View source for Óscar Romero

{{Short description|Archbishop of San Salvador from 1977 to 1980}}
{{for-multi|the Paraguayan footballer|Óscar Romero (footballer)|the American soccer player|Oscar Romero (soccer)}}
{{Family name hatnote|[[Romero]]|Galdámez|lang=Spanish}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type             = bishop
| honorific_prefix = [[Saint]]
| name             = Óscar Romero
| honorific-suffix = 
| title            = [[Archbishop of San Salvador]]
| image            = Monseñor Romero (colour).jpg
| image_size       =
| caption          = Romero in 1978 on a visit to [[Rome]]
| church           = [[Catholic Church]]
| archdiocese      = [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Salvador|San Salvador]]
| appointed        = 3 February 1977
| term_start       = 22 February 1977
| term_end         = 24 March 1980
| predecessor      = [[Luis Chávez y González]]
| successor        = [[Arturo Rivera y Damas]]
| other_post       = {{unbulleted list|Auxiliary Bishop of San Salvador|Titular Bishop of Tambeae|[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santiago de María|Bishop of Santiago de María]]}}
<!---------- Orders ---------->
| ordination       = 4 April 1942
| ordained_by      = 
| consecration     = 25 April 1970
| consecrated_by   = [[Girolamo Prigione]]
<!---------- Personal details ---------->
| birth_name       = Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1917|08|15|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [[Ciudad Barrios]], San Miguel, El&nbsp;Salvador
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1980|03|24|1917|08|15|df=y}}
| death_place      = Chapel of Hospital de la Divina Providencia, [[San Salvador]], El&nbsp;Salvador
| buried           = [[San Salvador Cathedral|Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador]], San Salvador
| nationality      = <!-- use only when necessary per [[WP:INFONAT]] -->
| religion         = [[Catholicism]]
| signature        = Óscar Arnulfo Romero signature.svg{{!}}class=skin-invert
| motto = {{langnf|la|Sentire cum ecclesia|To feel with the Church|break=yes}}
| coat_of_arms     = File:Coat of arms of Óscar Arnulfo Romero.svg
<!---------- Sainthood ---------->
| feast_day        = 24 March
| venerated        = {{unbulleted list|Catholic Church|[[Anglican Communion]]|[[Lutheranism]]}}
| beatified_date   = 23 May 2015
| beatified_place  = [[Monumento al Divino Salvador del Mundo|Plaza El Salvador de Mundo]], San Salvador, El Salvador
| beatified_by     = [[Angelo Amato]], representing [[Pope Francis]]
| canonized_date   = 14 October 2018
| canonized_place  = [[Saint Peter's Square]], Vatican&nbsp;City
| canonized_by     = Pope Francis
| attributes       = [[Episcopal vestments]]<br>[[Crown of martyrdom]]<br>[[Martyr's palm]]<br>[[Rosary]]
| patronage        = {{Hlist|Christian communicators<ref>{{cite web|url=https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fofsdemexico.wordpress.com%2F2015%2F03%2F13%2F%25e2%2580%258boscar-romero-patrono-de-los-comunicadores-cristianos%2F&edit-text=&act=url|title=Oscar Romero, patron of Christian communicators? (in Spanish)|publisher=Aleteia|access-date=22 March 2015}}</ref>|[[El Salvador]]|[[The Americas]]|[[Archdiocese of San Salvador]]|Persecuted Christians|[[Caritas International]] (co-patron)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.avvenire.it/Chiesa/Pagine/romero-patrona-caritas-internationalis-rodrigues-maradiaga.aspx|title=Romero co-patrono di Caritas Internationalis|publisher=Avvenire|date=16 May 2015|access-date=18 May 2015}}</ref>}} [[Cainta]], Rizal, Philippines (Quasi-Parish)
<!---------- Other ---------->
| module           = {{Ordination
| embed                        = yes
| denomination                 = Catholic Church
| name                         = Óscar Romero
| ordained priest by           = 
| date of priestly ordination  = 4 April 1942
| place of priestly ordination = Rome, Italy
| consecrated by               = Girolamo Prigione
| co-consecrators              = Luis Chávez y González and Arturo Rivera y Damas
| date of consecration         = 21 June 1970
| place of consecration        = 
| sources                      = <ref name="catholic-heirarchy">{{cite web|url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bromeroy.html|title=Archbishop St. Oscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdamez †|access-date=10 December 2021|website=[[Catholic-Hierarchy.org]]}}</ref>
}}
}}

'''Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez''' (15 August 1917 – 24 March 1980) was a [[prelate]] of the [[Catholic Church in El Salvador]]. He served as Auxiliary Bishop of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Salvador|Archdiocese of San Salvador]], the Titular Bishop of [[Tambeae]], as [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santiago de María|Bishop of Santiago de María]], and finally as the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador. As archbishop, Romero spoke out against social injustice and violence amid the escalating conflict between the [[military government]] and left-wing insurgents that led to the [[Salvadoran Civil War]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/13/world/europe/oscar-arnulfo-romero-saint-canonization.html|title=Óscar Romero, Archbishop Killed While Saying Mass, Will Be Named a Saint on Sunday|last=Zraick|first=Karen|date=13 October 2018|work=The New York Times|access-date=9 May 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 1980, Romero was shot by an assassin while celebrating [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]]. Though no one was ever convicted for the crime, investigations by the UN-created [[Truth Commission for El Salvador]] concluded that Major [[Roberto D'Aubuisson]], a [[Death squads in El Salvador|death squad]] leader and later founder of the right-wing [[Nationalist Republican Alliance]] (ARENA) political party, had ordered the killing.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Brockett|first1=Charles D.|title=Political Movements and Violence in Central America|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=9780521600552 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a1_PgauRgLwC&pg=PA240|access-date=19 October 2016|language=en|date=21 February 2005}}</ref>

In 1997, [[Pope John Paul II]] bestowed upon Romero the title of [[Servant of God#Catholic Church|Servant of God]], and a cause for his [[beatification]] was opened by the church. The cause stalled but was reopened by [[Pope Benedict XVI]] in 2012. Romero was declared a [[martyr]] by [[Pope Francis]] on 3 February 2015, paving the way for his beatification on 23 May 2015. During Romero's beatification, Pope Francis declared that his "ministry was distinguished by his particular attention to the most poor and marginalized."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.archivioradiovaticana.va/storico/2015/05/23/pope_francis_letter_for_the_beatification_of_%C3%83%C2%B3scar_romero/en-1146203|title=Pope Francis sends letter for the beatification of Óscar Romero|website=www.archivioradiovaticana.va}}</ref> Pope Francis [[Canonization|canonized]] Romero on 14 October 2018.

Seen as a social conservative at the time of his appointment as archbishop in 1977, Romero was deeply affected by the murder of his friend and fellow priest [[Rutilio Grande]] and thereafter became an outspoken critic of the [[Military dictatorship in El Salvador|military government of El Salvador]]. Hailed by supporters of [[liberation theology]], Romero's relationship with this theology was debated and initially led to impediments in his [[beatification]] process, with both denials and affirmations of Romero adhering to it.<ref>{{cite book |title=Revolutionary Saint: The Theological Legacy of Oscar Romero |first=Michael E. |last=Lee |publisher=Orbis Books |year=2018 |isbn=9781626982260 |page=189}}</ref> According to his biographer Michael E. Lee, since Romero's theological thought and homilies extensively utilized the theme of liberation, and Romero borrowed numerous controversial elements of liberation theology, he "can be seen as an exemplar of liberation theology".<ref name="lee_193">{{cite book |title=Revolutionary Saint: The Theological Legacy of Oscar Romero |first=Michael E. |last=Lee |publisher=Orbis Books |year=2018 |isbn=9781626982260 |page=193}}</ref> Similarly, [[Peter McLaren]] also argued that "Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero adopted an outspoken stance in favor of 'liberation theology'".<ref name="mclaren">{{cite journal |title=From liberation to salvation: Revolutionary critical pedagogy meets liberation theology |first1=Peter |last1=McLaren |first2=Petar |last2=Jandrić |journal=Policy Futures in Education |year=2017 |volume=15 |issue=5 |doi=10.1177/1478210317695713 |publisher=[[SagePub]] |location=[[Zagreb]] |page=636}}</ref>

In 2010, the [[United Nations General Assembly]] proclaimed 24 March as the "International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims" in recognition of Romero's role in defence of human rights. Romero actively denounced violations of the human rights of the most vulnerable people and defended the principles of protecting lives, promoting human dignity and opposing all forms of violence. Archbishop [[José Luis Escobar Alas]], one of Romero's successors as Archbishop of San Salvador, asked Pope Francis to proclaim Romero a [[Doctor of the Church]], which is an acknowledgement from the church that his religious teachings were orthodox and had a significant impact on its philosophy and theology.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2018/salvadoran-archbishop-asks-pope-to-make-romero-doctor-of-the-church.cfm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181015213657/http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2018/salvadoran-archbishop-asks-pope-to-make-romero-doctor-of-the-church.cfm | url-status=dead | archive-date=15 October 2018 | title=Salvadoran archbishop asks pope to make Romero 'doctor of the church'| date=20 March 2019}}</ref>

Latin American church groups often proclaim Romero an unofficial [[patron saint]] of [[the Americas]] and El Salvador; Catholics in El Salvador often refer to him as ''San Romero'', as well as ''Monseñor Romero''. Outside of Catholicism, Romero is honoured by other [[Christendom|Christian denominations]], including the [[Church of England]] and [[Anglican Communion]], through the Calendar in [[Common Worship]], as well as in at least one [[Lutheran liturgical calendar]]. Romero is also one of the ten 20th-century martyrs depicted in statues above the Great West Door of [[Westminster Abbey]] in London.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

==Early life==
[[File:MOAR 3.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Romero in 1941]]
Óscar Romero was born on 15 August 1917<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2GOGV41Rc6wC&pg=PA220 |title=The A to Z of Human Rights and Humanitarian Organizations |author1=Edward S. Mihalkanin |author2=Robert F. Gorman |publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]] |isbn=978-0810868748 |page=220 |via=books.google.com |year=2009}}</ref> to Santos Romero and Guadalupe de Jesús Galdámez in [[Ciudad Barrios]] in the [[San Miguel Department (El Salvador)|San Miguel department]] of [[El Salvador]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P2XVHycXikcC&pg=PA181 |title=A Shot in the Cathedral |author=Mario Bencastro |publisher=[[Arte Público Press]] |isbn=978-1558851641 |page=182 |year=1996}}</ref> On 11 May 1919, at the age of one, Romero was baptized into the Catholic Church by the priest Cecilio Morales.<ref name="Brockman1989">{{cite book|author=James R. Brockman|title=Romero: A Life|year=1989 |publisher=Orbis Books |isbn=9780883446522 |url=https://archive.org/details/romerolife0000broc}}</ref>

Romero entered the local public school, which offered only grades one through three. When finished with public school, Romero was privately tutored by a teacher, Anita Iglesias,<ref name="Brockman1982">{{cite book|author=James R. Brockman|title=The Word Remains: A Life of Oscar Romero|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KWhaAAAAMAAJ|year=1982|publisher=Orbis Books|isbn=978-0-88344-364-4|page=31}}</ref> until the age of thirteen.<ref name="Brockman2005">{{cite book|author=James R. Brockman|title=Romero: A Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dYLZAAAAMAAJ&q=Romero+Anita+Iglesias|year=2005|publisher=Orbis Books|isbn=978-1-57075-599-6|page=34|quote=The office was in the Romero home on the plaza, and the Romero children delivered letters and telegrams in the town. ... After that his parents sent him to study under a teacher named Anita Iglesias until he was twelve or thirteen.}}</ref> During this time Romero's father trained him in carpentry.<ref name="Royal2000">{{cite book|author=Robert Royal|title=The Catholic martyrs of the twentieth century: a comprehensive world history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7cxsAAAAIAAJ&q=father+Santos,+had+been+training+Romero+in+carpentry.|year=2000|publisher=Crossroad Pub.|isbn=978-0-8245-1846-2|page=279}}</ref> Romero showed exceptional proficiency as an apprentice. His father wanted to offer his son the skill of a trade, because in El Salvador studies seldom led to employment,<ref>Wright, Scott (26 February 2015). "Family". ''Oscar Romero and the Communion of Saints: A Biography''. Orbis Books. {{ISBN|978-1-60833-247-2}}. "Most children never had the opportunity or the means to even consider [a vocation such as a priesthood]. At least that was his father's belief, and for that reason, he sent his son to learn a trade." Retrieved 27 December 2015.</ref> however, Romero broached the idea of studying for the priesthood, which did not surprise those who knew him.<ref name="liberators" />

==Priesthood==
[[File:Romero, Vatican City, 1942, color.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Romero in 1942 at [[Vatican City|the Vatican]].]]

