Romero Essay, Research Paper

Reflection of Romero

When the movie starts off, you are introduced to only a portion of the injustice that the El Salvadorians faced. The new president was supposed to be one that was elected into office. It was unimaginable to me that citizens who were on their way to vote were stopped. They were only allowed to proceed by foot. There is no way that any such think could occur here, in the United States. It?s hard for me to accept that things like that actually happened, and still happen. It was time to appoint a new archbishop. The other priests elected Romero thinking that he wouldn?t make any waves. This shocked me. People would actually use as criteria for archbishop whether or not they would make waves. I would think that they would want the person in that position to be strong in their beliefs. It later turned out that Romero would unpleasantly surprise them. This movie also showed a very vivid line between the rich and the poor. It was hard to believe that they all lived in the same country. The wealthy barely even treat the poor like people. They are merely pests that they avoid at all costs. I know that in America the gap between the very rich and the very poor is wide, but there is at least some form of middle class, and the poor have the same rights as everyone else. When the guerillas started to attack the people, in the square when the people were receiving communion for instance, Romero finally stood up. It is not really the place of the Church to take a political stand, but no one else in such a powerful position was standing up for the rights of the people being oppressed. Romero went to lengths beyond what anyone expected or hoped he would go to. Unfortunately, his heroism was not greeted very well, except by the people he was defending. It just amazed me how strong he was in what he believed. It takes such courage and wit to follow through with the things that he did. I can?t even fathom how hard it was to walk into that prison and walk out with a prisoner. If he had been anyone but the Archbishop, he would have been killed. I think the part that made me realize his faith the most was when he walked into the church that had been taken by the army. He just walked right in past the big man holding the gun. He started to pick up the communion even while shots were being fired. And after he left, he came back and gave communion to the crowd. It was just so touching. The people believed in him as much as he believed in what he was doing. I?ve never been faced with anything near as big as the struggle that the El Salvadorians were facing. To have to live in those conditions, and to have no one be able to protect you or fight for what you believe in. It is so unimaginable to me that they had virtually no rights. It made me so sad that at the end, Romero was assassinated. It was really no surprise. Anyone that stood up for what they believed in that was opposite of what the people in power were preaching was killed. Romero was the only person in power to stand up. He was protected for a while because of his status, but it could not protect him forever. I know that struggles like this occur in America, but on a much smaller level that no one notices. I guess that makes it hard for me to conceive of something like this actually ever happening. It makes me so sad to realize that it really did.