1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:06,040 Speaker 1: Warning. This episode contains references to extreme violence. Please use 2 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 1: discretion when listening. 3 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:22,080 Speaker 2: The past is never dead. It isn't even past. William Faulkner. 4 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:28,800 Speaker 1: Down a winding road on the west side of the 5 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:32,559 Speaker 1: city of San Salvador, there's a peaceful little hideaway. The 6 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:36,720 Speaker 1: grounds are covered with palm trees, snake plants, and flowering 7 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:42,480 Speaker 1: buen villiers. It's a small hospital, the hospice really where 8 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:46,239 Speaker 1: cancer patients go to live out their last days. And 9 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:50,559 Speaker 1: it was here that Oscar Romero, a quiet man with 10 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:55,640 Speaker 1: an easy smile and some seriously enviable eyebrows, made his home. 11 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 1: It's an odd choice. Oscar is not sick, and he's 12 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 1: supposed to be living in the heart of downtown because 13 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:10,679 Speaker 1: Oscar is one of the most important people in El Salvador. 14 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,679 Speaker 1: He's the archbishop, the highest ranking priest in a country 15 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:20,400 Speaker 1: that's so Catholic it's named after Jesus. And on a 16 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:24,679 Speaker 1: muggy March afternoon in nineteen eighty, Oscar Romero gathered a 17 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:28,560 Speaker 1: group of worshippers to the hospital's chapel to commemorate the 18 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:46,199 Speaker 1: life of a local grandmother. It's a ceremony he's done 19 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: thousands of times He steps up to the pulpit and 20 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: performs the rituals of Mass. He blesses the wine, turning 21 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 1: it into the blood of Christ. He prepares the Eucharist, 22 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: the gift of the flesh. Side a red Volkswagen has 23 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:05,160 Speaker 1: pulled up to the entrance of the church. There are 24 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 1: two men in the car. There's no way to know 25 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 1: if Oscar saw them, but the street is only about 26 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:15,080 Speaker 1: forty paces away from the pulpit. I think he must 27 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:20,800 Speaker 1: have seen them. Oscar raises a chalice high above his head, 28 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 1: lifting it up to God, and mid sentence, he's shot 29 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:46,760 Speaker 1: with a single bullet through the heart. Oscar Romero died 30 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 1: that day, killed by a twenty two caliber bullet. The 31 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: bullet fragmented inside of him, destroying everything it touched. It 32 00:02:56,880 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: sent a message because Oscar's killing wasn't just an act 33 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:07,520 Speaker 1: of murder. It was an act of war, an attack 34 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: against the Catholic Church itself and in turn, the people 35 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:15,919 Speaker 1: of al Salvador. Oscar would go on to become one 36 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 1: of the world's most beloved saints. There's even a statue 37 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:22,280 Speaker 1: of him in Westminster Abbey, next to a statue of 38 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:27,200 Speaker 1: Martin Luther King. But to become that Saint Oscar had 39 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:31,320 Speaker 1: to sacrifice his life. His death marked the start of 40 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:34,520 Speaker 1: one of the darkest times in Salvador in history, the 41 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 1: Civil War, a war that would leave more than seventy 42 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: five thousand people dead and send a million more across 43 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:50,720 Speaker 1: the globe fleeing the violence. My family includes both those 44 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: that fled and those that died. When I started working 45 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 1: on this story, I wanted to find out what really 46 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: happened to Oscar Romero, who was responsible for his murder 47 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 1: and all of the violence that followed, And to find 48 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:10,880 Speaker 1: out if the same forces that killed Oscar Romero were 49 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:18,040 Speaker 1: the ones that brought death to my family's doorstep. I'm 50 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:22,680 Speaker 1: Jasmine Romero, and this is Sacred Scandal, Season three, Nation 51 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:42,160 Speaker 1: of Saints. This is episode