SAN ANTONIO • On the 25th anniversary of a Central American martyr, the church gathered in prayer for the beatification of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador the evening of April 13 at San Fernando Cathedral.     Faithful joined in prayer through song, litany, presentations, petitions and celebration.
    Following the opening Scripture, attendees witnessed an adaptation of “A Peasant from El Salvador,” by Peter Gould and Stephen Stearns. After the presentation, Guillermo Cuellar, a songwriter from El Salvador who experienced firsthand the oppression there, performed a ballad written for Archbishop Romero.
    The homily was given by Father Wilmo Candanedo, OP, who is in residence at St. Ann Parish in San Antonio. It was preceded by a brief film presentation of the assassination scene from the movie “Romero” on a large audio-visual screen.
    “Every time campesinos, catechists, priests or sisters were killed, Romero found in the celebration of the Eucharist consolation and courage,” said Father Candanedo. “The Eucharist was the place for reconciliation. He was able to say, ‘I forgive you as God forgives you.’”

    The Dominican priest asked, “How did Romero understand forgiveness as a way to respond to the killers of El Salvador?”
    He replied, “We live in difficult times today. Some respond to violence with violence, death to death. We all know this is not the Christian way. Romero knew this very well. There is no other justice than the justice of God. We can only respond to violence with forgiveness. That is what the justice of God is all about. If we can understand this in our daily life, we can understand Romero.”
    Father Candanedo explained that the Eucharist is where the rich and the poor come together to gather around the bread and wine, and that Romero was killed while celebrating the Eucharist at Divine Providence Hospital in San Salvador.
    “We are praying for the beatification of Romero, but we need to ask ourselves — for what purpose are we commemorating him?” he said. “We want to put the memory of him alive in all of us.”
    The cleric called on listeners to promote social justice and to work for peace, justice and reconciliation.
    “Follow Romero’s example of giving himself to the poor of El Salvador, Father Candanedo concluded. “It is an invitation to accompany the poor in their struggle of hope.”

    Before the Lord’s prayer and the exchange of the sign of peace, a litany of commitment was recited, which stated that the church has put itself on the side of the poor and has assumed their defense.
    Just prior to the final blessing, Auxiliary Bishop Patrick J. Zurek talked about his correspondence with the current archbishop of San Salvador, which has been ongoing for the past three or four years.
    At the conclusion of the serv-ice, Father Mauricio Alarcon Martinez, TOR, associate pastor of St. Leonard Church and a member of the archdiocesan Romero Committee, thanked several individuals and groups for their assistance with the event.
    Special words of appreciation were directed to the San Fernando Cathedral Classic Choir for providing the music for the evening and to Brother Charles Johnson, OP, and Glenn Darilek.