4 November 2025

Two months before his death, Archbishop Oscar Romero  wrote in a Mexican newspaper, ‘As a shepherd I am obliged by Divine Law to give my life for those I love, for the entire Salvadoran people, including those who threaten to assassinate me.

If they should go as far as to carry out their threats, I want you to know that I now offer my blood to God for justice and the resurrection of El Salvador.’  A  death squad was ready.

On 24 March 1980, the Archbishop was celebrating mass in a hospital chapel. He had just finished preaching his sermon.  He had come to the Liturgy of  the Sacrament. He picked up the bread, ‘This is the body of Christ which is broken for you!’ he said.

Suddenly, a  man with a pistol aimed his gun at Romero. A shot rang out.  The Archbishop fell down at the altar with the broken bread in his hands. The gunman ran off to a waiting car. People rushed to the Archbishop’s assistance but he was dead!

At his funeral, the cathedral was full – and there were 30,000 people standing in the square outside. During the service, people remembered Archbishop Oscar Romero’s words.

‘The church will always exist as long as even one baptised person is left alive!’ he had said. And that’s true. So long as one person follows in the footsteps of Jesus, takes up their cross and follows him, his story will be kept alive forever.