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Archbishop Romero (CNS)

St. Agnes Parish will be marking the 30th anniversary of the murder of Salvadorian Archbishop Oscar Romero March 24 with a 7 p.m. Mass.

About five years ago, I got a chance to interview the archbishop’s youngest brother, Santos Gaspar Romero, right here in my cubicle. I’d been working for The Catholic Sun for less than a year, but even today, the interview stands out.

He was candid and related some personal stories of his older brother. The archbishop would give them advice growing up and he’d scold them “when he thought we weren’t living up to the Commandments of the Church.”

The story only ran in Spanish, but I thought I’d share the English translation with you here:

Archbishop Romero’s brother visits the Valley

By J.D. Long-García, The Catholic Sun, April 7, 2005

A single bullet fired from a red four-door Volkswagen stationed outside the Chapel of the Hospital of Divine Providence in San Salvador killed Archbishop Oscar Romero 25 years ago.

The Salvadorian archbishop was shot during the eucharistic prayer and bled to death from the wound.

Speaking out against oppression, the archbishop was killed during a time of civil war in the 1970s after calling the Salvadorian military to peace.

“He wasn’t not of any political party,” the archbishop’s brother Santos Gaspar Romero said. “He did not have any political commitments or any political inclinations.”

Thanks to the efforts of the Carmelites fathers at St. Agnes Parish, Gaspar Romero attended a Mass celebrating his brother’s life on May 19, 25 years after his brothers death.

“There were two parties and he was on the razor’s edge,” Gaspar said. “He wasn’t on the government’s side and he wasn’t on the guerillas side.”

The archbishop’s mission, his brother said, was to avoid blood shed and help those most in need.

“He knew they were going to kill him and he couldn’t have left,” Gaspar recounted. “Church officials told him he should leave, but he told me, ‘I cannot leave because my mission is to help those most in need. I will be the voice of the voiceless.’”

Archbishop Romero, Gaspar said, told him, “I know they will kill me. What I regret is that I will no longer be able to continue helping. In the spiritual realm I will win because if they kill be, I will be resurrected in the people.’”

Before his death, the guerilla took Holy Rosary Parish located in the center of San Salvador, Gaspar said. It was full of farmers and guerillas when the national guard arrived and surrounded the church.

“They were going to get them out using bullets — they were going to exterminate them. My brother found out and he came and he went into the church,” he said.

“He said, ‘You will not kill them here. If you kill them you will kill me with them,’” he added.

Gaspar said his brother’s actions saved those people in the church. “That man lived without fear,” he said.

A humble man

Santos Gaspar is Oscar Romero’s younger brother. Of seven children, Oscar was the second and Gaspar the youngest.

Gaspar said that from his earliest memories, Oscar had a disposition toward the priesthood.

“He would counsel us and he reprimand us when he thought we didn’t live up to the teachings of the Church,” he said, adding that his brother encouraged the family to go to confession.

“Since he was an older brother, he influenced the entire family and he maintained a level or respect,” he said. “He had a presence that was respected and loved wherever he went.”

The younger brother said the archbishop felt more comfortable with the poor.

“When he went to rural areas, he liked to sit on the ground and eat with the farmers,” he said. “This was when he felt happiest.”

Gaspar said his brother saw the poverty and since he couldn’t help materially, he spoke with the people and offered them his love.

He also would visit with members of the upper crust of society, yet “he didn’t feel as comfortable as he did with people of humble means,” Gaspar added.

Before becoming a priest, Oscar Romero was a carpenter who made tables and chairs to sustain himself economically. He was a fan of Charlie Chaplin and Cantinflas.

“He would see those movies and he would enjoy himself with those movies,” Gaspar recounted, laughing. “Those were his distractions.”

The archbishop was good friends with the Jesuits and he like to go to the beach. He loved typical Salvadorian food: beans, rice, eggs, cheese, tortillas.

The influence continues

“I worked in a communications company and at the height of my career I was placed in a position of high importance,” Gaspar said. He spoke about his success with his brother Oscar.

“He told me, ‘I congratulate you, but I will give you a some advice. As high a level as your reach in your life, never forget your humble beginnings,’” Gaspar remembered. “I passed that along to my children.”

Fr. Bradley Petersen, OCarm, of St. Agnes Parish also found inspiration in Archbishop Romero’s life.

“He was martyred five years before I decided to join the Carmelites,” he said.

“By being assassinated while celebrating the Eucharist he showed every priest and every Christian that when we commit ourselves completely to the Lord and the Lord’s service, we unite ourselves to the sacrifice of Christ on the cross,” he added. “We place our only hope in His resurrection.”