Romero entered the [[minor seminary]] in San Miguel at the age of thirteen. He left the seminary for three months to return home when his mother became ill after the birth of her eighth child; during this time he worked with two of his brothers in a gold mine near Ciudad Barrios.<ref name="liberators">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/liberatorspatrio00adam_0 |url-access=registration |title=Liberators, Patriots and Leaders of Latin America: 32 Biographies |author=Adams, Jerome R. |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|date=2010 |access-date=27 December 2015|isbn=9780786455522 }}</ref> After graduation, he enrolled in the national [[seminary]] in San Salvador. He completed his studies at the [[Gregorian University]] in [[Rome]], where he received a [[Licentiate in Theology]] ''cum laude'' in 1941, but had to wait a year to be ordained because he was younger than the required age.<ref name="wright">Wright, Scott (26 February 2015). "Family". ''Oscar Romero and the Communion of Saints: A Biography''. Orbis Books. {{ISBN|978-1-60833-247-2}}. Retrieved 27 December 2015.</ref> He was [[Holy Orders|ordained]] in Rome on 4 April 1942.<ref name="catholic-heirarchy" /><ref name=un>{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/en/events/righttotruthday/romero.shtml|title=Biography of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero – International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims, 24 March|website=United Nations}}</ref> His family could not attend his ordination because of travel restrictions due to [[World War II]].<ref name="kell-bio" /> Romero remained in Italy to obtain a doctoral degree in theology, specializing in [[ascetical theology]] and Christian perfection according to [[Luis de la Puente]].<ref name="wright" /> Before finishing, in 1943 at the age of 26, he was summoned back home from Italy by his bishop. He traveled home with a good friend, Father Valladares, who was also doing doctoral work in Rome. On the route home, they made stops in Spain and Cuba, where they were detained by the Cuban police, likely for having come from [[Kingdom of Italy#Fascist regime (1922–1943)|Fascist Italy]],<ref>Italy had signed [[Armistice of Cassibile|an armistice with the Allies]] two weeks earlier, but the ship on which they sailed had recently been suspected of espionage. {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mg4eXqsXLhoC&q=Marqu%C3%A9s+de+Comillas |title=The Hemingway Patrols: Ernest Hemingway and His Hunt for U-Boats |last1=Mort |first1=Terry |date=2009 |publisher=Scribner |access-date=27 December 2015|isbn=9781416597902 }}</ref> and were placed in a series of internment camps. After several months in prison, Valladares became sick and [[Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer|Redemptorist]] priests helped to have the two transferred to a hospital. From the hospital they were released from Cuban custody and sailed on to Mexico, then traveled overland to El Salvador.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://polycarpi.blogspot.com/2015/12/oscar-romeros-odyssey-in-cuba.html |title=Oscar Romero's Odyssey in Cuba  |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=21 December 2015 |website=Supermartyrio: The Martyrdom Files |access-date=27 December 2015}}</ref>

Romero was first assigned to serve as a [[parish priest]] in [[Anamorós]], but then moved to [[San Miguel, El Salvador|San Miguel]] where he worked for over 20 years.<ref name=un/> He promoted various apostolic groups, started an [[Alcoholics Anonymous]] group, helped in the construction of San Miguel's cathedral, and supported devotion to [[Our Lady of Peace]]. He was later appointed rector of the inter-diocesan seminary in [[San Salvador]]. Emotionally and physically exhausted by his work in San Miguel, Romero took a retreat in January 1966 where he visited a priest for confession and a psychiatrist. He was diagnosed by the psychiatrist as having [[obsessive-compulsive personality disorder]] and by priests with [[scrupulosity]].<ref>{{cite book|year=2014|title=Oscar Romero: Love Must Win Out|publisher=Liturgical Press|last=Clarke|first=Kevin|page=45|isbn=978-0-8146-3757-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|year=2011|title=Congregants Of Silence|publisher=Lulu|last=Schaller|first=George|page=70|isbn=978-1-105-19762-8}}</ref>

In 1966, he was chosen to be Secretary of the Bishops Conference for El Salvador. He also became the director of the archdiocesan newspaper ''Orientación'', which became fairly conservative while he was editor, defending the traditional Magisterium of the Catholic Church.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Óscar Romero|url=https://followingjesus.org/oscar-romero/|date=14 March 2016|website=following Jesus|language=en-US|access-date=23 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913131031/http://followingjesus.org/oscar-romero/|archive-date=13 September 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Bishop and Archbishop==
On 25 April 1970, Romero was appointed an [[auxiliary bishop]] for the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Salvador|Archdiocese of San Salvador]] and as the titular bishop of Tambeae.<ref name="catholic-heirarchy" /> He was consecrated on 21 June by [[Girolamo Prigione]], titular Archbishop of Lauriacum.<ref name="catholic-heirarchy" /> On 15 October 1974, he was appointed Bishop of the [[Diocese of Santiago de María]], a poor, rural region.<ref name="catholic-heirarchy" /><ref name=un/>

On 3 February 1977, Romero was appointed Archbishop of San Salvador, assuming the position on 22 February.<ref name="catholic-heirarchy" /> While this appointment was welcomed by the government, many priests were disappointed, especially those openly supportive of [[Marxism|Marxist]] ideology. The progressive priests feared that his conservative reputation would negatively affect [[liberation theology]]'s commitment to the poor.<ref>{{Cite news|title=A day to remember Archbishop Óscar Romero|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/a-day-to-remember-archbishop-%C3%B3scar-romero-1.3186365|access-date=1 February 2021|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=McGarry|first=Patsy|title=Oscar Romero: one-time conservative who became a nation's social martyr|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/oscar-romero-one-time-conservative-who-became-a-nation-s-social-martyr-1.3657423|access-date=1 February 2021|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Mural Oscar Romero UES.jpg|thumb|upright|A mural of Óscar Romero]]

On 12 March 1977, [[Rutilio Grande]], a [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] priest and personal friend of Romero who had been creating self-reliance groups among the poor, was assassinated. His death had a profound impact on Romero, who later stated: "When I looked at Rutilio lying there dead I thought, 'If they have killed him for doing what he did, then I too have to walk the same path.'"<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jJc83fZHD8EC&pg=PA48 |title=Truth and memory: the Church and human rights in El Salvador and Guatemala |publisher=Gracewing Publishing |isbn=978-0-85244-524-2 |author1=Michael A. Hayes (Chaplain) |author2=Tombs, David |date=April 2001 }}</ref> Romero urged the government to investigate, but they ignored his request. Furthermore, the censored press remained silent.<ref name="infed.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.infed.org/thinkers/oscar_romero.htm|title=infed.org – Oscar Romero of El Salvador: informal adult education in a context of violence|work=infed.org}}</ref>

Tension was noted by the closure of schools and the lack of Catholic priests invited to participate in government. In response to Grande's murder, Romero revealed an activism that had not been evident earlier, speaking out against poverty, social injustice, assassinations and torture.<ref name=Eaton>{{Cite thesis|last=Eaton|first=Helen-May |year=1991|url=http://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/116/ |title=The impact of the Archbishop Oscar Romero's alliance with the struggle for liberation of the Salvadoran people: A discussion of church-state relations (El Salvador)|degree=M.A.|publisher=[[Wilfrid Laurier University]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|date=April 2001|title=Truth and memory: the Church and human rights in El Salvador and Guatemala|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jJc83fZHD8EC&pg=PA48|publisher=Gracewing Publishing|isbn=978-0-85244-524-2|author1=Michael A. Hayes (Chaplain)|author2=Tombs, David}}</ref>

On 15 October 1979, the [[Revolutionary Government Junta of El Salvador|Revolutionary Government Junta]] (JRG) came to power amidst a wave of human rights abuses by paramilitary right-wing groups and the government, in an escalation of violence that would become the [[Salvadoran Civil War]]. Romero criticized the [[United States]] for giving military aid to the new government and wrote an open letter to President [[Jimmy Carter]] in February 1980, warning that increased US military aid would "undoubtedly sharpen the injustice and the political repression inflicted on the organized people, whose struggle has often been for their most basic human rights." This letter was then sent, via telegram, from the U.S. embassy in El Salvador to Washington D.C.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB339/doc04.pdf|title=Text of Archbishop's Letter to President Carter|date=19 February 1980|website=National Security Archive|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112230835/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB339/doc04.pdf|archive-date=12 November 2019|access-date=11 December 2019}}</ref> Carter did not directly respond to the letter; instead, [[Cyrus Vance]], the [[Secretary of state (U.S. state government)|Secretary of State]], wrote a telegram back to the U.S. embassy. The telegram carried a very contradictory message, both stating that the [[United States]] will not interfere but will respond to the Revolutionary Government Junta's requests. It is unknown if Archbishop Romero received the telegram.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB339/doc05.pdf|title=Reply to Archbishop's Letter to President Carter|last=Vance|first=Cyrus|date=1 March 1980|website=The National Security Archive|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200323133021/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB339/doc05.pdf|archive-date=23 March 2020|access-date=11 December 2019}}</ref>

On 11 May 1979, Romero met with [[Pope John Paul II]] and unsuccessfully attempted to obtain a Vatican condemnation of the Salvadoran military regime for committing human rights violations and its support of [[Death squads in El Salvador|death squads]], and expressed his frustration in working with clergy who cooperated with the government. He was encouraged by Pope John Paul II to maintain episcopal unity as a top priority.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Beatification of Óscar Romero |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-beatification-of-oscar-romero |magazine=The New Yorker |date=19 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=What Óscar Romero's Canonization Says About Pope Francis |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/11/the-martyr-and-the-pope/570835/ |work=The Atlantic |date=November 2018}}</ref><ref name="infed.org" />

As a result of his humanitarian efforts, Romero began to be noticed internationally. In February 1980, he was given an honorary doctorate by the [[Université catholique de Louvain|Catholic University of Louvain]].

===Statements on persecution of the church===
[[Image:Oscar Romero by puigreixach.jpg|thumb|upright|Óscar Romero (pastel) by J. Puig Reixach (2013)]]

Romero denounced the persecution of members of the Catholic Church who had worked on behalf of the poor:<ref name="Louvaine">Oscar Romero, ''Voice of the Voiceless: The Four Pastoral Letters and Other Statements'' (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1985), pp. 177–187.</ref>

{{Blockquote|In less than three years, more than fifty priests have been attacked, threatened, calumniated. Six are already martyrs—they were murdered. Some have been tortured and others expelled [from the country]. Nuns have also been persecuted. The archdiocesan radio station and educational institutions that are Catholic or of a Christian inspiration have been attacked, threatened, intimidated, even bombed. Several parish communities have been raided. If all this has happened to persons who are the most evident representatives of the Church, you can guess what has happened to ordinary Christians, to the campesinos, catechists, lay ministers, and to the ecclesial base communities. There have been threats, arrests, tortures, murders, numbering in the hundreds and thousands....

