Editing Óscar Romero (section)

==Assassination==
[[File:Assassination of Oscar Romero.jpg|thumb|Photo that appeared in ''[[El País]]'' on 7 November 2009 with the information that the state of [[El Salvador]] recognized its responsibility in the crime.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Salvador/hace/responsable/crimen/arzobispo/Romero/elpepuint/20091107elpepuint_8/Tes|title=El Salvador hace justicia a monseñor Óscar Romero|author=Ediciones El País|work=EL PAÍS|date=7 November 2009}}</ref>]]

On 23 March 1980, Archbishop Romero delivered a sermon in which he called on Salvadoran soldiers, as [[Christians]], to obey God's higher order and to stop carrying out the government's repression and violations of basic [[human rights]].<ref name="BBC News" /><ref name="kell-bio" />

Romero spent 24 March in a recollection organized by Opus Dei,<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://www.opusdei.us/en-us/article/oscar-romero-and-st-josemaria/|title=Oscar Romero and St. Josemaria|publisher=Opus Dei}}</ref> a monthly gathering of priest friends led by [[Fernando Sáenz Lacalle]]. On that day they reflected on the priesthood.<ref name="romereports.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.romereports.com/2015/02/03/the-final-hours-of-monsignor-romero|title=The final hours of Monsignor Romero|date=3 February 2015 }}</ref> That evening, Romero celebrated [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]]<ref name="Gómez2003">{{cite book|author=Mayra Gómez|title=Human Rights in Cuba, El Salvador, and Nicaragua: A Sociological Perspective on Human Rights Abuse|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dC6CrsZs97UC&pg=PA110|date=2 October 2003|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-94649-0|page=110|quote=The following day, Archbishop Oscar Romero was shot dead in front of a full congregation as he was delivering mass (AI ...}}</ref><ref name="Settimba2009">{{cite book|author=Henry Settimba|title=Testing Times: Globalisation and Investing Theology in East Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W1sWc4hERKsC&pg=PA223|date=1 March 2009|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=978-1-4678-9899-7|page=223}}</ref> at a small chapel at Hospital de la Divina Providencia (Divine Providence Hospital),<ref name=nytimesmurder>{{cite news|title=Salvador Archbishop Assassinated By Sniper While Officiating at Mass|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/03/25/archives/salvador-archbishop-assassinated-by-sniper-while-officiating-at.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=25 March 1980|pages=1, 8}}</ref> a church-run hospital specializing in oncology and care for the terminally ill.<ref name=wapomurder>{{cite news|title=Salvadoran Archbishop Assassinated|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=25 March 1980|pages=A1, A12}}</ref> Romero finished his sermon, stepped away from the [[lectern]], and took a few steps to stand at the center of the altar.<ref name="BBC News">{{cite news|title=El Salvador marks Archbishop Oscar Romero's murder|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8580840.stm|work=BBC News|author=Julian Miglierini|date=24 March 2010}}</ref>

As Romero finished speaking, a red car came to a stop on the street in front of the chapel. A gunman emerged from the vehicle, stepped to the door of the chapel, and fired one, or possibly two, shots. Romero was struck in the heart, and the vehicle sped off.<ref name=nytimesmurder /> He died at the Chapel of Hospital de la Divina Providencia in San Salvador.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Royal |first1=Robert |title=The Catholic martyrs of the twentieth century : a comprehensive world history |date=2000 |publisher=New York : Crossroad Pub. |isbn=978-0-8245-1846-2 |page=270 |url=https://archive.org/details/catholicmartyrso0000roya |access-date=30 November 2024}}</ref>

=== Funeral ===
Romero was buried in the [[San Salvador Cathedral|Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador]]. The [[Requiem Mass|Funeral Mass]] on 30 March 1980 in San Salvador was attended by more than 250,000 mourners from all over the world. Viewing this attendance as a protest, [[Jesuit]] priest [[John Dear]] has said, "Romero's funeral was the largest demonstration in Salvadoran history, some say in the history of [[Latin America]]."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/honoring-oscar-romero-of_b_7342546|title=Honoring Oscar Romero of El Salvador|first=John|last=Dear|publisher=[[Huffington Post]]|date=20 May 2015|access-date=24 March 2023}}</ref>

At the funeral, [[cardinal (Catholic Church)|Cardinal]] [[Ernesto Corripio y Ahumada]], speaking as the personal delegate of Pope John Paul II, eulogized Romero as a "beloved, peacemaking man of God," and stated that "his blood will give fruit to brotherhood, love and peace."<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,923959,00.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204084814/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,923959,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=4 February 2013 | work=Time Magazine | title=El Salvador: Something Vile in This Land | date=14 April 1980 | access-date=12 August 2012}}</ref>

