Tag: El Salvador

Oscar Romero: A man of hope

May 20, 2015

Kate Eastmond is currently on the CAFOD Step into the Gap programme. She is based with Just Youth in Salford and recently visited CAFOD partners in Nicaragua. Since returning she has been to a local school to talk to children about Oscar Romero.

Kate in Nicaragua
Kate in Nicaragua

As 23 May approaches with the beatification of Oscar Romero, I can’t help but reflect on one of my favourite quotes by him: “If they kill me, I shall rise again in the Salvadorian people.” This quote stays with me as I know that this is indeed true.

Find our Archbishop Oscar Romero resources

Back in late January of this year, I visited Nicaragua to meet CAFOD partners working there and what struck me is the fact that this remarkable man has had an impact on so many in the whole of Central America and across the world. He lived his life through words and deeds and dedicated everything to the cause of the poor and worked tirelessly to make sure that their voices were heard.

Read Kate’s blog from Nicaragua 

Spreading the good news

To mark this upcoming celebration, I went into my local chaplaincy school to spread the good news about Archbishop Oscar Romero. The children were asked to design their own Romero Crosses to celebrate Romero’s life. Continue reading “Oscar Romero: A man of hope”

Oscar Romero: El Salvador is coming together in prayer

May 18, 2015

Fidel visiting a Connect2 parish in Twickenham and sharing news of Puentecitos
Fidel speaking at a Connect2 parish in Twickenham

Fidel and Julia are farmers in Puentecitos, El Salvador. They are part of the CAFOD Connect2 programme which enables parishes to develop a relationship of solidarity with a community in a country where CAFOD works.  In 2013 they visited Connect2:El Salvador parishes in England and Wales.  Here they share how people in Puentecitos are preparing for the beatification of Mons. Romero on 23 May.

Find out more about Connect2:El Salvador

Our family and our community Puentecitos are happy and joyous at the news that our bishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero Galdámez is soon to be beatified by the Pope and the Church.  Our families here in Puentecitos and in our parish are coming together in prayer.  Every day we say this beautiful prayer:

Oh, Jesus, eternal shepherd, you made Oscar Romero, Servant of God, a living example of faith and charity and you  granted him the grace to die at the foot of the altar in a supreme act of love for you.

Grant us, if it is your will, the grace of beatification, help us to follow his example of love for your church, your word and the Eucharist, and may we love you in the poor and needy. We ask this through the intercession of Our Lady, Queen of Peace.

Grant me please the favour I ask you, through the intercession of our Servant of God.

Amen

Continue reading “Oscar Romero: El Salvador is coming together in prayer”

Easter: Christ the redeemer of all creation

April 8, 2015

Father Augusto Zampini Davies is a RC priest, Moral Theologian and theological advisor to CAFOD. In the second of a series of blogs, Father Augusto explains how caring for creation is at the heart of the Easter message.

Christ the Redeemer
At Easter we celebrate Christ who redeems all of creation

The environmental question brings together two central elements of Church teaching: promoting human development and caring for creation. This may sound overwhelming; some may feel it is too broad, or that it is exclusively related to scientists and experts. And including these concerns into our already busy and moving activities of the Easter season can be exasperating. Yet as Christians we have important reasons to consider the environmental question.

Reflect on creation this Easter

Caring for creation in Nicaragua

First, many of our brothers and sisters across the world experience the disastrous effects of climate change on a daily basis. For example in Nicaragua, crops are failing due to the extreme drought.

Lázaro Gutierrez is a teacher in the community of Santa Ana in the dry corridor of Nicaragua. Lázaro has seen the struggles which the families of his students have faced over the last few years due to the changing climate. With the support of our partner Caritas Jinotega, he has been working with the children to learn how to care for the environment and live sustainably.

Lázaro has a dream for the school.  With our partner Caritas Jinotega he has been working to create a school garden, with fruit trees and vegetable plots, so the children can learn about nutrition and growing food and share what they learn with their families.  He looks forward to the day when the trees they are planting now grow tall and throw shade where the children can sit and play at break times.

The meaning of redemption

At Easter, we celebrate that Christ has risen from the dead and set us free from our sins, instilling hope amongst the futility of death. Continue reading “Easter: Christ the redeemer of all creation”

Lent 2015: Oscar Romero – CAFOD Servant Leader

March 4, 2015

Liam Finn is CAFOD’s Regional Media Officer. His personal Lent journal today focuses on Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was a CAFOD partner and remains a great example of a ‘Servant Leader’.

When the CAFOD Lent calendar was launched in February and my colleagues and I were working out which days we were going to write our journals on, there was no way I was going to pass up the opportunity to write about Oscar Romero.

Oscar Romero is one of CAFOD’s most famous and inspirational partners
Oscar Romero is one of CAFOD’s most famous and inspirational partners

Archbishop Romero epitomises what CAFOD is about: people giving of themselves to achieve One Just World in which every child, woman, and man can live in peace and free from poverty. And I’ve deliberately chosen to speak of Romero in the present tense, despite it being 35 years this month since his assassination. Romero said himself “If they kill me, I shall rise again in the Salvadoran people”. He also lives on in CAFOD supporters, partners, and anyone who strives to bring about that one just world.

Continue reading “Lent 2015: Oscar Romero – CAFOD Servant Leader”

Visiting the tomb of Archbishop Oscar Romero

February 26, 2015

In early February, Clare Dixon, Ben White and Kathleen O’Brien travelled to San Salvador. Here’s a glimpse of their visit to Romero’s tomb on the day it was announced that the Vatican had declared this ex-CAFOD partner a martyr.

Clare and Ben at the tomb
Clare and Ben at the tomb
Around midday, we drive down to the Cathedral, which lies on the Avenida Monseñor Oscar Romero. Street names matter in San Salvador. At the moment there is a fierce argument raging between the current Mayor, Norman Quijano, who wishes to change the name of the road ‘San Antonio Abad’ to ‘Robert D’Abuisson’ after the man who ordered Romero’s death and founded the ARENA political party. We drive along this road and see graffiti saying “Ni calles ni caminos con nombres de asesinos” (Neither streets nor roads with names of assassins).

About the author: In early February, Clare Dixon, Ben White and Kathleen O’Brien travelled to San Salvador. Here’s a glimpse of their visit to Romero’s tomb on the day it was announced that the Vatican had declared this ex-CAFOD partner a martyr.

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Continue reading “Visiting the tomb of Archbishop Oscar Romero”