“Be a patriot – kill a priest.”
That was a bumper sticker seen on vehicles run by the national guard in El Salvador in the 1980s.
The reason is that the entrenched elite of that country believed that Roman Catholic priests were becoming radicalized and increasingly political and who therefore threatened their interests.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/ILCZh1SIypA" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]But Oscar Romero was not one of them.
In this film Monsignor Romero is shown as being selected by the Vatican for the position of archbishop because he is modest and will not make waves.
As the film progresses, Father Romero is faced again and again with atrocities being committed against his friends and his loyal followers.
He tries to reconcile the two warring groups – the leftist guerrillas and the right-wing government – as the country’s civil war escalates.
But over time, Archbishop Romero comes to understand that the root of violence in El Salvador is the economic disparity between the haves and haves not.
The late Raul Julia does a fantastic job of conveying Romero’s struggle. It is in some of his quiet moments that the audience sees much of the priest’s attempt to find the right path.
This film, which is now 20 years old, still holds up and provides a snapshot of Cold War Latin America and the conflict between communists and the extreme right.
As many as 60,000 people were killed during the Salvadoran civil war with weapons provided by the United States. So, this film is as much a chapter in United States history as it is of El Salvador’s.
“Romero” is available for rent.
Murphy can be reached at: [email protected]