==== Massacre at Romero's funeral ====
[[File:Asistentes al funeral de monseñor Romero corren tras escuchar los disparos en medio de la multitud, en la Plaza Barrios, el domingo 30 de marzo de 1980.jpg|thumb|left|Attendees to Monsignor Romero's funeral run after hearing gunshots in the middle of the crowd, in Plaza Barrios, on Sunday, March 30, 1980.]]During the ceremony, smoke bombs exploded on the streets near the cathedral and subsequently, there were rifle shots that came from surrounding buildings, including the [[National Palace (El Salvador)|National Palace]]. Many people were killed by gunfire and in the stampede of people running away from the explosions and gunfire. Official sources reported 31 overall casualties, while journalists claimed that between 30 and 50 died.<ref name="Morozzo" /> Some witnesses claimed it was government security forces who threw bombs into the crowd, and army sharpshooters, dressed as civilians, who fired into the chaos from the balcony or roof of the National Palace.  However, there are contradictory accounts about the course of the events and one historian, Roberto Morozzo della Rocca, stated that "probably, one will never know the truth about the interrupted funeral."<ref name="Morozzo" />

As the gunfire continued, Romero's body was buried in a crypt beneath the sanctuary. Even after the burial, people continued to line up to pay homage to the assassinated prelate.<ref name="kell-bio">{{cite web |url=http://kellogg.nd.edu/romero/pdfs/Biography.pdf |title=Romero biography |access-date=17 January 2008 |work=Kellogg Institute, Notre Dame University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216120437/http://kellogg.nd.edu/romero/pdfs/Biography.pdf |archive-date=16 February 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="kell-chron">{{cite web |url=http://kellogg.nd.edu/romero/PDF%27s/Chronology.pdf |title=Chronology |access-date=17 January 2008 |work=Chronology of the Salvadoran Civil War, Kellogg Institute, [[University of Notre Dame]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216120438/http://kellogg.nd.edu/romero/PDF%27s/Chronology.pdf |archive-date=16 February 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="requiem">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/file_on_4/4376733.stm |title=Requiem for Romero |access-date=17 January 2008 |work=BBC News | date=23 March 2005 |first=Maurice |last=Walsh}}</ref><ref name="40killed">{{cite news |url=http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/romero-wp-3-31-80.html |title=40 Killed in San Salvador: 40 Killed at Rites For Slain Prelate; Bombs, Bullets Disrupt Archbishop's Funeral |access-date=17 January 2008 |pages=A1 |author=Christopher Dickey |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] Foreign Service |archive-date=23 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081023173314/http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/romero-wp-3-31-80.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===International reaction===
====Ireland====
All sections of Irish political and religious life condemned his assassination, with the Minister for Foreign Affairs [[Brian Lenihan Snr|Brian Lenihan]] "expressing shock and revulsion at the murder of Dr Romero",<ref>'Three ministers flee El Salvador, 29 March 1980</ref> while the leader of the [[Trócaire]] charity, Bishop [[Eamon Casey]], revealed that he had received a letter from Romero that very day.<ref name="ReferenceA">'Romero letter received on day of killing;, 26 March 1980, ''The Irish Times''</ref> The previous October, parliamentarians had given their support to the nomination of Romero for the Nobel Peace Prize.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> In March each year since the 1980s, the Irish–El Salvador Support Committee holds a mass in honour of Romero.<ref>'Permission given for Romero mass', 30 March 2007, The Irish Times</ref>

====United Kingdom====
In October 1978, 119 British parliamentarians had nominated Romero for the Nobel Prize for Peace. In this they were supported by 26 members of the United States Congress.<ref name="Peadar Kirby 1980"/> When news of the assassination was reported in March 1980, the new [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], [[Robert Runcie]], was about to be enthroned in [[Canterbury Cathedral]]. On hearing of Romero's death, one writer observed that Runcie "departed from the ancient traditions to decry the murder of Archbishop Óscar Romero in El Salvador."<ref>'Runcie urges charity', 26 March 1980, The Irish Times</ref>

====United States====
===== Public reaction =====
The United States public's reaction to Archbishop Romero's death was symbolized through the "martyrdom of Romero" as an inspiration to end US military aid to El Salvador. In December 1980 the [[International Longshore and Warehouse Union|International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union]] refused to deliver military equipment destined for the Salvadoran government. The leader of the union, Jim Herman, was known as a supporter of Romero and denounced his death.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Union to Boycott Salvadoran Arms Shipments|last=Einstein|first=David|date=23 December 1980|agency=Associated Press}}</ref> On 24 March 1984 a protest was held in [[Los Angeles|Los Angeles, California]] where around 3,000 people, organized by 20 November Coalition, protested US intervention in El Salvador, using the anniversary of the Archbishop's death and his face as a symbol.<ref>{{Cite news|title=3,000 in L.A. Protest El Salvador Election: Coalition of Political and Religious Groups March Downtown.|last=Reza|first=H.G.|date=25 March 1984|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> On 24 March 1990, 10,000 people marched in front of the [[White House]] to denounce the military aid that was still flowing from the United States to the Salvadoran government. Protestors carried a bust of the archbishop and quoted some of his speeches, in addition to the event being held on the anniversary of his death. Noted figures [[Ed Asner]] and [[Jennifer Casolo]] participated in the event.<ref>{{Cite news|title=10,000 Protest U.S. Policy in Central America|last=Beamish|first=Rita|date=24 March 1990|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

