador and secretary of the bishops' conference, and served as executive secretary of a body his biography names only as CEDAC. In 1970 he was made auxiliary bishop of San Salvador and devoted himself to the defence of the poor. In 1974 he became Bishop of Santiago de María, and in 1977 Archbishop of San Salvador, in what his biography calls a time of full social and political repression.
Pope Francis, writing for his beatification, said that Romero knew how to lead, defend and protect his flock while staying faithful to the Gospel and in communion with the whole Church, and that his ministry was marked by particular attention to the poorest and most marginalized. In the same letter Francis sets “the violence of the sword, of hate” against “the violence of love”.
On 24 March 1980 he was killed while celebrating Mass among the sick of a hospital. The Church honours him as a martyr, but the account of his life printed for his canonization does not say who killed him or why. Francis wrote that at the moment of his death he “received the grace to identify himself fully with the One who gave his life for his sheep”.
He was beatified at San Salvador in 2015, and on 14 October 2018 Pope Francis canonized him in St Peter's Square, one of seven saints proclaimed that day.
What they carried
He came from a modest family and was working for a carpenter at twelve. He was Archbishop of San Salvador in what his biography calls a time of full social and political repression, and in 1980 he was killed while saying Mass.
State of life
priest · bishop · martyr
Themes
care of the poor · martyrdom · peacemaking · courage under pressure
Pope Francis's letter for his beatification (2015)
- Holy See, booklet for the Mass and canonization of 14 October 2018 — THE SPINE OF THIS RECORD. Every fact of his life in the summary, from his birth to his beatification, comes from the short biography printed there, and from nothing else held. THAT BIOGRAPHY IS PRINTED IN ITALIAN AND SPANISH ONLY; THERE IS NO ENGLISH EDITION OF IT. The English sentences in this record that follow it are this record's own rendering, and the biography is quoted here in its own words rather than in a translation. It opens: “Oscar Arnulfo Romero Galdámez naque a Ciudad Barrios di El Salvador il 15 agosto 1917 da una famiglia modesta.” In the Spanish: “Óscar Arnulfo Romero Galdámez nació en Ciudad Barrios (El Salvador) el 15 de agosto de 1917, en el seno de una familia modesta.” The early years: “A 12 anni lavorò presso un falegname. Nel 1930 entrò nel seminario minore di San Miguel.” And: “Nel 1943 conseguì la licenza in teologia presso l’Università Gregoriana.” The two editions agree on every fact. https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/libretti/2018/20181014-libretto-canonizzazione.pdf
- His priesthood and his offices, from the same biography. “Ordinato sacerdote, tornò in patria e si dedicò con passione all’attività pastorale come parroco.” Then: “fu nominato direttore del Seminario di San Salvador, Segretario della Conferenza Episcopale di San Salvador e Segretario Esecutivo del CEDAC.” The Spanish names the same three offices, with “secretario de la Conferencia Episcopal de San Salvador”. Neither edition gives the year he was ordained or where, and neither says what CEDAC stands for; this record supplies neither. Both editions call the conference that of San Salvador, while Pope Francis's letter for his beatification is addressed to the “President of the Bishops’ Conference of El Salvador”; the summary therefore says only that he was secretary of the bishops' conference, and names it neither way. The three appointments follow: “Nel 1970, eletto Vescovo ausiliare di San Salvador, si dedicò alla difesa dei poveri.” And: “Dal 1974 divenne Vescovo di Santiago de Maria e dal 1977 Arcivescovo di San Salvador, in piena repressione sociale e politica.” The Spanish spells the first see Santiago de María, and the summary follows it.