But it is important to note why [the Church] has been persecuted. Not any and every priest has been persecuted, not any and every institution has been attacked. That part of the church has been attacked and persecuted that put itself on the side of the people and went to the people's defense. Here again we find the same key to understanding the persecution of the church: the poor.|Óscar Romero|Speech at the [[Université catholique de Louvain]], [[Belgium]], 2 February 1980.}}

===Popular radio sermons===
[[File:O.Romero 1979 autographed photo.jpg|thumb|left|Romero in 1979.]]

By the time of his death, Romero had gained an enormous following among Salvadorans. He did this largely through broadcasting his weekly sermons across El Salvador<ref name="Peadar Kirby 1980">Peadar Kirby, 'A Thoroughgoing Reformer', 26 March 1980, ''The Irish Times''</ref> on the church's station, YSAX, "except when it was bombed off the air."<ref name="diary" /> In these sermons, he listed disappearances, tortures, murders, and much more each Sunday.<ref name="Peadar Kirby 1980"/> This was followed by an hour-long speech on the radio the following day. On the importance of these broadcasts, one writer noted that "the archbishop's Sunday sermon was the main source in El Salvador about what was happening. It was estimated to have the largest listenership of any programme in the country."<ref name="Peadar Kirby 1980"/> According to listener surveys, 73% of the rural population and 47% of the urban listened regularly.<ref name="diary">{{cite web|url=http://www.romerotrust.org.uk/index.php?nuc=content&id=60|title=A Shepherd's Diary, Foreword.|access-date=5 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308030706/http://www.romerotrust.org.uk/index.php?nuc=content&id=60|archive-date=8 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Similarly, his diocesan weekly paper ''Orientación'' carried lists of cases of torture and repression every week.<ref name="Peadar Kirby 1980"/>

==Theology==
According to Jesús Delgado, his biographer and [[postulator]] of the cause for his canonization, Romero agreed with the Catholic vision of liberation theology and not with the materialist vision: "A journalist once asked him: 'Do you agree with Liberation Theology' And Romero answered: "Yes, of course. However, there are two theologies of liberation. One is that which sees liberation only as material liberation. The other is that of Paul VI. I am with Paul VI."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/archbishop-oscar-romero-pastor-and-martyr|title=Archbishop Oscar Romero: Pastor and Martyr – ZENIT – English|access-date=8 March 2017|date=4 February 2015}}</ref> However, Romero had a close connection with a prominent and controversial liberation theologian [[Jon Sobrino]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Revolutionary Saint: The Theological Legacy of Oscar Romero |first=Michael E. |last=Lee |publisher=Orbis Books |year=2018 |isbn=9781626982260 |page=190}}</ref> Romero greatly admired a minor figure in liberation theology, bishop of Argentina [[Eduardo Pironio]], whom he called "a holy bishop" and "a great friend". While Pironio was often criticized as a 'communist' and Romero was even given a book criticizing the bishop, titled "Pironio, Pyromaniac", he dismissed this criticism and referred to Pironio as "a great promoter of authentic liberation in Latin America".<ref name="emeric"/> In 1977, Romero "adopted an outspoken stance in favor of ‘‘liberation theology’’".<ref name="mclaren"/>

In one of his homilies, Romero stated that he studied liberation theology through Pironio; the theology of Pironio endorsed liberation of the poor and marginalized through a social revolution, but also highlighted that the Church could never be separated from the process and that liberation must not be reduced to 'mere activism or to structural changes', because the liberations must also be 'reformed by the Spirit'.<ref name="emeric">{{cite book |pages=172-174 |title= Óscar Romero’s Theological Vision Liberation and the Transfiguration of the Poor |first=Edgardo |last=Colón-Emeric |year=2018 |publisher=University of Notre Dame Press |isbn=9780268104757}}</ref> Michael E. Lee wrote that while Romero did adhere to liberation theology, it was often underplayed during the period of when liberation theology was looked at with suspicion by the Vatican: "Romero can be seen as an exemplar of liberation theology. His homilies and writings show him reflecting extensively on the theme of liberation, and his assassination is a result of his untiring advocacy for justice in his divided land. Why would some fear this idea or find it difficult to accept? Sadly, the very way that liberation theologies have been treated in Vatican documents provides the clue."<ref name="lee_193"/>

Romero spoke about social sin, a controversial concept in liberation theology that presented capitalism as sinful by nature, and was used by many as an example of a Marxist framework of liberation theology. In his pastoral letter, Romero defined social sin as "the crystallization, in other words, of individuals’ sins into permanent structures that keep sin in being, and make its force to be felt by the majority of the people". Michal E. Lee writes of Romero's utilization of liberation theology's anti-capitalist teaching:{{blockquote|text=Continually, he speaks of the rich or “those who are opposed to a just social order” needing conversion.  He prayed for the conversion of those who “do not collaborate in the construction of a more just temporal order,” those who “are able to transform society because they have power in their hands,” those who “persecute the Church, paid by interests that want to maintain this system that can’t be maintained,” those who “oppose Christ’s reign of justice, peace, and love in the world.”58 The sins of El Salvador, he says, include the abuse of power, the selfish investment of capital, the idolatry of money, and even the refusal to develop oneself so as to contribute to society.<ref>{{cite book |title=Revolutionary Saint: The Theological Legacy of Oscar Romero |first=Michael E. |last=Lee |publisher=Orbis Books |year=2018 |isbn=9781626982260 |page=85}}</ref>}} 

He also argued that the Catholic Church is 'by nature political' and that it 'must respect and support the right of the people to voice and move toward aspirations for liberation in their own way.' He was particularly dedicated to the [[preferential option for the poor]], on which he wrote:{{blockquote|text=The church would betray its own love for God and its fidelity to the gospel if it stopped being “the voice of the voiceless,” a defender of the rights of the poor, a promoter of every just aspiration for liberation, a guide, an empowerer, a humanizer of every legitimate struggle to achieve a more just society…. This demands of the church a greater presence among the poor. It ought to be in solidarity with them, running the risks they run, enduring the persecution that is their fate.<ref>{{cite book |title=Revolutionary Saint: The Theological Legacy of Oscar Romero |first=Michael E. |last=Lee |publisher=Orbis Books |year=2018 |isbn=9781626982260 |page=126}}</ref>}}

Romero preached that "the most profound social revolution is the serious, supernatural, interior reform of a Christian."<ref name="A. Romero p. 1">O. A. Romero, La Más Profunda Revolución Social [The Most Profound Social Revolution], DIARIO DE ORIENTE, No. 30867 – p. 1, 28 August 1973.</ref> He also emphasized: "The liberation of Christ and of His Church is not reduced to the dimension of a purely temporal project. It does not reduce its objectives to an anthropocentric perspective: to a material well-being or only to initiatives of a political or social, economic or cultural order. Much less can it be a liberation that supports or is supported by violence."<ref>6 August 1976 Sermon</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://site.adital.com.br/site/noticia.php?lang=PT&cod=55011|title=Adital – Comblin: Bastão de Deus que fustiga os acomodados|access-date=23 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150523131802/http://site.adital.com.br/site/noticia.php?lang=PT&cod=55011|archive-date=23 May 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Romero expressed several times his disapproval of divisiveness in the church. In a sermon preached on 11 November 1979 he said: "the other day, one of the persons who proclaims liberation in a political sense was asked: 'For you, what is the meaning of the Church'?" He said that the activist "answered with these scandalous words: 'There are two churches, the church of the rich and the church of the poor. We believe in the church of the poor but not in the church of the rich.'" Romero declared, "Clearly these words are a form of demagogy and I will never admit a division of the Church." He added, "There is only one Church, the Church that Christ preached, the Church to which we should give our whole hearts. There is only one Church, a Church that adores the living God and knows how to give relative value to the goods of this earth."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.romerotrust.org.uk/homilies/188/188_pdf.pdf|title=Three Christian Forces for Liberation, 11 November 1979 Sermon|access-date=5 October 2017}}</ref>

===Spiritual life===
[[File:Óscar Arnulfo Romero with Pope Paul VI (4).jpg|thumb|[[Pope Paul VI]] and Romero, 1978]]
[[File:Óscar Arnulfo Romero with Pope John Paul II (2).jpg|thumb|[[John Paul II]] and Romero, 1979]]

Romero noted in his diary on 4 February 1943: "In recent days the Lord has inspired in me a great desire for holiness. I have been thinking of how far a soul can ascend if it lets itself be possessed entirely by God." Commenting on this passage, James R. Brockman, Romero's biographer and author of ''Romero: A Life'', said that "All the evidence available indicates that he continued on his quest for holiness until the end of his life. But he also matured in that quest."<ref name="spirjourn">{{cite web |url=http://www.spiritualitytoday.org/spir2day/904242brock.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001120092900/http://www.spiritualitytoday.org/spir2day/904242brock.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 November 2000 |title=The Spiritual Journey of Oscar Romero |access-date=17 January 2008 |author=James Brockman, S.J. |work=Spirituality Today }}</ref>

According to Brockman, Romero's spiritual journey had some of these characteristics:

* love for the Church of Rome, shown by his episcopal motto, "to be of one mind with the Church," a phrase he took from [[Ignatius of Loyola|St. Ignatius]]' ''[[Spiritual Exercises]]'';
* a tendency to make a very deep [[examination of conscience]];
* an emphasis on sincere [[piety]];
* [[Mortification in Roman Catholic teaching|mortification]] and [[penance]] through his duties;
* providing protection for his [[chastity]];
* [[spiritual direction]];
* "being one with the Church incarnated in this people which stands in need of liberation";
* eagerness for contemplative prayer and finding God in others;
* fidelity to the [[will of God]];
* self-offering to [[Jesus Christ]].

Romero was a strong advocate of the spiritual charism of [[Opus Dei]]. He received weekly spiritual direction from a priest of the Opus Dei movement.<ref name="cruxnow.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2015/02/03/pope-declares-oscar-romero-hero-to-liberation-theology-a-martyr/|title=Pope declares Oscar Romero, hero to liberation theology, a martyr|date=3 February 2015|access-date=5 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204132413/http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2015/02/03/pope-declares-oscar-romero-hero-to-liberation-theology-a-martyr/|archive-date=4 February 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1975 he wrote in support of the cause of canonization of Opus Dei's founder, "Personally, I owe deep gratitude to the priests involved with the Work, to whom I have entrusted with much satisfaction the spiritual direction of my own life and that of other priests."<ref name="Opus Dei archives">{{cite web |url=http://www.opusdei.us/en-us/article/oscar-romero-and-st-josemaria/ |title=Opus Dei – Oscar Romero |access-date=15 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://gloria.tv/media/a8cg2iuDpt4|title=Archbishop Oscar Romero: Letter to the Pope on Escriva's death|date=5 February 2015}}</ref>

==Assassination==
[[File:Assassination of Oscar Romero.jpg|thumb|Photo that appeared in ''[[El País]]'' on 7 November 2009 with the information that the state of [[El Salvador]] recognized its responsibility in the crime.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Salvador/hace/responsable/crimen/arzobispo/Romero/elpepuint/20091107elpepuint_8/Tes|title=El Salvador hace justicia a monseñor Óscar Romero|author=Ediciones El País|work=EL PAÍS|date=7 November 2009}}</ref>]]

On 23 March 1980, Archbishop Romero delivered a sermon in which he called on Salvadoran soldiers, as [[Christians]], to obey God's higher order and to stop carrying out the government's repression and violations of basic [[human rights]].<ref name="BBC News" /><ref name="kell-bio" />

