To find out why Pope Francis is making Oscar Romero a saint, read the words that cost him his life. "A church that does not provoke crisis, a gospel that does not disturb, a word of God that does not touch the concrete sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed - what kind of gospel is that?" Three short years transformed El Salvador's Archbishop Oscar Romero from a defender of the status quo into one of the most outspoken voices of the oppressed. An assassin's bullet ended his life, but his message lives on. In March 2018 Pope Francis announced that the Catholic Church would canonize Oscar Romero, acknowledging that he is indeed a saint who was martyred for proclaiming the gospel, and that the political and social implications of that message, which so scandalized the powerful, flowed directly from Romero's faithfulness to the teachings of Jesus. These selections from Romero's diaries and radio broadcasts invite each of us to align our own lives with the way of Jesus that lifts up the poor, welcomes the broken, wins over enemies, and transforms the history of entire nations.

Monsenor Oscar Arnulfo Romero dio su vida "por la iglesia y por el pueblo de su querida patria", El Salvador; estas son las palabras del Papa Juan Pablo II. Su muerte por la bala de un asesino, el 24 de marzo de 1980, culmino una vida dedicada al servicio de sus hermanos como sacerdote y obispo. Intrepido defensor de los pobres y desamparados, alcanzo renombre mundial durante sus tres anos como arzobispo de San Salvador. Las universidades de Georgetown y Lovaina le confirieron titulos honoris causa, y miembros del parlamento de Gran Bretana lo nombraron candidato para el Premio Nobel por la Paz. Al mismo tiempo se gano la difamacion y el odio de miembros de la oligarquia salvadorena - manifestados en persistentes ataques en los medios de comunicacion - que inevitablemente terminaron en su martirio. Esta seleccion del pensamiento de Monsenor Romero se ha hecho para que otros se encuentren con la fuerza de su fe y el impacto de sus palabras.