one. Oscar. Okay, let's get 52 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:45,039 Speaker 1: one thing out of the way. My name is Romero, 53 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:49,160 Speaker 1: but I am not related to Oscar Romero. I think 54 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:53,039 Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure. Well, I asked my parents and they're 55 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:56,160 Speaker 1: pretty sure. But I guess it's possible. Romero is an 56 00:04:56,200 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 1: extremely common name in Elsalvador. In nineteen eighty one, my 57 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:04,599 Speaker 1: parents fled from El Salvador with my three older sisters 58 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 1: to Los Angeles. Los Angeles has the largest population of 59 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:14,039 Speaker 1: Salvadorans of any place outside of El Salvador. It's also 60 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:17,520 Speaker 1: where I was born. I grew up going to MacArthur 61 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:21,040 Speaker 1: Park on Saturdays to watch my dad plays soccer. The 62 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 1: field would be lined with other immigrant families like mine, 63 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:29,600 Speaker 1: eating elotes and trying to start over. But the ghost 64 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:34,200 Speaker 1: of Oscar Romero was everywhere. There's a statue of him 65 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 1: in that same park, and just up the street is 66 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:42,640 Speaker 1: a clinic named after him. Los Angeles is covered in 67 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 1: murals of his face. But in my family, Oscar Romero 68 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 1: really wasn't a topic of discussion with. 69 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:52,800 Speaker 3: I. 70 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 4: Central America has been transformational because of the politics. 71 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:00,919 Speaker 1: Yeah, a few years ago, I went to this event 72 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 1: in La There was a salvador and comedian with this 73 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: big tattoo on her arm, and the host complimented her 74 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:07,359 Speaker 1: on it. 75 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:11,359 Speaker 4: Her arm has got the most beautiful tattoo I have 76 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:15,000 Speaker 4: ever seen in my life, and it is of il 77 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:21,520 Speaker 4: Arsobispo Arnulfo Romero on her arm. 78 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: They started talking about the war and the meaning of 79 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:29,960 Speaker 1: Oscar Romero's life, and I remember feeling this embarrassment wash 80 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:34,640 Speaker 1: over me. These two strangers knew more about the history 81 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: of my family's homeland than I did. My parents never 82 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: really talked much about El Salvador or the reasons why 83 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:46,560 Speaker 1: they left. Growing up, we were so concerned with surviving 84 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 1: the present there wasn't much room to consider the past. 85 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:53,279 Speaker 1: But I also had never really made the effort to 86 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:58,000 Speaker 1: ask what horrors did my family experience that made them 87 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:01,880 Speaker 1: leave a place that they truly love, Who was the 88 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:05,560 Speaker 1: man on those murals? And if I really wanted the answers, 89 00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: I knew where I needed to go. So it's one 90 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 1: in the morning. I'm at JFK. 91 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:19,400 Speaker 5: Way did you board my flight? 92 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:22,280 Speaker 1: My parents are going to pick me up when I 93 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:27,960 Speaker 1: get there, and I'm very sleepy. A few years ago, 94 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:32,080 Speaker 1: my parents shocked the entire family by moving back to 95 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:36,640 Speaker 1: El Salvador to retire. They used their life's savings to 96 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 1: build a little house in their hometown, San Miguel. I've 97 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 1: been to Al Salvador a handful of times, mostly when 98 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 1: I was a kid, but ten years have passed since 99 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:59,840 Speaker 1: my last visit. Looking around the plane, everyone's faces look 100 00:07:59,920 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 1: like mine, but I still feel like an outsider stepping 101 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 1: into a world that doesn't belong to me. I grabbed 102 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:14,360 Speaker 1: my bags and headed out into the humid air to 103 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:17,960 Speaker 1: look for my parents. They were thrilled I was coming, 104 