===== Government response =====
On 25 March 1980, US Secretary of State [[Cyrus Vance]] revealed that the White House would continue to fund the Salvadoran government and provide it military aid, in spite of the pleas of Romero and his death immediately prior to this announcement.<ref>{{Cite news|title=U.S. Still Plans Military Aid to El Salvador|last=Knutson|first=Lawrence|date=25 March 1980|agency=Associated Press}}</ref> On 31 March 1983, [[Roberto D'Aubuisson]] was allowed entry to the United States by the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] after deeming him not barred from entry any longer. When asked about D'Aubuisson's association with the assassination of Romero, the [[United States Department of State|Department of State]] responded that "the allegations have not been substantiated."<ref>{{Cite news|title=Salvadoran Rightist Leader Issued Visa|last=Knutson|first=Lawrence|date=6 April 1983|agency=Associated Press}}</ref> In November 1993, documents by the Department of State, [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]], and the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] were released after pressure by Congress increased. The 12,000 documents revealed that the administrations of [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[George H. W. Bush]] knew of the assassinations conducted by D'Aubuisson, including that of Romero, yet still worked with him despite this.<ref>{{Cite news|title=U.S., Aware of Killings, Worked With Salvador's Rightists, Papers Suggest|last=Krauss|first=Clifford|date=9 November 1993|work=The New York Times}}</ref>

=== Investigations into the assassination ===
No one has ever been prosecuted for the assassination or confessed to it to police. Immediately following the assassination, [[José Napoleón Duarte]], the newly appointed [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (El Salvador)|foreign minister of El Salvador]], actively promulgated a "blame on both sides" propaganda trope in order to provide cover for the lack of official inquiry into the assassination plot.<ref>''New York Times'', "5,000 in San Salvador Take Part in a March for Murdered Prelate", 27 March 1980.</ref>

Subsequent investigations by the United Nations and other international bodies have established that the four assassins were members of a death squad led by D'Aubuisson.<ref name=scarend /> Revelations of the D'Aubuisson plot came to light in 1984 when US ambassador [[Robert White (ambassador)|Robert White]] testified before the [[United States Congress]] that "there was sufficient evidence" to convict D'Aubuisson of planning and ordering Romero's assassination.<ref>{{cite news| last = Nordland| first = Rod| title = How 2 rose to vie for El Salvador's presidency| newspaper = Philadelphia Inquirer| location = Philadelphia, PA| date = 23 March 1984| page = A1}}</ref> In 1993, an official [[United Nations]] report identified D'Aubuisson as the man who ordered the killing.<ref name="Morozzo">Morozzo p. 351–352, 354, 364</ref> D'Aubuisson had strong connections to the [[Nicaraguan National Guard]] and to its offshoot the [[Fifteenth of September Legion]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Webb|first=Gary|year=1999 |pages=48|title=Dark Alliance|publisher=[[Seven Stories Press]]|isbn=978-1-888363-93-7|title-link=Dark Alliance (book)}}</ref> and had also planned to overthrow the government in a coup. Later, he founded the political party [[Nationalist Republican Alliance]] (ARENA) and organized death squads that systematically carried out politically motivated assassinations and other human rights abuses in El Salvador. Álvaro Rafael Saravia, a former captain in the [[Salvadoran Air Force]], was chief of security for D'Aubuisson and an active member of these death squads. In 2003 a United States human rights organization, the [[Center for Justice and Accountability]], filed a civil action against Saravia. In 2004, he was found liable by a [[US District Court]] under the [[Alien Tort Claims Act]] (ATCA) (28 U.S.C. §&nbsp;1350) for aiding, conspiring, and participating in the assassination of Romero. Saravia was ordered to pay $10 million for [[extrajudicial killing]] and [[crimes against humanity]] pursuant to the ATCA;<ref>''Doe v. Rafael Saravia'', 348 F. Supp. 2d 1112 (E.D. Cal. 2004). The documentation from the case provides an account of the events leading up, and subsequent, to Romero's death.</ref> he has since gone into hiding.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cja.org/what-we-do/litigation/doe-v-saravia/|title=Doe v. Saravia (Assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero) – CJA}}</ref> On 24 March 2010–the thirtieth anniversary of Romero's death–Salvadoran President [[Mauricio Funes]] offered an official state apology for Romero's assassination. Speaking before Romero's family, representatives of the Catholic Church, diplomats, and government officials, Funes said those involved in the assassination "unfortunately acted with the protection, collaboration, or participation of state agents."<ref>{{cite news| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8586560.stm| title= Official El Salvador apology for Oscar Romero's murder| date = 25 March 2010| work= [[BBC News]]| access-date= 25 March 2010| quote = The archbishop, he said, was a victim of right-wing death squads "who unfortunately acted with the protection, collaboration or participation of state agents."}}</ref>

