Archbishop Romero’s Diary-July and October1978

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Friday, October 6

This morning they freed Father David Rodriguez and Piquin and they came to the archdiocese to report on the treatment they had received from the National Police. The priest was treated with great respect in an attempt to give the impression that they have not maltreated priests, that there is no persecution of the Church. Bishop Aparicio was present at the police station, and they wanted him to see the respect they had for priests and that what they were after was Marxist infiltration. Unfortunately, Bishop Aparicio, instead of defending the cause of the Church, agreed with the motives the police gave-which could be dangerous for the archdiocese, because their purpose is to give the impression that the archdiocese exaggerates, that there really is communist infiltration and that we are not being fair when we denounce so much abuse of the people and the Church.

This morning we have resumed our working breakfasts. We study the reality of the country at this moment and the role of the Church. I expressed my admiration for the loyalty of these priests and laity who provide such valuable service to the archbishop. We ended with the decision that we will have a morning of reflection to study the working document for the Third Conference in Puebla in order to help me prepare some specific points that it would be good for the Latin American bishops to hear.

This afternoon we celebrated the Mass for Mr. Fujio Matsumoto, who had been held by kidnappers since May and whose body was found on the Cerro San Jacinto in a plastic bag, not yet decomposed, so that they were able to identify him. According to the Japanese ritual, he was cremated and his ashes in a small urn are what were present at the Mass. The family, that is, his wife and daughter, will take these ashes back to their country.

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Saturday, October 7

On the personal side, I have spent time in reflection and I havenot done any work in the office. The only thing I did was to ask Father Pedraz to get the copy of the Puebla document for the study we referred to yesterday.

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Sunday, October 8

At the eight o'clock Mass at the cathedral we had Dutch television filming the Mass with the homily and all the events of this Mass that, thanks be to God, is becoming an ecclesial event. I saw in the crowd the ambassador from Ecuador and the cultural attache of the United States Embassy. The people who came from Holland to film for television told me that they thought it had been magnificent. They were very impressed by the crowd and by their attentiveness. The Dutch crew promised they would also go to the Mass that would be celebrated that evening in El Calvario in Santa Tecla.

In the afternoon I attended a meeting of base communities that took place in the parochial convent of Soyapango. It was very interesting, especially the participation of the young people who, in discussion with me, were searching for answers to many interesting questions. The lack of relationship between the parish priest and the communities was explained. And I encouraged them to look for a solution that would make this parish a true Christian community, of which the parish priest must be the head. And there must be very open discussion with him in order to present the Christian witness of a community that truly follows Jesus Christ. We celebrated the Eucharist in honor of the Virgin of the Rosary, whose feast day was being celebrated there.

And in the evening, as was already mentioned, I celebrated Mass in El Calvario in Santa Tecla to present solemnly the new parish priest, Father Francisco Xavier Aguilar, a Jesuit. The vicar, Father Benito Tovar, assisted, as well as other priests and representatives of the religious communities of Santa Tecla, and a crowd of the faithful filled the church. The parish priest was very pleasantly surprised by the reception offered to him. After Mass, we talked cordially with some of the parishioners.

And in my room in the Divine Providence Hospital, the Dutch television people interviewed me about the situation of the Church and the country. We finished rather late but with the satisfaction of having completed one more day of work toward spreading the Kingdom of God on earth.

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Monday, October 9

In the afternoon I went to celebrate Mass in the village of La Loma in the territory of San Pedro Perulapan, a Mass offered for two murdered peasants who were found near the Apulo Highway. I was surprised by the size of the crowd waiting for me. I addressed words of comfort to them. The mother, wives, children and other family members and friends of those murdered were present there.

All of them reflected the fear being sowed in these sectors of our dear people-fear that is justified by the repression and abuse of authority by the security forces and, especially, by the armed peasant groups like the organization ORDEN. In fact, while we celebrated Mass, they appeared with their curved knives, some ofthem unsheathed, and they stood where they could watch the crowd. They wrote down the license number of the van in which we had come with the sisters. And there was an aggressive attitude, or, at least, a mistrustful wariness.

