Memorial for Slain Archbishop Turns Into an Appeal for Help

Santos Gaspar Romero had come to Los Angeles to share memories of his brother, the slain Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar A. Romero. He wanted to talk about intimate moments of their family life. He wanted to talk about his brother’s legacy at the Los Angeles health clinic named in Romero’s honor.

But in the wake of the magnitude 7.6 earthquake that killed more than 680 people across the Central American nation Jan. 13, Romero changed his mind. On Friday, a ceremony at the Clinica Msgr. Oscar A. Romero, originally intended to dedicate a memorial to the religious leader, became a desperate plea for help.

“In the name of my brother, Oscar Romero, I am asking you to help the people of El Salvador,” Romero, 70, said at a news conference held in the clinic’s waiting room. Under a framed picture of the archbishop, who was assassinated during El Salvador’s 12-year civil war, Romero spoke to a mixed crowd of Salvadoran community leaders and a group of curious patients.

“El Salvador has suffered tremendously. First, we had a civil war, brother against brother. Then, we had the earthquake in 1986. Then, in 1998 we were hit with Hurricane Mitch,” Romero said. “I am here making a special plea for help. For those who cannot help economically, I ask for your prayers.”

During El Salvador’s civil war, Archbishop Romero committed himself to the poor, organized campesinos and condemned military violence. In March 1980, the 62-year-old Romero was murdered as he celebrated Mass in El Salvador. Although no one has ever been charged with his murder, a United Nations truth commission concluded that his death had been ordered by the military. Today, many religious leaders and church activists consider Romero among the most prominent martyrs of the 20th century. A worldwide movement has been formed to advocate his canonization as a Roman Catholic saint.

Clinica Msgr. Oscar Romero was founded in 1983 by Salvadorans who fled the civil war. Though Salvadorans across the country have established several buildings in homage to the martyred cleric, the Los Angeles clinic is the largest institution in the world named after him. A memorial site with a small park and statue of Romero will be built outside the clinic on South Alvarado Street in the Westlake neighborhood.

The Salvadoran American National Assn., an interfaith community group, began planning last year for Romero’s brother to visit Los Angeles as part of the dedication ceremony and a dinner to celebrate the signing of the peace accords in January 1992. As Romero looked at the stretch of parched dirt that would eventually become a park in honor of his brother, he sadly smiled.

“I know my brother would have enjoyed being here. This is the type of homage he would have liked,” Romero said.

Roland Palencia, executive director of the clinic, said the mission of the clinic is to continue Romero’s work as an advocate for the poor. Palencia is working with Operation USA to purchase bulk medications for survivors of the quake. Salvadoran authorities have begun a campaign to control disease in the ravaged country, fearing that rotting corpses, contaminated water and overcrowded refugee camps could trigger epidemics.

A benefit dinner tonight to honor Salvadorans who helped broker the peace accords in 1992 will take place as planned at Immanuel Presbyterian Church. Instead of focusing on the success of peace, the dinner will focus on relief for El Salvador’s newest victims.