Archbishop Oscar Romero, murdered as he celebrated Mass in the Central American state of El Salvador, is regarded as a martyr by many Christians throughout the world. But he was also the victim of a political assissination because he had come to be identified with the opposition of the ordinary people of El Salvador to the brutality of the security forces. And yet he was not a 'political priest'. The importance of this book is that it shows the complete continuity between Archbishop Romero's Christian faith and his political significance. His total involvement in the life of the church is obvious from the two sermons included in this book. in El Salvador, however, the life of the church had been invaded by repression and political violence, and Archbishop Romero was determined to make his Christian message relevant to that. The analysis of his life, by a leading Latin American theologian, makes it clear that it was his very Catholic orthodoxy which gave him his political significance. In clarifying this connection between Christianity and politics in Latin America, Romero: Martyr for Liberation offers essential insights to committed Christians and students of politics alike.
