Bishop O’Donnell to accept first-class relic of St. Oscar Romero during upcoming visit to El Salvador

His conversion of compassion for the poor and downtrodden is an inspiration to all of us.”

Bishop Ralph B. O’Donnell

St. Oscar Romero once spoke of “many things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried.”

Tears of joy and sorrow will accompany Bishop Ralph B. O’Donnell when he returns from El Salvador later this month with a first-class relic of St. Oscar Romero, fourth bishop of San Salvador, who was assassinated while offering Mass there in 1980.

Bishop O’Donnell will celebrate a special bilingual Mass in the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Jefferson City on Saturday, March 21, during which he will present the relic to Father Stephen Jones, pastor.

All are invited to attend the Mass, which will include veneration of the relic and the calling-upon of St. Oscar Romero’s intercession, as well as time for Confessions and a reception with food, music and traditional Hispanic dancing.

The relic will be available for veneration from 9 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 3 p.m.

Confessions will be available at 10 a.m., during which time a presentation will also be given about St. Oscar Romero’s life and relics.

The Mass will be at 11 a.m.

“I’m looking forward to honoring in a meaningful way this prophetic and kindhearted saint,” said Bishop O’Donnell, who since his seminary days has developed a personal devotion to St. Oscar Romero.

“His conversion of compassion for the poor and downtrodden is an inspiration to all of us,” he said.

Holy ground

Bishop O’Donnell will depart for El Salvador on Feb. 10 with Deacon Enrique Castro, executive director of evangelization and faith formation for the Jefferson City diocese, and Jake Seifert, senior diocesan director of development and missions.

There, Bishop O’Donnell will meet with bishops, priests, religious and lay faithful of the Diocese of Santa Ana, the Diocese of Santiago de María, and the Archdiocese of San Salvador, where St. Oscar Romero was serving as archbishop at the time of his death.

The Jefferson City diocese has long been home to a significant Salvadoran population, especially in the west side of the diocese, including Marshall, Milan and Sedalia.

Over the past few years, teams of catechists from the Jefferson City diocese, including members of St. Peter Parish in Marshall and St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Sedalia, have led spiritual-renewal retreats in two dioceses in El Salvador.

“Because so many have come to our diocese from El Salvador over the years, I’m looking forward to being where they hale from and experiencing their culture first-hand,” said Bishop O’Donnell.

Jefferson City’s bishop was 11 when Archbishop Romero was assassinated during El Salvador’s civil war of 1979-92.

He remembers his teachers leading prayers for the fallen archbishop, as well as for the American nuns and a lay catechist who were killed in El Salvador later that year.

“But I was really too young to understand,” Bishop O’Donnell acknowledged. “I didn’t really know the severity of all that was going on.”

The future bishop’s appreciation for St. Oscar Romero grew exponentially as he discerned his own priestly calling.

“I was inspired by his courage and the impact of his witness of faith,” said Bishop O’Donnell.

Call to conversion

Archbishop Romero led a historically Catholic country’s largest archdiocese during a violent civil war.

Thousands who stood up for El Salvador’s deeply poor people were kidnapped, tortured and killed.

The archbishop came from an academic background.

Government and military leaders expected him not to make waves.

Over time, that proved not to be the case.

“He just felt this steady call to be a witness to respecting the dignity of human life, and reaching out in a very profound way to the plight of Christ’s poor,” said Bishop O’Donnell.

It’s a beautiful example of how Christ is continually calling people to a deeper relationship with him.

“All we have to do is open a book depicting the lives of the saints to see the countless ways this has happened over the centuries,” said Bishop O’Donnell.

“But uniquely for St. Oscar Romero, that call came through the plight of so many people who were victims of injustice,” he said. “He came forward and gave his voice to preach the Gospel in service to the most vulnerable.”

“Rise again”

El Salvador’s civil war ended decades ago.

Deacon Castro said the people are amazingly upbeat and deeply spiritual.

Yet, no family in El Salvador was unaffected by the conflict, during which more than 75,000 people were killed and about a fourth of the residents fled the country.

St. Oscar Romero stood with them, preaching hope and reconciliation until moments before he died.

“I do not believe in death without resurrection,” he told the faithful. “If they kill me, I will rise again in the people of El Salvador.”

Pope Francis canonized St. Oscar Romero in 2018. His feastday is March 24.

As Bishop O’Donnell prepares to leave on this pilgrimage and pastoral visit to El Salvador, he asks for prayers for all the people who have been impacted by St. Oscar Romero’s work and ministry.

“And that all of us might grow in our own relationship with the Lord ... that we would be ever-mindful of how the Lord is calling us to be in deeper relationship with him through service to one another,” the bishop said.

Bishop O’Donnell plans to pray for everyone in this diocese, especially those who came here from El Salvador, as he encounters God in new ways in their homeland.

“I’ll thank God for all who have come to make our diocese their home, for their families, and for the gift of Christ’s peace throughout the world,” he said.

Bishop O’Donnell looks forward to celebrating Mass on March 21 in the Cathedral of St. Joseph to welcome the arrival of the holy relic.