Born in El Salvador in 1917, he was one of the eight children of Santos and Guadalupe de Jesus. 

Oscar went to public school until third grade, was tutored privately until he was thirteen, and then was taken in as an apprentice by his father to become a carpenter. 

Always devoted to his faith, Oscar soon told his family he wanted to become a priest. He had to wait a year, but when he was in his mid-teens, he was accepted into the seminary and ordained in 1942. However, because travel was limited by the war, his family could not attend his ordination. 

For the next two decades, Oscar worked as a parish priest, overseeing the construction of San Miguel Cathedral and starting an Alcoholics Anonymous group. He also developed a deep devotion to The Blessed Mother, specifically Our Lady of Peace. 

In 1977 Oscar Romero was made Archbishop of San Salvador, at the beginning of an extremely difficult time there. 

In 1979 The Revolutionary Government Junta came to power and was determined to eliminate anyone opposed to them. 

Romero’s good friend and Jesuit Priest, Fr. Rutilio Grande, who was devoted to aiding the poor by helping them become self-sufficient, was assassinated.

That was a turning point for the Archbishop, who said; “If they have killed him for what he did, I must walk the same path.” 

Then, five more priests were murdered. 

Romero began a weekly radio broadcast, often critical of the United States for its support of the Military Junta running his country. 

On the night before his murder, Archbishop Romero said in his broadcast:

“I would like to appeal in a special way to the men of the army, and in particular to the troops of the National Guard, no soldier is obliged to obey an order counter to the law of God. No one has to comply with an immoral law. It is the time now that you recover your conscience and obey its dictates rather than the command of sin. . . .In the name of God: ‘Cease the repression!” 

The next day, he was shot through the heart by assassins while saying mass. 

He was canonized in 2018 by Pope Francis. 

St. Oscar Romero, please pray for us.