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Archbishop Oscar Romero’s canonisation this weekend will be a special time for Brisbane man, German Silva.
Romero was shot dead while celebrating Mass 38 years ago.
Silva – who met Romero in El Salvador, says he will remember “a spiritual father” who offered “many key messages” throughout their five-year friendship.
Describing Romero as a humble man who preferred to be called Monsignor because he wanted to be known as “a brother in Christ,” Silva says Romero told him:
‘The will of God made me a bishop to serve you … (and) priests and bishops are your servants, your brothers in Christ.
“He would say, ‘You, the lay people, are important, you are the Church, the baptised’.”
During his lifetime Romero was beloved among the working class and poor for defending them against repression by the army.
Silva says Romero’s humility was seen in his frequent visits to poorer regions of El Salvador.
“He went everywhere, especially to shanty towns. Romero’s mission was to preach the Gospel and that Gospel compelled him to fight injustice.
“(And) he often repeated, ‘You are children of God, you are the Church, protect your Church and fight the good fight for your Church’.”
The process towards Archbishop Romero’s beatification on May 23, 2015, was slowed for some decades but reopened by Pope Benedict XVI.
His canonisation was approved after Pope Francis accepted a miracle attributed to his intercession, when he miraculously cured a Salvadoran woman, Cecilia Maribel Flores, from a life-threatening condition.
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