On May 23 Archbishop Arnulfo Romero, shot while giving a mass in El Salvador in 1980, will be beatified in a special ceremony. Today our host Cody Weddle interviews Father Gabriel Henriquez, theologian and Episcopal Vicar, about Romero’s legacy. In answer to questions about why it took so long for him to become a martyr and why he is being beatified now, Father Gabriel talks about the way he fell out of favor with the church hierarchy because of his ministry with the poor and his defense of social justice. Many religious and political leaders scorned him as a socialist and communist. The man who pulled the trigger was following the orders of the fascist Robert D'Aubuisson, says Henriquez. His beatification may be happening now because we have a Latin American pope who recognizes what Romero meant to the poor people. It’s long overdue, but it’s somewhat beside the point because the people have long viewed him as a saint, as is the case with many other practitioners of liberation theology. Although Romero didn’t describe himself as an advocate of this kind of theology, in practice, he was, says the Vicar. What is his legacy? Love.
