St. Rose at 2571 Nichols Boulevard, Longview, WA 98632 US - Sister Parish Ministry

Notes on our Sister Parish: El Salvador, the smallest but most densely populated country in Central America, was ruled by a series of cruel military dictators for most of the 20th century. In the 1970s, as the oppression worsened and poverty and human rights abuses increased, many began to raise their voices against the violence and repression. Some of these voices came from the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church, the dominant religious group in Central and South America. Empowered by Liberation Theology, the belief that God sides with the poor and that Jesus is a prime model of both a spiritual and a political revolutionary, many priests began advocating for social reform and joining forces with poor and/or indigenous revolutionary groups. Bishop Romero was not among those voices until his dear friend, Father Rutilio Grande, was assassinated for his radical views and activities. From that point onward, Romero preached and worked for the rights of the poor and oppressed. Romero A few words about Romero from a website: "I am bound, as a pastor, by divine command to give my life for those whom I love, and that is all Salvadoreans, even those who are going to kill me." These words appeared in a newspaper just two weeks before Archbishop Romero was shot while celebrating Holy Communion in the hospital which had been his home since his enthronement in 1977. Quiet, unassuming, conservative in temperament and regarded by the church as safely orthodox, he was an unlikley martyr for the cause of liberation. Saints-Romero Recommended Viewing:

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