And I understood the peasants' fears, why many men sleep somewhere other than at their homes for fear of being taken by surprise at night. It is a shame that the authorities support an organization that is against their brother peasants. This is what I analyze in my third pastoral letter. I was pleased by the comfort that we were able to offer to the suffering families and the encouragement and spirit that we tried to inject into the Christian community also.

In the arch diocesan offices, a visit from two university representatives of AGEUS[67] in order to ask for the support of the archbishop in their demands at the university, which is controlled by armed men that have destroyed their confidence in that atmosphere of culture. With pleasure, I offered to help them to the extent that I am able. And, in order for me to be able to do that, they agreed to invite certain other people to the archdiocese on the following day.

67 A student organization.

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Tuesday, October 10

Among the visits I had one from some poor workers or peasants from La Unión in the diocese of San Miguel. One of them had marks of the torture to which he had been subjected unexpectedly in a meeting of Christians when a National Guardsman, who arrived by surprise, hit him on the back of the neck and then kicked him in the stomach. And the man thinks that these blows have affected his health. He even thinks he has symptoms that may mean he is losing his eyesight and wanted to tell us about it so that a complaint could be filed and we could see what else could be done for them.

Also the visit of Dr. Hugo López from the Cursillo de Cristiandad, who since Saturday has not known the whereabouts of his two daughters, university students, who were taken prisoner by agents of the National Police. And they are not acknowledged to be in any center of the security forces. We have also taken notes so that we can denounce the situation on our radio program.

This Tuesday we also began again the practice of having breakfasts at which we evaluate and plan the responsibilities of the curia. The group which met at the Divine Providence Hospital included Father Brito, Monsignor Urioste and Father Chus Delgado.[68] And we discussed matters related to the Pastoral Commission, which needs to be reorganized. And for that reason, we agreed to have another meeting with other specialists in pastoral work.

In the afternoon, the meeting suggested by the students of AGEUS[67] took place. A representative of the parents' organization, a representative of the Human Rights Commission and Father Brito, representing the archdiocese, were present. Yet another meeting was called for tomorrow.

In the evening, dinner in the house of the architect Romeo Jovel with members of the Secretariat of the Cursillo de Cristiandad. There was a very interesting conversation about how Christianity should be lived in our time. It was very encouraging to me to see how well they understand these new commitments that the Church, without betraying its ancient traditions, has to accept to understand the present moment and what the world expects from it as service on the part of Jesus Christ.

67 A student organization.
68 Father Jesus Delgado.

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Wednesday, October 11

Two principal activities at the curia today. At noon the meeting of the economic administration with the priests' cooperative in which they studied the advantage of transferring the money from the curia to the account of the priests' cooperative, which gives interest and offers special attention to our curia. We agreed and asked for the greatest cooperation possible to respond to the economic needs of our archdiocese. I have realized that the situation is precarious and that it is necessary to study ways to provide more economic security for our activities.

In the evening the meeting of Caritas-the arch diocesan meeting that I called so that they could advise me about what the statutes say about whether or not it is the archbishop who is to select the national board and the president. Bishop Aparicio, once he was named by the Bishops' Conference, had to be approved by Archbishop Chavez.[69] And, according to the statutes, the term is only for a year. I feel responsible for naming an efficient board that will direct this institution that has so much responsibility honestly and with a sense of Church. A committee composed of the Ingeniero Galvan and one of the ladies from the archdiocesan board was named to talk with Bishop Aparicio and express our point of view to him: that is, that the archbishop should name the national board of Caritas.

69 Luis Chávez y Gonzalez, Romero's predecessor, was archbishop from 1938 to 1976

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Thursday, October 12

Today I was visited by the British ambassador, who seemed very interested in learning about the situation of the Church and of El Salvador in general, and especially about the relationship between the Church and the government.

At noon, I celebrated Mass at the Maria Eugenia House, which belongs to the Sisters of the Assumption. All of the communities that work in El Salvador were assembled, reviewing their own charisms in order to put them at the service of the people. Since it was the feast day of the Virgin of Pilar, I talked to them about confidence in the Virgin and about how providential their presence was for our continent.

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