Oscar Romero

Oscar Romero was a Salvadorian Roman Catholic prelate who was killed by right-wing assassins. Romero was born in Ciudad Barrios, and was ordained into the Roman Catholic Church in 1942. A conservative, he was elected bishop in 1970. Seven years later, in February 1977, to the dismay of more progressive members of the Catholic Church, he was made Archbishop of San Salvador. In spite of his conservative views, he had already made clear the importance he attached to …

…the cathedral by army sharpshooters on rooftops. To this day no investigation has revealed Romero's killers. What endures is Romero's promise. Days before his murder he told a reporter, "You can tell the people that if they succeed in killing me, that I forgive and bless those who do it. Hopefully, they will realise they are wasting their time. A bishop will die, but the church of God, which is the people, will never perish."