Romero spent 24 March in a recollection organized by Opus Dei,<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://www.opusdei.us/en-us/article/oscar-romero-and-st-josemaria/|title=Oscar Romero and St. Josemaria|publisher=Opus Dei}}</ref> a monthly gathering of priest friends led by [[Fernando Sáenz Lacalle]]. On that day they reflected on the priesthood.<ref name="romereports.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.romereports.com/2015/02/03/the-final-hours-of-monsignor-romero|title=The final hours of Monsignor Romero|date=3 February 2015 }}</ref> That evening, Romero celebrated [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]]<ref name="Gómez2003">{{cite book|author=Mayra Gómez|title=Human Rights in Cuba, El Salvador, and Nicaragua: A Sociological Perspective on Human Rights Abuse|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dC6CrsZs97UC&pg=PA110|date=2 October 2003|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-94649-0|page=110|quote=The following day, Archbishop Oscar Romero was shot dead in front of a full congregation as he was delivering mass (AI ...}}</ref><ref name="Settimba2009">{{cite book|author=Henry Settimba|title=Testing Times: Globalisation and Investing Theology in East Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W1sWc4hERKsC&pg=PA223|date=1 March 2009|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=978-1-4678-9899-7|page=223}}</ref> at a small chapel at Hospital de la Divina Providencia (Divine Providence Hospital),<ref name=nytimesmurder>{{cite news|title=Salvador Archbishop Assassinated By Sniper While Officiating at Mass|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/03/25/archives/salvador-archbishop-assassinated-by-sniper-while-officiating-at.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=25 March 1980|pages=1, 8}}</ref> a church-run hospital specializing in oncology and care for the terminally ill.<ref name=wapomurder>{{cite news|title=Salvadoran Archbishop Assassinated|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=25 March 1980|pages=A1, A12}}</ref> Romero finished his sermon, stepped away from the [[lectern]], and took a few steps to stand at the center of the altar.<ref name="BBC News">{{cite news|title=El Salvador marks Archbishop Oscar Romero's murder|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8580840.stm|work=BBC News|author=Julian Miglierini|date=24 March 2010}}</ref>

As Romero finished speaking, a red car came to a stop on the street in front of the chapel. A gunman emerged from the vehicle, stepped to the door of the chapel, and fired one, or possibly two, shots. Romero was struck in the heart, and the vehicle sped off.<ref name=nytimesmurder /> He died at the Chapel of Hospital de la Divina Providencia in San Salvador.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Royal |first1=Robert |title=The Catholic martyrs of the twentieth century : a comprehensive world history |date=2000 |publisher=New York : Crossroad Pub. |isbn=978-0-8245-1846-2 |page=270 |url=https://archive.org/details/catholicmartyrso0000roya |access-date=30 November 2024}}</ref>

=== Funeral ===
Romero was buried in the [[San Salvador Cathedral|Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador]]. The [[Requiem Mass|Funeral Mass]] on 30 March 1980 in San Salvador was attended by more than 250,000 mourners from all over the world. Viewing this attendance as a protest, [[Jesuit]] priest [[John Dear]] has said, "Romero's funeral was the largest demonstration in Salvadoran history, some say in the history of [[Latin America]]."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/honoring-oscar-romero-of_b_7342546|title=Honoring Oscar Romero of El Salvador|first=John|last=Dear|publisher=[[Huffington Post]]|date=20 May 2015|access-date=24 March 2023}}</ref>

At the funeral, [[cardinal (Catholic Church)|Cardinal]] [[Ernesto Corripio y Ahumada]], speaking as the personal delegate of Pope John Paul II, eulogized Romero as a "beloved, peacemaking man of God," and stated that "his blood will give fruit to brotherhood, love and peace."<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,923959,00.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204084814/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,923959,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=4 February 2013 | work=Time Magazine | title=El Salvador: Something Vile in This Land | date=14 April 1980 | access-date=12 August 2012}}</ref>

==== Massacre at Romero's funeral ====
[[File:Asistentes al funeral de monseñor Romero corren tras escuchar los disparos en medio de la multitud, en la Plaza Barrios, el domingo 30 de marzo de 1980.jpg|thumb|left|Attendees to Monsignor Romero's funeral run after hearing gunshots in the middle of the crowd, in Plaza Barrios, on Sunday, March 30, 1980.]]During the ceremony, smoke bombs exploded on the streets near the cathedral and subsequently, there were rifle shots that came from surrounding buildings, including the [[National Palace (El Salvador)|National Palace]]. Many people were killed by gunfire and in the stampede of people running away from the explosions and gunfire. Official sources reported 31 overall casualties, while journalists claimed that between 30 and 50 died.<ref name="Morozzo" /> Some witnesses claimed it was government security forces who threw bombs into the crowd, and army sharpshooters, dressed as civilians, who fired into the chaos from the balcony or roof of the National Palace.  However, there are contradictory accounts about the course of the events and one historian, Roberto Morozzo della Rocca, stated that "probably, one will never know the truth about the interrupted funeral."<ref name="Morozzo" />

As the gunfire continued, Romero's body was buried in a crypt beneath the sanctuary. Even after the burial, people continued to line up to pay homage to the assassinated prelate.<ref name="kell-bio">{{cite web |url=http://kellogg.nd.edu/romero/pdfs/Biography.pdf |title=Romero biography |access-date=17 January 2008 |work=Kellogg Institute, Notre Dame University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216120437/http://kellogg.nd.edu/romero/pdfs/Biography.pdf |archive-date=16 February 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="kell-chron">{{cite web |url=http://kellogg.nd.edu/romero/PDF%27s/Chronology.pdf |title=Chronology |access-date=17 January 2008 |work=Chronology of the Salvadoran Civil War, Kellogg Institute, [[University of Notre Dame]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216120438/http://kellogg.nd.edu/romero/PDF%27s/Chronology.pdf |archive-date=16 February 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="requiem">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/file_on_4/4376733.stm |title=Requiem for Romero |access-date=17 January 2008 |work=BBC News | date=23 March 2005 |first=Maurice |last=Walsh}}</ref><ref name="40killed">{{cite news |url=http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/romero-wp-3-31-80.html |title=40 Killed in San Salvador: 40 Killed at Rites For Slain Prelate; Bombs, Bullets Disrupt Archbishop's Funeral |access-date=17 January 2008 |pages=A1 |author=Christopher Dickey |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] Foreign Service |archive-date=23 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081023173314/http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/romero-wp-3-31-80.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===International reaction===
====Ireland====
All sections of Irish political and religious life condemned his assassination, with the Minister for Foreign Affairs [[Brian Lenihan Snr|Brian Lenihan]] "expressing shock and revulsion at the murder of Dr Romero",<ref>'Three ministers flee El Salvador, 29 March 1980</ref> while the leader of the [[Trócaire]] charity, Bishop [[Eamon Casey]], revealed that he had received a letter from Romero that very day.<ref name="ReferenceA">'Romero letter received on day of killing;, 26 March 1980, ''The Irish Times''</ref> The previous October, parliamentarians had given their support to the nomination of Romero for the Nobel Peace Prize.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> In March each year since the 1980s, the Irish–El Salvador Support Committee holds a mass in honour of Romero.<ref>'Permission given for Romero mass', 30 March 2007, The Irish Times</ref>

====United Kingdom====
In October 1978, 119 British parliamentarians had nominated Romero for the Nobel Prize for Peace. In this they were supported by 26 members of the United States Congress.<ref name="Peadar Kirby 1980"/> When news of the assassination was reported in March 1980, the new [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], [[Robert Runcie]], was about to be enthroned in [[Canterbury Cathedral]]. On hearing of Romero's death, one writer observed that Runcie "departed from the ancient traditions to decry the murder of Archbishop Óscar Romero in El Salvador."<ref>'Runcie urges charity', 26 March 1980, The Irish Times</ref>

====United States====
===== Public reaction =====
The United States public's reaction to Archbishop Romero's death was symbolized through the "martyrdom of Romero" as an inspiration to end US military aid to El Salvador. In December 1980 the [[International Longshore and Warehouse Union|International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union]] refused to deliver military equipment destined for the Salvadoran government. The leader of the union, Jim Herman, was known as a supporter of Romero and denounced his death.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Union to Boycott Salvadoran Arms Shipments|last=Einstein|first=David|date=23 December 1980|agency=Associated Press}}</ref> On 24 March 1984 a protest was held in [[Los Angeles|Los Angeles, California]] where around 3,000 people, organized by 20 November Coalition, protested US intervention in El Salvador, using the anniversary of the Archbishop's death and his face as a symbol.<ref>{{Cite news|title=3,000 in L.A. Protest El Salvador Election: Coalition of Political and Religious Groups March Downtown.|last=Reza|first=H.G.|date=25 March 1984|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> On 24 March 1990, 10,000 people marched in front of the [[White House]] to denounce the military aid that was still flowing from the United States to the Salvadoran government. Protestors carried a bust of the archbishop and quoted some of his speeches, in addition to the event being held on the anniversary of his death. Noted figures [[Ed Asner]] and [[Jennifer Casolo]] participated in the event.<ref>{{Cite news|title=10,000 Protest U.S. Policy in Central America|last=Beamish|first=Rita|date=24 March 1990|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

===== Government response =====
On 25 March 1980, US Secretary of State [[Cyrus Vance]] revealed that the White House would continue to fund the Salvadoran government and provide it military aid, in spite of the pleas of Romero and his death immediately prior to this announcement.<ref>{{Cite news|title=U.S. Still Plans Military Aid to El Salvador|last=Knutson|first=Lawrence|date=25 March 1980|agency=Associated Press}}</ref> On 31 March 1983, [[Roberto D'Aubuisson]] was allowed entry to the United States by the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] after deeming him not barred from entry any longer. When asked about D'Aubuisson's association with the assassination of Romero, the [[United States Department of State|Department of State]] responded that "the allegations have not been substantiated."<ref>{{Cite news|title=Salvadoran Rightist Leader Issued Visa|last=Knutson|first=Lawrence|date=6 April 1983|agency=Associated Press}}</ref> In November 1993, documents by the Department of State, [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]], and the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] were released after pressure by Congress increased. The 12,000 documents revealed that the administrations of [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[George H. W. Bush]] knew of the assassinations conducted by D'Aubuisson, including that of Romero, yet still worked with him despite this.<ref>{{Cite news|title=U.S., Aware of Killings, Worked With Salvador's Rightists, Papers Suggest|last=Krauss|first=Clifford|date=9 November 1993|work=The New York Times}}</ref>

=== Investigations into the assassination ===
No one has ever been prosecuted for the assassination or confessed to it to police. Immediately following the assassination, [[José Napoleón Duarte]], the newly appointed [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (El Salvador)|foreign minister of El Salvador]], actively promulgated a "blame on both sides" propaganda trope in order to provide cover for the lack of official inquiry into the assassination plot.<ref>''New York Times'', "5,000 in San Salvador Take Part in a March for Murdered Prelate", 27 March 1980.</ref>

