Romero, Oscar Arnulfo (1917–1980)

A Roman Catholic archbishop during the latter part of the 1970s in El Salvador, Oscar Romero is often remembered as a modern-day martyr because of his assassination while administering the Eucharist. Romero served El Salvador during the rising violence that led to its civil war (1980–1992), in which many thousands were killed and millions displaced in a Central American country of less than 6 million. Although his death is still in many ways a mystery, it was most likely connected with the machinations of the ultraconservative and established political party (ARENA) that was attempting at the time to dispel a guerrilla insurrection associated with the FMLN and its backing among the masses of the working poor.

Duke Scholars

Author Daniel Castelo Divinity School