Oscar Romero Research Paper

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Running head: OSCAR ROMERO 1
Spring 15
Oscar Romero
Mahmoud Zeidan REL 317
Niagara University

Running head: OSCAR ROMERO 2
Introduction
Oscar Amulfo Romero was a Roman Catholic priest in El Salvator. Romero was a priest during the 1960s and 1970s. Oscar Romero became Archbishop of San Salvador in 1977. His role with the Roman Catholic Church continued for years after. His ties with the Roman Catholic Church extended within human rights. There were systematic acts of persecution, oppression, and human rights violations against the citizens of El Salvador by the government. The separation between church and state and the subjugation of the church to political authority led to conflict within El Salvador. Oscar Romero sparked quite a bit …show more content…

El Salvador had a small population of about five million. Oscar Romero grew up close to his father. By the time Romeo was thirteen years old his father allowed him to become an apprentice for the position as a carpenter. The apprenticeship would have led him to become a master carpenter but Oscar Romero wanted to take another path. Oscar Romero truly believed that leaving home to enter the seminary to become a Catholic priest was the position that he needed to attain. Oscar Romero studied in El Salvador as well as Rome and he was ordained in the year of 1942. Before Romero was ordained in 1942, dictatorship by the military plagued the country and over thirty thousand lives were lost. Ever since then more and more deaths were added to those thousands that were gone. Oscar Romero knew that this had to come to an end and he would need the help of the Catholic Church for more power during his stand. Later in his career in 1977 he had become the Archbishop of his country. The problem was that he realized that Rome was more concerned with keeping a good relationship with the government than the needs of the citizens of El Salvador. Romero had seen that more than sixty percent of the people in his country were landless. There had to be a place for his people who were suffering so Oscar Romero took a stand to protect the citizens and their needs to survive in El …show more content…

This was a move that was not very welcomed by the more radical elements in priesthood. He took his place as Bishop of the Diocese of Santiago de Maria in 1975. He was then named the diocese of Santiago de Maria, a poor and rural region. Then in 1977, Oscar Romero returned to the capital to succeed the aged metropolitan archbishop. Romero took a rise in ministry to prominence in the Catholic hierarchy. During this time, there was an extreme change within the Church in Latin America. Between the years of 1978 and 1979 there was an increase in the repression against the public and the church. Father Ernesto Barrera was then murdered at this time. Many other killings of leaders within the Catholic Church took place during this time. Romero noticed the truth after the killings of these priests. Oscar Romero said that “Those exemplary priest deserve great admiration...they were victims of the effort to maintain an unjust system...Neto Barrea, Rutilio Grande, Alfonso Navarro, Octavio Ortiz, and the others had great insight; they grasped reality with great clarity and
Running head: OSCAR ROMERO

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