THE declaration of slain Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero as a saint brings to mind Filipino priests who were killed and whose deaths were denounced by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
Romero was declared by Pope Francis as a saint in a rite of canonization at the start of mass at St. Peter’s Square in Rome last Sunday. Named with Romero was Pope Paul VI. Pope Francis declared Romero and Pope Paul VI as saints and “decreed that they are to be venerated as such by the whole church.”
The Pope said Romero, who died after he was gunned down by El Salvador’s right-wing death squads, gave up his life to be “close to the poor and to his people.” Some 5,000 Salvadoran pilgrims traveled to Rome to honor their hero, Romero, who stood up to El Salvador’s brutal military dictatorship to defend the rights of the poor and was slain as he said mass, an Associated Press report said.
This declaration brings to mind other Filipino priests who were killed or who disappeared after siding with the people’s fight for life and freedom from poverty.
The CBCP said at least three priests died since December last year after they expressed sentiments against the killing done in the government-sponsored war on drugs. These were Fr. Richmond Nilo, who was killed by unidentified gunmen as he was preparing for a church service in the northern province of Nueva Ecija last June, a 72-year-old priest shot and killed in December 2017 in in Nueva Ecija, just hours after facilitating the release of a political prisoner, and a 37-year-old priest who advocated for ethnic minorities and was against mining in the northern province of Cagayan last April.
The CBCP counted, so far, three priests killed since December last year for their advocacies in protecting the rights of their flock. The killings were seen by Church leaders as indicative of the continued “culture of impunity” in the country. “We should be alarmed,” Fr. Jerome Secillano, CBCP spokesman said. “Killing is a form of violence. We want a violence-free society. We want our citizens to be freely roaming around, with a sense of security and safety.”
There is the case of Cebuano priest Rudy Romano whose disappearance 18 years ago remains unsolved. Romano, a Redemptorist Missionary priest, was a figure in the fight against the rule of dictator Ferdinand Marcos. He was believed abducted by military men on July 11, 1985. His whereabouts remain unknown.
Pope Francis, in lauding Pope Paul VI and Romero as prophets of a church that looks out for the poor, warned of the “danger” posed by wealth. He said, “We see this where money is at the center, there is no room for God nor for man.”
This recognition of the work of Pope Paul VI and Romero leads the faithful to recognize the bravery of priests in contemporary times who did their part to bring to light the injustice on others. Although not martyred, their work towards helping the poor was tied to their life and death.