Murder at the Altar

A fearless archbishop falls victim to the terror of a torn nation

I am prepared to offer my blood for the redemption and resurrection of El Salvador. If God accepts the sacrifice, I hope it will be a seed of liberty and a sign of hope.

--Oscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdames, Archbishop of San Salvador

At 6 p.m. on a hot, humid evening in San Salvador last week, 60 worshipers gathered in the small, modern chapel of the Hospital of Divine Providence for a memorial Mass. Officiating was the Archbishop of San Salvador, a small, benign-looking man with spectacles and graying hair. Quietly, he spoke for ten minutes about death and the need to dedicate life to the cause of peace and justice. Finishing his homily, he stepped to the altar and raised the chalice of Communion wine. At that moment, a lone gunman stepped up to the open door of the chapel. "We heard what sounded like an explosion, like a bomb," said a nun who attended the service. The archbishop fell to the floor, his blood streaking the white altar cloth. He was mortally wounded, struck in the heart by a single fragmenting .22-cal. bullet. The gunman ran to a small red car and sped away. A nun who bent over to kiss the dying prelate heard him whisper, "May God have mercy on the assassins."

Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero, 62, was renowned as the most outspoken archbishop among Latin America's increasingly activist clergy. From his pulpit, he regularly condemned the tyranny and terrorism that have torn tiny, impoverished El Salvador apart and brought it to the verge of civil war. A comparable concern for the poor made him a beloved figure in the barrios of the cities and among the campesinos on the huge coffee and sugar plantations. Last year he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by 23 U.S. Congressmen and 118 members of the British Parliament.

In many eulogies last week, the brutal murder at the altar was even compared with that of Thomas a Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury who was murdered by courtiers of King Henry II in the 12th century. "Barbaric!" exclaimed Pope John Paul II in Rome. "It is not only his archdiocese but the whole church which suffers from such iniquitous violence."

The capital of San Salvador seemed almost in a state of shock. Some stayed in their homes for fear of being caught in another round of the bloodletting between right and left extremists that has already claimed more than 700 victims this year. Thousands of others thronged to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, where Romero's body lay in state, and joined a silent procession behind the cortege as it was taken to the Metropolitan Cathedral. "He was our father and protector," explained one grief-stricken woman carrying a small bouquet of yellow flowers. Said a middle-aged salesman: "The people will never forget this vile act."

Originally regarded as a conservative in his views, Romero had spoken out more and more boldly against the repressiveness of the country's rulers since his appointment as archbishop in 1977. He bitterly assailed Dictator Carlos Humberto Romero (no relation) and the notorious activities of the National Police and ORDEN, the brutalizing paramilitary arm of Romero's and other regimes. The archbishop had ample provocation. No fewer than seven priests have been murdered in the past three years by pro-government forces, and Catholic activists were frequently among those subjected to beatings and torture.

When Romero was overthrown last fall, the archbishop initially supported the military-civilian junta that followed him. But he rapidly became disillusioned; last month he refused to support the junta's new agrarian and banking reforms because he believed they were merely a cover-up for continued repression. He also wrote to President Carter, imploring him not to send proposed U.S. military aid of, $5.7 million to the junta. "We are fed up with weapons and bullets," he explained. He urged the U.S. instead to "channel the aid to feed thousands of our people." The archbishop also led a campaign to locate the missing victims of arrests, and every Sunday read a roll call of the week's dead. Salvadorans came from all over to plead for help, clutching photographs of relatives who had disappeared.

The right-wing press regularly vilified Romero for his efforts. In February, 72 sticks of dynamite were discovered in the cathedral moments before he was to celebrate Mass. Last month a right-wing group blew up the Catholic University radio transmitter that carried the archbishop's sermons throughout the country. Undeterred, Romero recorded his homilies on cassette tapes and distributed them to parish priests. "If the defense of human rights is subversive," he often said, "then I am subversive."

At week's end there were still no arrests in connection with the archbishop's assassination. The junta asked Interpol to help find the killer, on the suspicion that he was probably a hired gunman. Said Jose Napoleon Duarte, leader of the Christian Democratic Party and a member of the junta: "There is nobody in El Salvador, either on the left or right, who is capable of so efficient a murder. To us, it seems like a contract job." U.S. Ambassador Robert White agreed, adding that a government official had informed him that right-wing Cuban exiles were operating in the country. The widespread suspicion was that rightists may have ordered the assassination, either to vent their outrage over the reforms or simply to help foment the chaos that might provoke a complete military takeover.

Despite 40 leftist bombs that caused extensive damage to businesses in the capital, and a shooting rampage that took the lives of 23 persons in a single day, the archbishop's death did not touch off the uncontrolled conflict that was initially feared. But with tens of thousands expected to attend the funeral, the risk of widespread violence was obviously high, and appeals for calm went out to Romero's supporters. Said Juan Chacon, leader of the Popular Revolutionary Bloc: "The best homage we can pay to Archbishop Romero is neither wreaths nor tears but to act with tremendous serenity."

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