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 1: even if it was for work. Wonder and yes, my 105 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:37,440 Speaker 1: dad was holding up a handwritten sign that said Jasmine 106 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:41,199 Speaker 1: Roulero in capital letters. It was written inside of a 107 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:43,960 Speaker 1: pizza box, so I'm guessing they got hungry while they 108 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:48,440 Speaker 1: were waiting for me. My mom just hugged me for 109 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:54,400 Speaker 1: a long time. They both looked relaxed, which was nice 110 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: and confusing. If you grew up with immigrant parents, you 111 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:04,800 Speaker 1: know what I mean. As we walked to my dad's 112 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 1: old pickup truck, my mom kept pointing out how nice 113 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 1: and new things look. At the last time I landed 114 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:30,000 Speaker 1: in this airport, ten years ago, it had a different name. 115 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:38,240 Speaker 1: It's now called the Oscar International Airport in honor of 116 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:41,720 Speaker 1: the dead archbishop. It feels like everywhere you look there 117 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:45,200 Speaker 1: are signs of change of a new era. The terminal 118 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:47,560 Speaker 1: I flew into is only a year old, and there's 119 00:09:47,679 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: new pavement on the sidewalks everywhere, new tar in the 120 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:57,440 Speaker 1: parking lot. Leaving the airport, we drive past a forest 121 00:09:57,480 --> 00:10:00,960 Speaker 1: of palm trees and tall billboards that welcome tourists to 122 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:05,679 Speaker 1: explore the new El Salvador ads for swinkie resorts at 123 00:10:05,679 --> 00:10:09,599 Speaker 1: surf city, beach or day camps ziplining in the rainforest. 124 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:15,319 Speaker 1: But just past those billboards there are rows and rows 125 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:20,040 Speaker 1: of little roadside shacks, people selling fresh coconuts, bags of 126 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:23,800 Speaker 1: water for a quarter, and souvenir machites, the tool of 127 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:29,240 Speaker 1: choice for the country's working poor. El Salvador is still 128 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:33,960 Speaker 1: considered a developing nation, which just means that most of 129 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:38,360 Speaker 1: the population is living in poverty. The average Salvadoran makes 130 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:41,600 Speaker 1: four hundred dollars a month, and it's even less in 131 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:45,600 Speaker 1: more remote cities like San Miguel, where my family and 132 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:51,679 Speaker 1: Oscar Romero's family both come from. Poverty is something that 133 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:55,960 Speaker 1: both of our families knew very well. Oscar Romero was 134 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:59,319 Speaker 1: one of eight kids, just like my dad. My mom 135 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:02,920 Speaker 1: is one of nine. Both of my parents were raised 136 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:05,640 Speaker 1: in homes where the floor wasn't made out of wood 137 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:10,320 Speaker 1: or tile, it was dirt. My dad didn't even own 138 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:15,680 Speaker 1: a pair of shoes until he was fifteen. All of 139 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:17,600 Speaker 1: this is on my mind as we make the long 140 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:20,760 Speaker 1: drive back to San Miguel to visit two of my 141 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:26,280 Speaker 1: theas my aunt's there are constant reminders that this level 142 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:30,000 Speaker 1: of poverty is still very much a reality here in 143 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:47,040 Speaker 1: the new El Salvador. My Thea rents a place on 144 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:49,880 Speaker 1: the outskirts of San Miguel with one of my cousins 145 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:53,960 Speaker 1: and her young son, whose name I finally learn is Ken. 146 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:57,080 Speaker 1: The house is made out of cement blocks with a 147 00:11:57,120 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 1: tin roof, and there are extra pieces of tin leaned 148 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:03,240 Speaker 1: up against the house. She's saving up to install them 149 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:07,199 Speaker 1: over the patio. As we settle into the plastic chairs 150 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: that Mithia set out for us, A herd of cows 151 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:18,040 Speaker 1: passes by Ken waves. Mitha also takes care of my 152 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:23,920 Speaker 1: great aunt, my Godmotherasita, who I haven't seen since I 153 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:28,520 Speaker 1: was a little girl. Mathia. Pasita is eighty nine