Subsequent investigations by the United Nations and other international bodies have established that the four assassins were members of a death squad led by D'Aubuisson.<ref name=scarend /> Revelations of the D'Aubuisson plot came to light in 1984 when US ambassador [[Robert White (ambassador)|Robert White]] testified before the [[United States Congress]] that "there was sufficient evidence" to convict D'Aubuisson of planning and ordering Romero's assassination.<ref>{{cite news| last = Nordland| first = Rod| title = How 2 rose to vie for El Salvador's presidency| newspaper = Philadelphia Inquirer| location = Philadelphia, PA| date = 23 March 1984| page = A1}}</ref> In 1993, an official [[United Nations]] report identified D'Aubuisson as the man who ordered the killing.<ref name="Morozzo">Morozzo p. 351–352, 354, 364</ref> D'Aubuisson had strong connections to the [[Nicaraguan National Guard]] and to its offshoot the [[Fifteenth of September Legion]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Webb|first=Gary|year=1999 |pages=48|title=Dark Alliance|publisher=[[Seven Stories Press]]|isbn=978-1-888363-93-7|title-link=Dark Alliance (book)}}</ref> and had also planned to overthrow the government in a coup. Later, he founded the political party [[Nationalist Republican Alliance]] (ARENA) and organized death squads that systematically carried out politically motivated assassinations and other human rights abuses in El Salvador. Álvaro Rafael Saravia, a former captain in the [[Salvadoran Air Force]], was chief of security for D'Aubuisson and an active member of these death squads. In 2003 a United States human rights organization, the [[Center for Justice and Accountability]], filed a civil action against Saravia. In 2004, he was found liable by a [[US District Court]] under the [[Alien Tort Claims Act]] (ATCA) (28 U.S.C. §&nbsp;1350) for aiding, conspiring, and participating in the assassination of Romero. Saravia was ordered to pay $10 million for [[extrajudicial killing]] and [[crimes against humanity]] pursuant to the ATCA;<ref>''Doe v. Rafael Saravia'', 348 F. Supp. 2d 1112 (E.D. Cal. 2004). The documentation from the case provides an account of the events leading up, and subsequent, to Romero's death.</ref> he has since gone into hiding.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cja.org/what-we-do/litigation/doe-v-saravia/|title=Doe v. Saravia (Assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero) – CJA}}</ref> On 24 March 2010–the thirtieth anniversary of Romero's death–Salvadoran President [[Mauricio Funes]] offered an official state apology for Romero's assassination. Speaking before Romero's family, representatives of the Catholic Church, diplomats, and government officials, Funes said those involved in the assassination "unfortunately acted with the protection, collaboration, or participation of state agents."<ref>{{cite news| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8586560.stm| title= Official El Salvador apology for Oscar Romero's murder| date = 25 March 2010| work= [[BBC News]]| access-date= 25 March 2010| quote = The archbishop, he said, was a victim of right-wing death squads "who unfortunately acted with the protection, collaboration or participation of state agents."}}</ref>

A 2000 article by Tom Gibb, then a correspondent with ''The Guardian'' and later with the [[BBC]], attributes the murder to a detective of the Salvadoran National Police named Óscar Pérez Linares, acting on the orders of D'Aubuisson. The article cites an anonymous former death squad member who claimed he had been assigned to guard a house in San Salvador used by a unit of three counter-guerrilla operatives directed by D'Aubuisson. The guard, whom Gibb identified as "Jorge," purported to have witnessed Linares fraternizing with the group, which was nicknamed the "Little Angels," and to have heard them praise Linares for the killing. The article furthermore attributes full knowledge of the assassination to the [[CIA]] as far back as 1983.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2000/mar/23/features11.g21|title=The killing of Archbishop Oscar Romero was one of the most notorious crimes of the cold war. Was the CIA to blame?|newspaper=The Guardian|date=23 March 2000}}</ref><ref name=scarend>{{cite news| url = https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2000/mar/23/features11.g21| title = The killing of Archbishop Oscar Romero was one of the most notorious crimes of the cold war. Was the CIA to blame?| date = 22 March 2000| work = [[The Guardian]]| location = London| access-date  = 13 August 2015| quote = in mid-1983, an unusually detailed CIA report, quoting a senior Salvadoran police source, named Linares as a member of a four-man National Police squad which murdered Romero. Other Salvadoran officers said the same thing. And the man who drove the car which took the killer to the church also picked out a photo-fit of Linares."}}</ref> The article reports that both Linares and the Little Angels commander, who Jorge identified as "El Negro Mario," were killed by a CIA-trained Salvadoran special police unit in 1986; the unit had been assigned to investigate the murders. In 1983, U.S. Lt. Col. [[Oliver North]], an aide to then-Vice President George H.W. Bush, is alleged to have personally requested the Salvadoran military to "remove" Linares and several others from their service. Three years later they were pursued and extrajudicially killed – Linares after being found in neighbouring Guatemala. The article cites another source in the Salvadoran military as saying "they knew far too much to live".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2000/mar/23/features11.g21 |title=The killing of Archbishop Oscar Romero was one of the most notorious crimes of the cold war. Was the CIA to blame?|first=Tom|last=Gibb|date=22 March 2000|work=The Guardian}}</ref>

In a 2010 article for the Salvadoran online newspaper ''[[El Faro (digital newspaper)|El Faro]]'',<ref name=elfaro /> Saravia was interviewed from a mountain hideout.<ref name=elfaro /> He named D'Aubuisson as giving the assassination order to him over the phone,<ref name=elfaro /><ref>Anne-Marie O'Connor. "Participant in 1980 assassination of Romero in El Salvador provides new details," ''Washington Post'', 6 April 2010.</ref> and said that he and his cohorts drove the assassin to the chapel and paid him 1,000 [[Salvadoran colón]]es after the event.<ref name=elfaro />

In April 2017, however, in the wake of the overruling of a civil war [[amnesty]] law the previous year, a judge in El Salvador, Rigoberto Chicas, allowed the case against the escaped Saravia's alleged role in the murder of Romero to be reopened. On 23 October 2018, days after Romero's canonization, Judge Chicas issued a new arrest warrant for him, and Interpol and the National Police are charged with finding his hideout and apprehending him.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/39720/arrest-warrant-issued-for-alleged-killer-of-saint-oscar-romero | title=Arrest warrant issued for alleged killer of Saint Oscar Romero}}</ref><ref name="thetabletwarrant">{{cite web|last=Guidos|first=Rhina|date=25 October 2018|title=Judge Orders Arrest of Longtime Suspect in St. Romero's 1980 Killing|url=https://thetablet.org/judge-orders-arrest-of-longtime-suspect-in-st-romeros-killing/|magazine=[[The Tablet]]|publisher=Tablet Publishing Company|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026005239/https://thetablet.org/judge-orders-arrest-of-longtime-suspect-in-st-romeros-killing/|archive-date=26 October 2018|access-date=28 October 2018}}</ref> As both D'Aubuisson and Linares had already died, they could not be prosecuted.

== Legacy ==

===International recognition===
[[File:MonseñorRomero.jpg|thumb|right|Romero's tomb as seen in 2021.]]
During his first visit to El Salvador in 1983, [[Pope John Paul II]] entered the cathedral in San Salvador and prayed at Romero's tomb, despite opposition from the government and from some within the church who strongly opposed liberation theology. Afterwards, the Pope praised Romero as a "zealous and venerated pastor who tried to stop violence." John Paul II also asked for dialogue between the government and opposition to end El Salvador's civil war.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/JohnPaulII/3-CentralAmerica-1983.asp |title= Pope John Paul II in Central America: What Did His Trip Accomplish? |author1= Paul D. Newpower, M.M. |author2= Stephen T. DeMott, M.M. |name-list-style = amp |date= June 1983 |work= St. Anthony Messenger |location= United States|access-date= 1 January 2013|quote = The pontiff went on to proclaim Archbishop Romero as "a zealous and venerated pastor who tried to stop violence. I ask that his memory be always respected, and let no ideological interest try to distort his sacrifice as a pastor given over to his flock." The right-wing groups did not want to hear that. They portray Romero as one who stirred the poor to violence. The other papal gesture that drew diverse reactions in El Salvador and rankled the Reagan administration was the pope's use of the word dialogue in talking about steps toward ending the civil war. A month before John Paul II journeyed to Central America, U.S. government representatives visited the Vatican and El Salvador to persuade church officials to have the pope mention elections rather than dialogue. |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130202131427/http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/JohnPaulII/3-CentralAmerica-1983.asp|archive-date = 2 February 2013|url-status= dead}}</ref>

On 7 May 2000, in Rome's Colosseum during the [[Great Jubilee|Jubilee Year]] celebrations, Pope John Paul II commemorated 20th-century martyrs. Of the several categories of martyrs, the seventh consisted of Christians who were killed for defending their brethren in the Americas. Despite the opposition of some social conservatives within the church, John Paul II insisted that Romero be included. He asked the organizers of the event to proclaim Romero "that great witness of the Gospel."<ref>Dziwisz, Stanislaw ''Life with Karol: My Forty-Year Friendship with the Man Who Became Pope '', p. 217–218, Doubleday Religion, 2008 {{ISBN|0385523742}}</ref>

On 21 December 2010, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 24 March as the International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims which recognizes, in particular, the important work and values of Romero.<ref>{{cite web|title = International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims, 24 March|url = https://www.un.org/en/events/righttotruthday/|website = www.un.org|access-date = 22 May 2015|publisher = [[United Nations]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/en/events/righttotruthday/|title=International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims, 24 March|website=www.un.org|language=EN|access-date=15 May 2017}}</ref>

On 22 March 2011, U.S. President [[Barack Obama]] visited Romero's tomb during an official visit to El Salvador.<ref>
{{cite web| url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/noticias/2011/03/110322_obama_el_salvador_final_jrg.shtml| title = Obama en El Salvador: una visita cargada de simbolismo| date= 22 March 2011| publisher = BBC MUNDO| access-date= 22 March 2011| quote= El Salvador fue la etapa más llena de simbolismo de la gira por América Latina del presidente de Estados Unidos, Barack Obama.}}</ref> Irish President [[Michael D. Higgins]] visited the cathedral and tomb of Romero on 25 October 2013 during a state visit to El Salvador.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.president.ie/engagements/week-beginning-monday-21-october-2013/ |title=Coinní Poiblí ag an Uachtarán Mícheál D. Ó hUigínn don tseachtain dar tús 21 Deireadh Fómhair, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217060145/http://www.president.ie/engagements/week-beginning-monday-21-october-2013/ |archive-date=17 December 2013 |website=Áras an Uachtaráin|date=21 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/1026/482781-president-higgins-el-salvador/ |title=President Higgins visits Archbishop Romero's tomb in El Salvador|website=RTÉ News|date=26 October 2013}}</ref> Famed linguist [[Noam Chomsky]] speaks highly of Romero's social work, and refers often to his murder.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/chomsky-romero|title=Chomsky on Romero &#124; Commonweal Magazine|website=www.commonwealmagazine.org|date=10 April 2015 }}</ref> In 2014, El Salvador's main international airport was named after him, becoming [[El Salvador International Airport|Monseñor Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez International Airport]], and later, San Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez International Airport in 2018 after his canonization.<ref name="name change 2018">{{cite web|url=https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/node/8035|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200214203347/https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/node/8035|date=29 October 2018|archive-date=14 February 2020|access-date=9 November 2021|title=San Óscar Arnulfo Romero se Llamará el Aeropuerto Internacional|trans-title=The International Airport will be Called Saint Óscar Arnulfo Romero|website=asamblea.gob.sv|publisher=[[Legislative Assembly of El Salvador]]|first=Marilú|last=Alvarenga}}</ref>

Romero is [[Calendar of saints (Church of England)|remembered]] in the [[Church of England]] and in the [[Calendar of saints (Episcopal Church)|Episcopal Church]] on 24 March.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Calendar|url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/calendar|access-date=27 March 2021|website=The Church of England|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W3e7DwAAQBAJ |title=Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018 |date=1 December 2019 |publisher=Church Publishing, Inc. |isbn=978-1-64065-234-7 |language=en}}</ref>

==Sainthood==

===Process for beatification===
[[File:BEATIFICACIÓN DE MONSEÑOR OSCAR ARNULFO ROMERO (17393112443).jpg|thumb|Savior of the World Plaza at the beatification]]

Romero's sainthood cause at the Vatican was opened in 1993, but the [[Catholic News Service]] reported that it "was delayed for years as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith studied his writings, amid wider debate over whether he had been killed for his faith or for political reasons."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://catholicphilly.com/2014/05/news/world-news/bishops-ask-pope-to-beatify-archbishop-romero-in-el-salvador/|date=19 May 2014|title=Bishops ask pope to beatify Archbishop Romero in El Salvador|agency=Catholic News Service}}</ref>