- HOW HE DIED, AND WHAT NOTHING HELD SAYS ABOUT IT. The biography: “Il 24 marzo 1980 venne ucciso mentre celebrava la Messa tra i malati dell’ospedale.” In the Spanish: “El 24 de marzo de 1980, mientras celebraba la Misa con los enfermos del hospital, fue asesinado.” He is a martyr in the Holy See's own words: the booklet's list of those to be canonized names him “Arcivescovo di San Salvador Martire”, the Press Office account of the rite calls him “archbishop of San Salvador, martyr”, and Pope Francis's letter calls him “the martyred Bishop”. NO DOCUMENT HELD HERE SAYS WHO KILLED HIM OR WHY. Scope of the check: all four documents held for him, the booklet within his own biography, searched in English for kill, murder, assassin, shot, bullet and soldier, and in Italian and Spanish for ucciso, asesinado, disparo and sparo. The only hits are the two verbs in the sentences above, which say that he was killed and nothing more; neither edition names the hospital. The biography reports his defence of the poor from 1970 and his death in 1980 and joins them with nothing, and this record joins them with nothing either. The nearest any held document comes is Francis's canonization homily, which says he “left the security of the world, even his own safety, in order to give his life according to the Gospel, close to the poor and to his people”. That sentence is about what he gave up; it does not say why he was killed.
- NO FEAST DAY IS RECORDED. Scope of the check: all four documents held for him were read for a liturgical date and none gives one; the canonization formula in the booklet decrees only that the new saints are to be “venerated as such by the whole Church”, with no day. He is on neither calendar held here. The Universal Calendar pages of the Liturgy Office of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales list Turibius of Mogrovejo on 23 March and the Annunciation on 25 March and nothing between them, and the USCCB liturgical calendars for 2026 and 2027 do not name him. 24 MARCH IS SOURCED HERE AS THE DATE OF HIS DEATH ONLY. A date of death is not a feast day, and this record does not turn one into the other. When Pope Francis's letter speaks of “this feast day for the Salvadorian nation”, the feast is the beatification, the occasion of the letter, which is dated 23 May 2015; it is not a liturgical day kept in his honour.
- Pope Francis, letter to the Archbishop of San Salvador on the occasion of the beatification of Monsignor Óscar Arnulfo Romero Galdámez, 23 May 2015 — the source of the third paragraph of the summary, and the one document held here written about him at length. He calls him “a zealous bishop who, loving God and serving brothers and sisters, became the image of Christ the Good Shepherd”. He writes that “Archbishop Romero knew how to lead, defend and protect his flock, remaining faithful to the Gospel and in communion with the whole Church”, and that “His ministry was distinguished by particular attention to the most poor and marginalized.” Of his death: “at the moment of his death, while he celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of love and reconciliation, he received the grace to identify himself fully with the One who gave his life for his sheep.” The words about “the violence of love” are set in quotation marks by the letter itself, which does not say where they come from; this record repeats them as the letter's, not as words of Romero's it can source. https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/letters/2015/documents/papa-francesco_20150523_lettera-beatificazione-romero.html
- His canonization. The Holy See Press Office bulletin of 14 October 2018 records that Pope Francis presided at the rite of canonization of seven Blesseds, among them “Óscar Arnulfo Romero Galdámez (1917-1980), archbishop of San Salvador, martyr”. The others were Paul VI, Francesco Spinelli, Vincenzo Romano, Maria Katharina Kasper, Nazaria Ignazia of Saint Teresa of Jesus and Nunzio Sulprizio. Francis's homily that day, headed St Peter's Square, gives him one sentence, which is quoted in full in the note on his death above. https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2018/10/14/181014b.html https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2018/documents/papa-francesco_20181014_omelia-canonizzazione.html
- WHAT THE HELD DOCUMENTS DO NOT GIVE, listed so that each gap reads as a finding rather than an oversight. No year or place of ordination. No expansion of CEDAC. No name of the hospital where he was killed, and no city: the biography says only “dell’ospedale”, and the summary does not say he died in San Salvador. Nothing on his baptism or on whether he was raised in the faith, so this record does not say whether he was a convert; scope of the check: his biography searched for battez, bautiz and baptis, and the other three documents read through, with no hit. NO PATRONAGE IS RECORDED: all four documents searched for patron, and the Italian and Spanish for patrono and patrón, with zero occurrences in any of them. Francis's letter speaks of “those who invoke him as protector and intercessor”, which is devotion, not a declared patronage.