CONTEXT
Oscar Arnulfo Romero y Goldámez was born on August 15, 1917 in Ciudad Barrios, El Salvador (Kellog). He was two of seven children. His father, Santos Romero, worked as a telegrapher in the small mountain town. Although they did not struggle financially like the others in the village, the Romero family lived without running water and electricity (Kellog). Eventually, Santos was no longer able to afford Oscar's education after the age of 12, so Oscar was forced to become a carpenter. He took this opportunity to grow as an "apprentice of the Carpenter of Nazareth." At the age of 13, Romero joined the minor seminary in San Miguel and later the national seminary in San Salvador (Kellog). He would later complete his education at the Gregorian…show more content… Without a doubt, he was a saint for the people, but some others accused him of being a liberation theologian. Conservatives were totally against the movement that helped Communist groups. It is even said that these people spent three decades preventing him from reaching sainthood (Vallely).Vallely later wrote that “to canonize the murdered cleric would effectively endorse liberation theology too” (Vallely). Surprisingly, Romero was previously a conservative but later “converted” after witnessing his audience’s beliefs. Endorsing liberation theology is the primary reason why so many people disagreed and still continue to oppose Romero’s beatification. It is said that conservatives in the Vatican, behind the scenes, “to block any attempts to move Romero along the path to sainthood” (Vallely). Not only did they counter this process, but they also believed the endorsement of liberation theology opened the door to communism into South America. An agreement within the Church may never approach, but no one can deny the fact that Archbishop Romero devoted his life to the well-being of the