A 2000 article by Tom Gibb, then a correspondent with ''The Guardian'' and later with the [[BBC]], attributes the murder to a detective of the Salvadoran National Police named Óscar Pérez Linares, acting on the orders of D'Aubuisson. The article cites an anonymous former death squad member who claimed he had been assigned to guard a house in San Salvador used by a unit of three counter-guerrilla operatives directed by D'Aubuisson. The guard, whom Gibb identified as "Jorge," purported to have witnessed Linares fraternizing with the group, which was nicknamed the "Little Angels," and to have heard them praise Linares for the killing. The article furthermore attributes full knowledge of the assassination to the [[CIA]] as far back as 1983.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2000/mar/23/features11.g21|title=The killing of Archbishop Oscar Romero was one of the most notorious crimes of the cold war. Was the CIA to blame?|newspaper=The Guardian|date=23 March 2000}}</ref><ref name=scarend>{{cite news| url = https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2000/mar/23/features11.g21| title = The killing of Archbishop Oscar Romero was one of the most notorious crimes of the cold war. Was the CIA to blame?| date = 22 March 2000| work = [[The Guardian]]| location = London| access-date  = 13 August 2015| quote = in mid-1983, an unusually detailed CIA report, quoting a senior Salvadoran police source, named Linares as a member of a four-man National Police squad which murdered Romero. Other Salvadoran officers said the same thing. And the man who drove the car which took the killer to the church also picked out a photo-fit of Linares."}}</ref> The article reports that both Linares and the Little Angels commander, who Jorge identified as "El Negro Mario," were killed by a CIA-trained Salvadoran special police unit in 1986; the unit had been assigned to investigate the murders. In 1983, U.S. Lt. Col. [[Oliver North]], an aide to then-Vice President George H.W. Bush, is alleged to have personally requested the Salvadoran military to "remove" Linares and several others from their service. Three years later they were pursued and extrajudicially killed – Linares after being found in neighbouring Guatemala. The article cites another source in the Salvadoran military as saying "they knew far too much to live".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2000/mar/23/features11.g21 |title=The killing of Archbishop Oscar Romero was one of the most notorious crimes of the cold war. Was the CIA to blame?|first=Tom|last=Gibb|date=22 March 2000|work=The Guardian}}</ref>

In a 2010 article for the Salvadoran online newspaper ''[[El Faro (digital newspaper)|El Faro]]'',<ref name=elfaro /> Saravia was interviewed from a mountain hideout.<ref name=elfaro /> He named D'Aubuisson as giving the assassination order to him over the phone,<ref name=elfaro /><ref>Anne-Marie O'Connor. "Participant in 1980 assassination of Romero in El Salvador provides new details," ''Washington Post'', 6 April 2010.</ref> and said that he and his cohorts drove the assassin to the chapel and paid him 1,000 [[Salvadoran colón]]es after the event.<ref name=elfaro />

In April 2017, however, in the wake of the overruling of a civil war [[amnesty]] law the previous year, a judge in El Salvador, Rigoberto Chicas, allowed the case against the escaped Saravia's alleged role in the murder of Romero to be reopened. On 23 October 2018, days after Romero's canonization, Judge Chicas issued a new arrest warrant for him, and Interpol and the National Police are charged with finding his hideout and apprehending him.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/39720/arrest-warrant-issued-for-alleged-killer-of-saint-oscar-romero | title=Arrest warrant issued for alleged killer of Saint Oscar Romero}}</ref><ref name="thetabletwarrant">{{cite web|last=Guidos|first=Rhina|date=25 October 2018|title=Judge Orders Arrest of Longtime Suspect in St. Romero's 1980 Killing|url=https://thetablet.org/judge-orders-arrest-of-longtime-suspect-in-st-romeros-killing/|magazine=[[The Tablet]]|publisher=Tablet Publishing Company|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026005239/https://thetablet.org/judge-orders-arrest-of-longtime-suspect-in-st-romeros-killing/|archive-date=26 October 2018|access-date=28 October 2018}}</ref> As both D'Aubuisson and Linares had already died, they could not be prosecuted.