In March 2005, [[Vincenzo Paglia]], the Vatican official in charge of the process, announced that Romero's cause had cleared a theological audit by the [[Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]], at the time headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later elected [[Pope Benedict XVI]]) and that beatification could follow within six months.<ref name="cwnews">{{cite web |url=http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=35989 |title=Catholic World News : Beatification cause advanced for Archbishop Romero |access-date=17 January 2008 }}</ref> [[Pope John Paul II]] died within weeks of those remarks. Predictably, the transition of the new pontiff slowed down the work of canonizations and beatifications. Pope Benedict instituted changes that had the overall effect of reining in the Vatican's so-called "factory of saints."<ref name="timeproxy">{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1059021,00.html |title=Will the Pope ever make fewer saints? |access-date=17 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051124162630/http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1059021,00.html |archive-date=24 November 2005 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In an October 2005 interview, Cardinal [[José Saraiva Martins]], the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, was asked if Paglia's predictions of a clearance for Romero's beatification remained on track. Saraiva responded, "Not as far as I know today,"<ref name="saraiva">{{cite web |url=http://www.30giorni.it/us/articolo.asp?id=9359 |title=30Days – Blessed among their people, Interview with Cardinal José Saraiva Martins |access-date=17 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929090850/http://www.30giorni.it/us/articolo.asp?id=9359 |archive-date=29 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In November 2005, the Jesuit magazine ''[[La Civiltà Cattolica]]'' signaled that Romero's beatification was still "years away."<ref name="cn-0506300">{{cite web |url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0506300.htm |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20051104184728/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0506300.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 November 2005 |title=CNS STORY: Magazine says Archbishop Romero was killed for actions of faith |access-date=17 January 2008 }}</ref>

Although Benedict XVI had always been a fierce critic of liberation theology, Paglia reported in December 2012 that the Pope had informed him of the decision to "unblock" the cause and allow it to move forward.<ref name="catholicnews.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1500520.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150209062508/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1500520.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 February 2015|title=Catholic News Service}}</ref> However, no progress was made before Benedict's resignation in February 2013. [[Pope Francis]] was elected in March 2013, and in September 2013, Archbishop [[Gerhard Ludwig Müller]], [[Prefect]] of the [[Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]], stated that the Vatican doctrinal office has been "given the green light" to pursue sainthood for Romero.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/10/pope-francis-gustavo-gutierrez-liberation-theology_n_3900132.html | work=Huffington Post | first=Yasmine | last=Hafiz | title=Welcome Back Liberation Theology | date=10 September 2013}}</ref>

===Beatification===
[[File:BEATIFICACIÓN DE MONSEÑOR OSCAR ARNULFO ROMERO (18010267052).jpg|thumb|right|The [[beatification]] celebration on 23 May 2015 in San Salvador]]

On 18 August 2014, Pope Francis said that "[t]he process [of beatification of Romero] was at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, blocked for 'prudential reasons', so they said.  Now it is unblocked." Francis stated, "There are no doctrinal problems and it is very important that [the beatification] is done quickly."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-28845998|title=Pope lifts beatification ban on Salvadoran Oscar Romero|publisher=BBC News|date=19 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/romero-romero-romero-25531/|title=Romero's beatification cause was "unblocked" by two Popes|access-date=23 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826120444/http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/romero-romero-romero-25531/|archive-date=26 August 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2014/august/documents/papa-francesco_20140818_corea-conferenza-stampa.html|title=In-Flight Press Conference of His Holiness Pope Francis from Korea to Rome (18 August 2014) &#124; Francis|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> The beatification signaled Francis' affirmation of Romero's work with the poor as a major change in the direction of the church since he was elected.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-pope-direction-20150528-story.html|title=Romero beatification signals Pope Francis' plan for Catholic Church|first=Tracy Wilkinson, Tom|last=Kington|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=28 May 2015}}</ref>

In January 2015, an advisory panel to the [[Roman Curia]]'s [[Congregation for the Causes of Saints]] voted unanimously to recognize Romero as a martyr, and the cardinals who were voting members of the Congregation unanimously recommended to Francis that he be beatified as a martyr (a martyr can be beatified without recognition of a miracle).<ref>{{cite web|author=Cindy Wooden|url=https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/romeros-beatification-will-be-soon|agency=Catholic News Service|title=Romero's Beatification Will Be 'Soon'|date=4 February 2015}}</ref> Archbishop [[Vincenzo Paglia]], the postulator (chief promoter) of the causes of saints, said that Romero's assassination at the altar was intended "to strike the Church that flowed from the Second Vatican Council" and that the motive for his murder "was not caused by motives that were simply political, but by hatred for a faith that, imbued with charity, would not be silent in the face of the injustices that relentlessly and cruelly slaughtered the poor and their defenders."<ref name="catholicnews.com"/> On 3 February 2015, Francis received Cardinal [[Angelo Amato]], [[Prefect#Catholic Church|Prefect]] of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, in a private audience, and authorized Amato to promulgate (officially authorize) Romero's decree of martyrdom, meaning it had gained the Congregation's voting members and the Pope's approval. This cleared the way for the Pope to later set a date for his beatification.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2015/02/03/0089/00190.html|title=Promulgazione di Decreti della Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi, 03.02.2015}}</ref>

The beatification of Romero was held in San Salvador on 23 May 2015 in the Plaza Salvador del Mundo under the [[Monumento al Divino Salvador del Mundo]]. Amato presided over the ceremony on behalf of Francis, who in a letter to the Archbishop of San Salvador [[José Luis Escobar Alas]] marked the occasion by calling Romero "a voice that continues to resonate."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.elsalvador.com/mwedh/nota/nota_completa.asp?idCat=47654&idArt=9690577|last=elsalvador.com|url-status=dead|title=Elsalvador.com, Papa Francisco: "La voz del nuevo beato sigue resonando"|access-date=23 May 2015|archive-date=26 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526004330/http://www.elsalvador.com/mwedh/nota/nota_completa.asp?idCat=47654&idArt=9690577}}</ref> An estimated 250,000 people attended the service,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-32859627|work=BBC News|title=Oscar Romero beatification draws huge El Salvador crowds|date=23 May 2015}}</ref> many watching on large television screens set up in the streets around the plaza.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2015/05/25/409421358/el-salvador-s-slain-archbishop-romero-moves-a-step-closer-to-sainthood|work=NPR News|title=El Salvador's Slain Archbishop Romero Moves A Step Closer To Sainthood|first=Carrie|last=Kahn|date=25 May 2015}}</ref>

===Canonization===
[[File:Ceremonia de Canonización de Monseñor Romero. (44398703435).jpg|thumb|right|Canonization Mass celebrated on 14 October 2018 in Saint Peter's Square.]]

Three miracles were submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome in October 2016 that could have led to Romero's canonization. But each of these miracles was rejected after being investigated. A fourth (concerning the pregnant woman Cecilia Maribel Flores) was investigated in a diocesan process in San Salvador that was opened on 31 January 2017 and which concluded its initial investigation on 28 February before documentation was submitted to Rome via the apostolic nunciature. The CCS validated this on 7 April.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cruxnow.com/global-church/2017/03/06/vatican-study-possible-miracle-slain-archbishop-oscar-romero/|title=Vatican to study possible miracle by slain Archbishop Oscar Romero|date=6 March 2017|publisher=Crux|access-date=18 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419100628/https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2017/03/06/vatican-study-possible-miracle-slain-archbishop-oscar-romero/|archive-date=19 April 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2018/03/11/salvadoran-newspaper-describes-miracle-blessed-romero-cause/|title=Salvadoran newspaper describes miracle for Blessed Romero cause|date=11 March 2018|publisher=Crux|access-date=12 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311185306/https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2018/03/11/salvadoran-newspaper-describes-miracle-blessed-romero-cause/|archive-date=11 March 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 11 August, Paglia celebrated the Romero Centenary Mass in [[St George's Cathedral, Southwark]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.romerotrust.org.uk/literature/anniversary-homilies-talks|title=Romero Anniversary Homilies & Talks – Archbishop Paglia: Romero Centenary Homily|date=4 June 2015|format=pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605204040/http://www.romerotrust.org.uk/sites/default/files/ART%20Paglia%20Homily%20Aug%202017.pdf|archive-date=5 June 2021|url-status=live|access-date=5 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/33172|title=Southwark: Mass to mark Bl Oscar Romero centenary
|date=11 August 2017|access-date=6 June 2021}}</ref> in London, where the cross and relics of Romero are preserved.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/22930|title=Salvadoran Cross with Romero relic for St George's Cathedral, Southwark|date=10 July 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20170626071750/https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/22930|archive-date=26 June 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://gloria.tv/post/avcWyF37Zp4c1NptG81buExqE|title=Relics of Blessed Oscar Romero in St George's Cathedral, Southwark.|date=15 May 2015|website=[[gloria.tv]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605205606/https://gloria.tv/post/avcWyF37Zp4c1NptG81buExqE|archive-date=5 June 2021|url-status=live|access-date=5 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.agensir.it/quotidiano/2017/8/11/mons-romero-mons-paglia-ucciso-per-aver-scelto-i-poveri-possibile-canonizzazione-lanno-prossimo/|title=Mons. Romero: mons. Paglia, "ucciso per aver scelto i poveri". "Possibile canonizzazione l'anno prossimo"|date=11 August 2017|publisher=[[AgenSIR]]|trans-title=Romero: Mgr Paglia: "Murdered for having defended the poors. Possible canonization within the end of the year|language=Italian}}</ref> Subsequently, medical experts issued unanimous approval to the presented miracle on 26 October with theologians also confirming their approval on 14 December. The CCS members likewise approved the case on 6 February 2018. Pope Francis approved this miracle on 6 March 2018, allowing for Romero to be canonized and the date was announced at a consistory of cardinals held on 19 May. The canonization was celebrated in Rome's Saint Peter's Square on 14 October 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/11/salvadoran-priest-oscar-romero-saint-pope-francis-canonisation|title=Salvadoran priest Oscar Romero to be declared saint by Pope Francis|last=Sherwood|first=Harriet|date=11 October 2018|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=11 October 2018}}</ref>

Previously, there had been hopes that Romero would be canonized during a possible papal visit to El Salvador on 15 August 2017 – the centennial of the late bishop's birth – or that he could be canonized in [[Panama]] during [[World Youth Day 2019|World Youth Day]] in 2019.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.lastampa.it/2017/03/17/vaticaninsider/ita/inchieste-e-interviste/romero-santo-ma-quando-g6MNmjcCzc5hMBY5hOXBPN/pagina.html|title=Romero santo, ma quando?|date=17 March 2017|newspaper=La Stampa|author=Metalli, Alver|access-date=18 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419005640/http://www.lastampa.it/2017/03/17/vaticaninsider/ita/inchieste-e-interviste/romero-santo-ma-quando-g6MNmjcCzc5hMBY5hOXBPN/pagina.html|archive-date=19 April 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Romero was the first Salvadoran to be raised to the altars; the first martyred archbishop of America, the first to be declared a martyr after the [[Second Vatican Council]];<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://elfaro.net/es/201810/el_salvador/22575/Y-El-Vaticano-dio-la-raz%EF%BF%BDn-a-quienes-veneran-a-San-%EF%BF%BDscar-Romero.htm|title=Y el Vaticano dio la razón a quienes veneran a san Óscar Romero|website=Y el Vaticano dio la razón a quienes veneran a san Óscar Romero}}</ref> and the first native saint of [[Central America]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.laprensa.hn/mundo/monsenor-oscar-romero-santo-historia-canonizacion-homilia-el-salvador-iglesia-catolica-JWLP1224085|title=La historia de Monseñor Romero; el primer santo centroamericano|website=www.laprensa.hn}}</ref> ([[Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur]], who did all his work for which he was canonized in the city of [[Antigua Guatemala|Santiago de los Caballeros]] of [[Guatemala]], was from [[Tenerife]], [[Spain]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://fraymartindeporres.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/festividad-de-san-pedro-de-san-jose-betancur-hermano-pedro-primer-santo-canario-2/ |title=Festividad de San Pedro de San José Betancur (Hermano Pedro), primer santo canario |access-date=26 January 2019 |archive-date=11 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711125626/https://fraymartindeporres.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/festividad-de-san-pedro-de-san-jose-betancur-hermano-pedro-primer-santo-canario-2/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>) Romero had already been included on the [[Anglican Church]]'s list of official saints<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://evangelizadorasdelosapostoles.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/un-santo-para-la-iglesia-anglicana/ |title=Un santo para la iglesia anglicana |access-date=26 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403204420/https://evangelizadorasdelosapostoles.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/un-santo-para-la-iglesia-anglicana/ |archive-date=3 April 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and on the [[Lutheran Church]]'s liturgical calendar.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://americalatinacaribe.lutheranworld.org/es/content/arzobispo-cat%C3%B3lico-salvadore%C3%B1o-romero-amigo-y-un-gran-ecumenista-4|title=Arzobispo Católico Salvadoreño Romero: Amigo y un gran ecumenista|date=28 May 2015|website=América Latina y Caribe}}</ref>

