As the 30th anniversary of his martyrdom approaches, the Catholic religious order known as the Carmelites have re-designed website of the Archbishop Romero Trust where his homilies, pastoral letters and much other information is available in English.
Archbishop Romero died on March 24, 1980 wearing the brown scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, at the altar in the chapel of the Carmelite Sisters in El Salvador. The scapular is a symbolic garment that some pious Catholics wear. While celebrating mass at the chapel, he was gunned down by members of a political organization headed by the vitriolic anti-communist Roberto d'Aubisson - which had been linked to El Salvador's security forces. This occured during a fratricidal civil war that pitted Marxist guerrillas against the army and supporters of the elite.
Romero, before he was selected as archbishop of the capital city in 1977, had been thought of as devout yet unremarkable cleric. Confronted by the many injustices in his country and the violence that marked its political struggles, he became increasingly outspoken. He denounced persecution of Christians and called upon his country's soldiers to disobey orders that violated Christian principles. His pleas to US President Jimmy Carter to put an end to American aid to Salvadoran military forces was ignored. Following the murder of an outspoken priest, Rutilio Grande, Romero decided he had to follow the same path. His cause for sainthood has been active since 1997 and he is already known by his countrymen as "San Romero."
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