I have prayed for many years for the canonization of Óscar Romero. When I was in University I learned of this great man. When he was killed the Bishop who had confirmed me was their and witnessed his death. This affected me profoundly.
When I met Opus Dei I was inspired by the fact that Óscar Romero loved Opus Dei. I had read how Romero had written to Pope Paul VI asking for the canonization of Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer.
Romero so admired Opus Dei that, during a visit to Rome, he went to its world headquarters to visit with Escrivá and the two became instant friends. John Allen Jr. writes that Romero’s letter came “before the 1977 murder in El Salvador of Father Rutilio Grande, an event that ‘radicalized’ Romero and led him to distance himself from some earlier conservative views.” ALLEN,Opus Dei: An Objective Look Behind the Myths and Reality of the Most Controversial Force in the Catholic Church, Doubleday, 2005.
Romero’s post-1977 preaching on social justice largely dovetails with principles espoused by Opus Dei. Romero made seven flattering references to Opus Dei in his Diary and his sermons between 1978 and 1980, and he attended an Opus Dei gathering of priests on the day he was killed. He also visited Msgr. Escrivá’s grave in Rome and prayed tearfully before the tomb. Romero’s relationship with Opus Dei after Romero became archbishop deepened.
Archbishop Romero drew on Opus Dei’s concept of lay spirituality to bolster his view of how a just society should be constituted. Opus Dei shows how to “to put into practice the teaching of the universal call to sanctity, and to promote at all levels of society the sanctification of ordinary work, and by means of ordinary work.” (Apostolic Constitution «Ut Sit», whereby Pope John Paul II authorizes the Opus Dei prelature.)
The day before his martyrdom, Romero said: “The great task of Christians must be to absorb the spirit of God's kingdom and, with souls filled with the kingdom of God, to work on the projects of history.” (March 23, 1980 Hom.) He added, “My dear Christians, I have always told you, and I will repeat, that the true liberators of our people must come from us Christians, from the people of God.” (Id.) But for this to be possible, it was necessary that the Church train and organize classes of lay people to go be the worker ants of the Kingdom. “What is lacking,” he said, “is greater conviction and the honorable simplicity of women and men who are willing to commit themselves to service of God. This is God’s plan,” he added, “the simple life, the ordinary life—but giving this simple, ordinary life a meaning of love and freedom.” (Feb. 24, 1980 Hom.) This is what Opus Dei, “which emphasizes the values of prayer and holiness of the vocation of the laity,” offers, Romero wrote in His Diary. (Sept. 6, 1979 entry.) “I think it is a mine of wealth for our Church—the holiness of the laity in their own profession.” (Id.)
Romero had a sincere affinity for The Work (Opus means “work” in Latin). In October 1978, Romero congratulated the society on its fiftieth anniversary. “The Church rejoices with every effort of sanctification in the world and at this time of the Church’s crisis,” he said, “desires that people not only live a personal and individual holiness but also strive for that communitarian holiness that gives witness to the light of the world.” (Oct. 8, 1978 Hom.) Later that month, he remarked on the continuing work of the Opus. “This holiness must be extended to the community because no one lives the Christian commitment for themselves alone,” he said. “Christians must be the odor of holiness and the seed of unity and salvation.” (Oct. 29, 1978 Hom.)
When I was considering my vocation in Opus Dei Óscar Romero helped me decide that this was the way to follow. I am happy that he will soon be beatified.