==Homages and cultural references==
[[File:SalvadorDelMundo.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Monumento al Divino Salvador del Mundo]] in Plaza Salvador del Mundo]]

===Institutions===
* The Romero Centre in [[Dublin]], Ireland, is today an important centre that "promotes Development Education, Arts, Crafts, and Awareness about El Salvador".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sistersofstclare.ie/Romero.htm|title=Romero|website=www.sistersofstclare.ie}}</ref>
* The [[Christian Initiative Romero]] is a non-profit organization in Germany working in support of industrial law and human rights in Central American countries.<ref name="Ci-RomeroAboutus">{{cite web|url=http://www.ci-romero.de/aboutus/|title=About us|publisher=Christliche Initiative Romero e.V.|access-date=5 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130816081223/http://www.ci-romero.de/aboutus/|archive-date=16 August 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* The [[Romero Institute]], a nonprofit law and public policy center in [[Santa Cruz, California]], U.S., headed by [[Daniel Sheehan (attorney)|Daniel Sheehan]], was named after Archbishop Romero in 1996.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://romeroinstitute.org/about-us/our-name |title=Our Name |access-date=27 October 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151012220701/http://romeroinstitute.org/about-us/our-name |archive-date=12 October 2015 }}</ref> 
<!-- Unreferenced: * [[Edmonton Catholic Schools|Edmonton Catholic School System]] named in 2004 a High School in West Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, [[Archbishop Oscar Romero High School]]. -->
<!-- Unreferenced: * A secondary school in the town of [[Hoorn]], The Netherlands, is named after Archbishop Oscar Romero.-->
* In 1989 the [[Toronto Catholic District School Board]] opened a secondary school in [[Toronto]], Canada, named after Archbishop Óscar Romero called [[St. Oscar Romero Catholic Secondary School]].<ref name="About Us">{{cite web|url=https://www.tcdsb.org/schools/archbishopromero/AboutUs/Pages/default.aspx|title=About us|publisher=Archbishop Romero Catholic Secondary School|access-date=24 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402133741/https://www.tcdsb.org/schools/archbishopromero/AboutUs/Pages/default.aspx|archive-date=2 April 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* St. Oscar Romero Catholic High School<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ecsd.net/1028/page/6505/about|title=St. Oscar Romero Catholic High School}}</ref> in Edmonton, Canada, formerly known as Archbishop Oscar Romero, and as Blessed Oscar Romero throughout his canonization.
* [[St Oscar Romero Catholic School]], a coeducational secondary school in [[Worthing]], [[West Sussex]], England.
* Romero Center Ministries in [[Camden, New Jersey]], U.S., provides Catholic education and retreat experiences inspired by Archbishop Óscar Romero's prophetic witness.  The mission of Romero Center Ministries is to "seek personal, communal, and societal transformation by living ministry as proclaimed in Christ's Gospel."  The center hosts over 1,600 guests annually from high schools, colleges, and youth groups which participate in the Urban Challenge program.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.romero-center.org/historymission/|title=Romero Center Ministries|access-date=18 October 2017|archive-date=19 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019055121/http://romero-center.org/historymission/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*[[The University of Scranton]] in [[Scranton, Pennsylvania]], renamed a plaza of four residence halls after him in 2018, the group of buildings in now known as Romero Plaza.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/21/us/university-of-scranton-buildings-pa-catholic-scandal-trnd/index.html |title=A Pennsylvania university scrubs the names of three bishops from buildings after the clergy sex abuse scandal |last=Willingham |first=AJ |date=21 August 2018 |work=CNN|access-date=24 March 2023}}</ref>
* The [[University of Texas at El Paso]]’s Catholic [[Newman Center]] named its Ministry Center after the Bishop in 2019<ref>{{cite web |url=https://catholicfoundationelpaso.org/news/uteps-newman-center-catholic-campus-ministry-goes-back-to-is-roots|title=UTEP's Newman Center Catholic Campus Ministry Has a New Name|date=18 August 2019 |work=CNN|access-date=21 August 2023}}</ref>
* The [https://www.ed.ac.uk/ University of Edinburgh] named [https://www.accom.ed.ac.uk/our-accommodation/fraser-court/ student accommodation] after the Archbishop, and unveiled a [https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/oscar-romero-plaque-edinburgh memorial plaque], in 1991.
* Óscar Romerocollege in [[Dendermonde]], [[Belgium]], is a fusion of multiple Catholic schools that took on the name of the Archbishop in 2014.

===Television and film===
* The opening scene in the otherwise fictional spy film ''[[S.A.S. à San Salvador]]'' (1983) shows a car carrying thugs through [[San Salvador]] and stopping at a church inside which the main villain assassinates Óscar Romero.
* [[Oliver Stone]]'s 1986 film ''[[Salvador (film)|Salvador]]'' depicts a fictionalized version of the assassination of Romero (played by [[José Carlos Ruiz]]) in a pivotal scene.<ref>{{cite news |last=Goodman |first=Walter |date=5 March 1986 |title=Screen: 'Salvador' by Stone |page=Section C, 22 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/05/movies/screen-salvador-by-stone.html |url-status=live |work=The New York Times |location=New York |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112214632/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/05/movies/screen-salvador-by-stone.html |archive-date=12 November 2021 |access-date=23 February 2022}}</ref>  Romero's assassination (with [[René Enríquez]] as Romero) was also featured in the 1983 [[television film]] ''[[Choices of the Heart]]'' about the life and death of American Catholic missionary [[Jean Donovan]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Shales |first=Tom |date=5 December 1983 |title=NBC's Heartsick 'Choices' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1983/12/05/nbcs-heartsick-choices/93069380-eba2-416e-9ced-0ce351636c65/ |url-status=live |newspaper=Washington Post |location=Washington, D.C. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220223152537/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1983/12/05/nbcs-heartsick-choices/93069380-eba2-416e-9ced-0ce351636c65/ |archive-date=23 February 2022 |access-date=23 February 2022}}</ref> 
* The Archbishop's life is the basis of the 1989 film ''[[Romero (film)|Romero]]'', directed by [[John Duigan]] and starring [[Raul Julia]] as Romero. It was produced by Paulist Productions (a film company run by the [[Paulist Fathers]], a Roman Catholic society of priests). Timed for release ten years after Romero's death, it was the first Hollywood feature film ever to be financed by the order. The film received respectful, if less-than-enthusiastic, reviews. [[Roger Ebert]] typified the critics who acknowledged that "The film has a good heart, and the Julia performance is an interesting one, restrained and considered. ...The film's weakness is a certain implacable predictability."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/romero-1989 |title=Romero|last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=8 September 1989}}</ref>
<!-- Unreferenced: * Romero was depicted in two biopics about [[Pope John Paul II]], the U.S. television biopic ''[[Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II]]'' (ABC, 2005, [[Joaquim de Almeida]] as Romero) and the Italian biopic ''Karol, una papa rimasto uomo'' (English translation for Canadian TV ''[[Karol: The Pope, The Man]]'') 2006, Carlos Kaniowsky as Romero.-->
* In 2005, while at the [[University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism|UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism]], Daniel Freed,<ref>{{cite web|last=Freed|first=Daniel|title=About Daniel Freed|url=http://www.danielfreed.com/about|work=The "About" page|publisher=The Daniel Freed website|access-date=24 November 2012}}</ref> an independent documentary filmmaker and frequent contributor to [[PBS]] and [[CNBC]], made a 30-minute film entitled ''The Murder of Monseñor''<ref>{{cite web|last=Freed|first=Daniel|title=The Murder of Monseñor|url=http://www.danielfreed.com/projects/2935191#4|work=A 30-minute documentary film (2005)|publisher=The Daniel Freed Website|access-date=24 November 2012|archive-date=22 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522181819/http://www.danielfreed.com/projects/2935191#4|url-status=dead}}</ref> which not only documented Romero's assassination but also told the story of how Álvaro Rafael Saravia – whom a US District court found, in 2004, had personally organized the assassination – moved to the United States and lived for 25 years as a used car salesman in [[Modesto, California]], until he became aware of the pending legal action against him in 2003 and disappeared, leaving behind his drivers license and social security card, as well as his credit cards and his dog.  In 2016 a 1993 law protecting the actions of the military during the Civil War was overruled by a Salvadoran high court and on 23 October 2018, another court ordered the arrest of Saravia.<ref name="thetabletwarrant"/>
* ''[[The Daily Show]]'' episode on 17 March 2010 showed clips from the Texas State Board of Education in which "a panel of experts" recommended including Romero in the state's history books,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/teks/social/AlphabetizedList_such_as.pdf |title=Historical Figures in Social Studies Teks Draft - January 2010 |access-date=18 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326050411/http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/teks/social/AlphabetizedList_such_as.pdf |archive-date=26 March 2010 }}</ref> but an amendment proposed by Patricia Hardy<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=3420|title=SBOE Member District 11|date=20 March 2020}}</ref> to exclude Romero was passed on 10 March 2010. The clip of Ms. Hardy shows her arguing against including Romero because "I guarantee you most of you did not know who Oscar Romero was. ...I just happen to think it's not [important]."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cc.com/video-clips/zth8t9/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-don-t-mess-with-textbooks|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927042215/http://www.cc.com/video-clips/zth8t9/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-don-t-mess-with-textbooks|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 September 2015|title=Don't Mess With Textbooks|date=3 March 2010|publisher=The Daily Show|access-date=15 October 2018}}</ref>
* A film about the Archbishop, ''Monseñor, the Last Journey of Óscar Romero'', with the priest Robert Pelton serving as executive producer, had its United States premiere in 2010. This film won the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) Award for Merit in film, in competition with 25 other films. Pelton was invited to show the film throughout Cuba.  It was sponsored by ecclesial and human rights groups from Latin America and from North America.<ref>{{cite web|title = Romero Days 24–29 March 2010|url = http://kellogg.nd.edu/romero/Lecture.htm|access-date= 14 May 2010|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100501025416/http://kellogg.nd.edu/romero/Lecture.htm|archive-date = 1 May 2010|url-status = dead|df = dmy-all}}</ref> [[Alma Guillermoprieto]] in ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'' describes the film as a "hagiography," and as "an astonishing compilation of footage" of the final three years of his life.<ref>{{Cite magazine| last = Guillermoprieto| first = Alma| author-link = Alma Guillermoprieto| title = Death Comes for the Archbishop| magazine = The New York Review of Books| volume = LVII| issue = 9| pages = 41–42| date = 27 May 2010| url = http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/may/27/death-comes-archbishop/| access-date = 14 May 2010 }}</ref>

