The Church Cannot Remain Silent
By Oscar Romero, Orbis, £14.99
During his time as Archbishop of San Salvador, Oscar Romero received a predictably large number of letters. It fell to his private secretary to sort them into categories: expressions of solidarity, requests for advice, or, rather chillingly, “anonymous threats”.
Romero appears to have been a diligent and thoughtful correspondent, and this captivating little book offers extracts from some of the private letters he sent to fellow priests, prisoners, anxious mothers and a depressingly large number of people who were enduring marital difficulties. I can’t imagine that the heftiest theological tome would get us any closer to the spiritual heart and pastoral concerns of the martyr of El Salvador.
