Worldwide events to mark Romero anniversary

Archbishop Oscar Romero

A week of events is taking place around the world to mark the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador.

In the UK, on Romero Day itself, Wednesday 24 March, there will be a special Mass in Edinburgh Cathedral at 7.30pm presided over by Cardinal Keith O’Brien. On that day in London, Archbishop Vincent Nichols will celebrate and preach at a Romero Mass in Westminster Cathedral at 5.30pm. A special Mass will also take place in St George's Cathedral Southwark at 12.30pm lunchtime.

There will be a Mass at 7pm in St Chad’s Cathedral in Birmingham, which will be celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop William Kenney, standing in for Archbishop Bernard Longley who will himself, under CAFOD’s auspices, be marking the anniversary in Romero’s own Cathedral in San Salvador along with Bishop Arthur Roche of Leeds.

On Palm Sunday, 28 March, there will be a special Evening Service in Westminster Abbey at 6.30pm at which the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, will preach, joined by fellow-Patron, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, Archbishop Vincent Nichols and the Superintendent Minister of Wesley’s Chapel, Revd the Lord Leslie Griffiths.

East Anglia, Brentwood, Salford, Portsmouth, Hexham and Newcastle, Liverpool, Hallam, Nottingham, Wrexham and Southampton Dioceses are also holding special events and Masses to mark the anniversary.

Further information can be found at: www.romerotrust.org.uk/index.php?nuc=content&id=40

In Rome, the Missionary Youth Movement of the Pontifical Mission Societies of Italy who are hold many events, dedicated to Archbishop Romero and all the missionaries who gave their lives for the Gospel. The 'Diocesan Vigil in Memory of the Missionary Martyrs,' promoted by the European Cooperation Mission of the Diocese of Rome, was held in the Basilica of San Lorenzo Outside the Walls, in Rome, at 8:45pm on Sunday. March 21.

On Tuesday, 23 March at 6.30pm, in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, Cardinal Sepe, Archbishop of Naples, will preside at the Eucharistic Celebration sponsored by the Sant'Egidio Community.

On 24 March, there will be a Mass presided by Father Camillo Maccise, former Superior of the Union of Superiors General (USGI) in the Parish of St Joseph Moscati in Cinecittà, at 8pm. On 25 March, at 5pm, at the 'Bishop Luigi Di Liegro' Hall of the Province of Rome (Via IV Novembre), there will be a meeting on 'Church and Society in Latin America' and a narrative play in memory of John XXIII and Oscar Romero. On March 26, there will be an Ecumenical Prayer Vigil in the Church of San Marcello on Via del Corso at 7pm, led by Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chavez, Auxiliary Bishop of San Salvador, during which all the martyrs of the world will be remembered. Sunday, March 28, Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chavez will preside at a concelebrated Mass for the Latin American community in Rome at the Parish of Santa Lucia, at 5pm.