===Visual arts===
* [[St. James the Greater]] Catholic Church in [[Charles Town, West Virginia]] is the first known Catholic Church in the United States to venerate St. Oscar Romero with a [[stained glass]] window in its building. The project was led by the first Spanish priest of the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese, José Escalante, who is originally from El Salvador, as a gift to the Spanish community of the parish. 
* John Roberts sculpted a statue of Óscar Romero that fills a prominent niche on the western facade of Westminster Abbey in London; it was unveiled in the presence of [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth II]] in 1998.<ref name="abbey">{{cite web|url=http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/oscar-romero|title=Westminster Abbey: Oscar Romero|access-date=20 March 2011}}</ref> 
*Joan Walsh-Smith sculpted a statue of Saint Óscar Romero at The Holy Cross College Ellenbrook Western Australia in 2017. The sculpture depicts their College Patron "walking his faith" on his journey with the poor in El Salvador.<ref>{{cite web | title=Religious Sculptures | website=Smith Sculptors | url=https://www.smithsculptors.com/Religious_Sculptures.html | access-date=11 December 2019}}</ref>
<!-- Unreferenced: * Barry Woods Johnston sculpted a statue of Óscar Romero displayed in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Italian sculptor Paolo Borghi crafted the catafalque that covers Romero's tomb in the crypt of the San Salvador cathedral and shows Romero "sleeping the sleep of the just" as four Evangelists stand guard. -->
<!-- Unreferenced: * Brother [[Robert Lentz]] painted a now-famous icon of Archbishop Romero based on traditional church iconography but with updated conventional elements; for example, the traditional angels are replaced with military helicopters over red-tiled roofs. Frank Diaz Escalet executed a series of "outsider art" paintings of Archbishop Romero, now exhibited in the permanent collection of the [[Organization of American States]] Museum in Washington, D.C., in the permanent collection of the Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, Texas, in the Ella Noel Museum of Odessa, Texas, and in the Maryknoll Galleries in [[Ossining (village), New York|Ossining, New York]].-->
<!-- Unreferenced: * Bishop Romero is depicted in a 1998 painting by Puerto Rican artist Frank Diaz Escalet, entitled, ''Oscar Romero, Unregalo De Dios Para El Mundo Entero'', a work painted with acrylic on a masonite panel. The English translation of the title is ''Oscar Romero, a Gift from God for the Whole World''. The painting depicts a haloed Bishop Romero, dressed in a simple white [[alb]], cradling the Earth in his left hand and attended by flower-bearing, winged angels.  The painting is now in a private collection in Sacramento, California, U.S.-->

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Westminster Abbey C20th martyrs.jpg|From the Gallery of 20th-century martyrs at [[Westminster Abbey]] – [[Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (1864–1918)|Mother Elizabeth of Russia]], Rev. [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], Archbishop Óscar Romero and Pastor [[Dietrich Bonhoeffer]].
File:Diaz Unregalo De Dios.jpg|Frank Diaz Escalet, 1998, "Oscar Romero, Un Regalo De Dios Para El Mundo Entero;" acrylic on Masonite.  This painting is in a private collection in Sacramento, California.
File:St. Thomas Aquinas Church stained glass windows of Óscar Romero, Pier Giorgio Frassati and André Bessette, Toronto.JPG|[[Thomas Aquinas|St. Thomas Aquinas]] Church stained glass windows of Óscar Romero, [[Pier Giorgio Frassati]] and [[André Bessette]], Toronto Canada.                  
 File:2024 Saint Thomas More - Arlington interior 24.jpg|St. Oscar Romero statue in the Cathedral of Saint Thomas More in Arlington, Virginia.                
 File:St Alban's Abbey IMG 2665 (28959349165).jpg|St. Oscar Romero, Saint [[Alban Roe]], [[Amphibalus|Saint Amphibalus]], [[Saint Alban]], Saint [[George Tankerfield]], [[Elizabeth of Russia]], [[Dietrich Bonhoeffer]], depicted in the nave reredos [[St Albans Cathedral]]                                     
File:Mural "Homenaje a Monseñor Óscar Arnulfo Romero".png|Mural “Tribute to Monsignor Óscar Arnulfo Romero”, located at the San Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez International Airport in El Salvador. 
File:El Salvador killed more than 75.000.jpg|Memorial depicting [[Oscar Romero]] and the '''1980 murders of U.S. missionaries in El Salvador'''.          
File:Develación de escultura de Monseñor Romero. (31416362018).jpg|Unveiling of [[Óscar Romero|Monsignor Romero's]] sculpture in Italy
</gallery>

===Music===
* Violinist [[Jean-Luc Ponty]]'s album ''[[Individual Choice]]'' has a song dedicated to Oscar Romero: "Eulogy to Oscar Romero".
* Singer [[Billy Bragg]], on "The Marching Song Of The Covert Battalions", from his 1990 EP, ''[[The Internationale (album)|The Internationale]]'', shouts Oscar Romero's surname after the line, "Away with nuns and bishops".
* Panamanian musician [[Rubén Blades]] dedicated a song to him named "[[:es:El Padre Antonio y el Monaguillo Andrés|El Padre Antonio y el Monaguillo Andrés]]".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/internacional/imagen-de-san-oscar-arnulfo-romero-presente-en-la-coronacion-del-rey-carlos-iii-nota/ | title=Este es el único santo latino presente en la coronación del Rey Carlos III: El sacerdote inspiró a Rubén Blades y su imagen está en la Abadía de Westminster | date=4 May 2023 }}</ref>
* Welsh folk singer [[Dafydd Iwan]] released the song 'Oscar Romero' in his memory on his 1991 album 'Dal i Gredu'.

===Political writing===
* In their book ''[[Manufacturing Consent]]'' (1988), [[Noam Chomsky]] and [[Edward S. Herman]] compared US media coverage of the murders of Romero and other Latin American clergy in US client states with coverage of the murder of Catholic priest [[Jerzy Popiełuszko]] in "enemy" Communist [[Poland]] to explain their [[propaganda model]] hypothesis.<ref>{{cite book|year=2002|url=https://archive.org/details/manufacturingcon00herm_197|url-access=limited|title=Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media|publisher=Pantheon Books|last1=Herman|first1=Edward S.|last2=Chomsky|first2=Noam|page=[https://archive.org/details/manufacturingcon00herm_197/page/n96 37] |isbn=0375714499 |edition=2nd}}</ref><ref name="Goodwin">{{cite journal|journal=Sociological Forum|volume=9|issue=1|author=Jeff Goodwin|date=March 1994|pages=101–111|title=Review: What's Right (and Wrong) about Left Media Criticism? Herman and Chomsky's Propaganda Model|jstor=684944|doi=10.1007/BF01507710|s2cid=143939984}}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Saints|Biography|Catholicism|El Salvador}}
* [[List of peace activists]]
* [[List of unsolved murders (1980–1999)]]
* ''[[Misa Campesina Nicaragüense]]''
* [[Stanley Rother]]
* [[Salvadoran Civil War]]

; Catholic priests assassinated in El Salvador during and after Óscar Romero's time as archbishop (1977–1980)<nowiki>:</nowiki>
* [[Rutilio Grande]]: assassinated 12 March 1977
* [[Alfonso Navarro]]: assassinated 11 May 1977
* [[Ernesto Barrera]]: assassinated 28 November 1978
* [[Octavio Ortiz]]: assassinated 20 January 1979
* [[Rafael Palacios (priest)|Rafael Palacios]]: assassinated 20 June 1979
* [[Napoleón Macías]]: assassinated 4 August 1979
* [[Ignacio Martín-Baró]]: assassinated 16 November 1989
* [[Segundo Montes]]: assassinated 16 November 1989
* [[Ignacio Ellacuría]]: assassinated 16 November 1989

; [[1980 murders of U.S. missionaries in El Salvador|Murder of U.S. missionaries in El Salvador on 2 December 1980]]<nowiki>:</nowiki> three [[Religious Sisters]] and one [[laity|lay]] worker<nowiki>:</nowiki>
* [[Maura Clarke]], [[Maryknoll]]
* [[Jean Donovan]], lay missionary
* [[Ita Ford]], Maryknoll
* [[Dorothy Kazel]], Ursuline nun

==References==
{{Reflist|30em
<ref name=elfaro>{{cite web|url=https://elfaro.net/es/201003/noticias/1416/How-we-killed-Archbishop-Romero.htm |title= How We Killed Archbishop Romero|first=Carlos|last=Dada|date=25 March 2010|work=El Faro}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|auto=1|commonscat=1}}
* [http://www.romerotrust.org.uk/ The Archbishop Romero Trust], based in London 
** ''[http://www.romerotrust.org.uk/documents/books/Ashepherdsdiary.pdf Archbishop Oscar Romero: A Shepherd's Diary]''. Archbishop Romero's diary in English. It covers the time between 31 March 1978 and 20 March 1980.
* [https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/romero.html Remembering Archbishop Oscar Romero] (several contemporary and memorial articles) from the Collaborative Ministry Office at [[Creighton University]].
* [https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu//NSAEBB/NSAEBB339/index.htm Learn from History: 31st Anniversary of the Assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero], [[National Security Archive]], Electronic Briefing Book No. 339
* [https://cja.org/what-we-do/litigation/doe-v-saravia/ Assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romerto: ''Doe v. Saravia''] from the [[Center for Justice and Accountability]]
* [https://elfaro.net/es/201003/noticias/1416/ How we killed Archbishop Romero] (2010), interviews with Captain Álvaro Rafael Saravia and others from ''[[El Faro (digital newspaper)|El Faro]]''
* [https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/st-oscar-romero ''St Oscar Romero'' statue] at [[Westminster Abbey]]
* {{Hl-Lex|b|Oscar_Romero.html}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Francisco Raval Cruces|Francisco R. Cruces]]}}
{{s-tul|title=Bishop of Tambeae|years=5 April 1970 – 15 October 1974 }}
{{s-aft|after=[[Angélico Sândalo Bernardino|A. S. Bernardino]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Francisco José Castro y Ramírez|Francisco Ramírez]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Diocese of Santiago de María|Bishop of Santiago de María]]|years=15 October 1974 – 3 February 1977}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Arturo Rivera Damas|Arturo Rivera]]|rows=2}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Luis Chávez y González|Luis Chávez]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Archdiocese of San Salvador|Archbishop of San Salvador]]|years=3 February 1977 – 24 March 1980 }}
{{S-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romero, Oscar}}
[[Category:1917 births]]
[[Category:1980 crimes in El Salvador]]
[[Category:1980 deaths]]
[[Category:1980 murders in North America]]
[[Category:1980s murders in El Salvador]]
[[Category:20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in El Salvador]]
[[Category:20th-century Roman Catholic martyrs]]
[[Category:20th-century venerated Christians]]
[[Category:Anglican saints]]
[[Category:Anti-poverty advocates]]
[[Category:Assassinated Salvadoran people]]
[[Category:Beatifications by Pope Francis]]
[[Category:Canonizations by Pope Francis]]
[[Category:Catholic martyrs of El Salvador]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in El Salvador]]
[[Category:Human rights abuses in El Salvador]]
[[Category:Lutheran saints]]
[[Category:Martyred Roman Catholic bishops]]
[[Category:People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar]]
[[Category:People from Ciudad Barrios]]
[[Category:People of the Salvadoran Civil War]]
[[Category:People with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic activists]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic archbishops of San Salvador]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Santiago de María]]
[[Category:Salvadoran Roman Catholic saints]]
[[Category:Unsolved murders in El Salvador]]