years old, 154 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:31,679 Speaker 1: and she's so thin it feels like she'll snap if 155 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:36,040 Speaker 1: I hug her too hard. She's almost completely blind, and 156 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:39,240 Speaker 1: she's hard of hearing too. It takes a minute for 157 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:50,120 Speaker 1: her to recognize me, but when she does see, she 158 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:54,680 Speaker 1: smiles a big, toothless grin and wraps her frail arms 159 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:58,640 Speaker 1: around me. She can't believe how big I've gotten. I 160 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:00,440 Speaker 1: put her hand on top of my head to show 161 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:06,240 Speaker 1: her how tall I am. We all start talking, catching up, 162 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:15,560 Speaker 1: and it feels cozy and familiar. I snuggle in next 163 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:18,640 Speaker 1: to my pass and we reminisce about the last time 164 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:22,320 Speaker 1: she saw me. I don't have any memory of these events, 165 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:26,199 Speaker 1: but the stories are familiar. The time I broke my wrist, 166 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:29,000 Speaker 1: the time I gave her my mom's purse as a present. 167 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:34,240 Speaker 1: Walking to church together. Finally, I tell her that I'm 168 00:13:34,280 --> 00:14:08,880 Speaker 1: here to learn about Oscar Romero. 169 00:13:56,559 --> 00:14:00,800 Speaker 5: Inn through Plat. 170 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:05,559 Speaker 1: To my surprise, she starts talking about him like he's 171 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:08,800 Speaker 1: an old friend. She tells me that she remembers going 172 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:13,680 Speaker 1: to see him preach, which makes sense. For twenty three years, 173 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:17,720 Speaker 1: Oscar Romero was the local priest in San Miguel, her priest. 174 00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:20,960 Speaker 1: San Miguel is where he got his start in the 175 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:24,800 Speaker 1: Catholic Church. But I had no idea that my family 176 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 1: actually knew him. Used the. 177 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:48,320 Speaker 5: Elt sre. 178 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:53,800 Speaker 1: She tells me that she remembers him being tall, like 179 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:57,240 Speaker 1: my dad, who's about six two, that he was the 180 00:14:57,320 --> 00:14:59,920 Speaker 1: kind of priest that you could talk to about anything, 181 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:04,920 Speaker 1: that she often went to him for advice. I can 182 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:09,440 Speaker 1: hear the affection in her voice. It's a strange feeling 183 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:12,760 Speaker 1: to realize that my family was so close to such 184 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:16,600 Speaker 1: an important historical figure. It's like finding out that your 185 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:21,280 Speaker 1: dad played Little League with JFK. But being a local 186 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:26,320 Speaker 1: priest was the vast majority of Oscar's life. For most 187 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:29,320 Speaker 1: of his career, he just did the normal things that 188 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:34,720 Speaker 1: a parish priest does. Attend funerals, perform baptisms, maybe the 189 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 1: occasional exorcism. Well maybe not that last part. Who knows. 190 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 1: In El Salvador, the local priest is an integral part 191 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:46,960 Speaker 1: of the community. He's who you go to when you're 192 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:50,560 Speaker 1: having a problem, and that's who Oscar Romeril was in 193 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:55,360 Speaker 1: San Miguel. I keep asking my tepassy the questions, but 194 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: she starts to get tired. As I'm taking her inside 195 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:10,000 Speaker 1: to rest, she mumbles something that makes my stomach turn. 196 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,880 Speaker 1: What a punishment they gave him, she says. Going to 197 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:25,760 Speaker 1: the capital was his ruin. It was in the capital 198 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:29,320 Speaker 1: that he gave his last mesa before being shot down. 199 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:55,760 Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this break. Being in this 200 00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:59,080 Speaker 1: cozy house, it's easy to see how San Miguel could 201 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:02,400 Speaker 1: make you forget about the troubles of the world. It 202 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:05,760 Speaker 1: has a small town quality to it, isolated from the 203 00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:10,359 Speaker 1: politics of the capital. Maybe that's why some of the 204 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:14,359 Speaker 1: richest Salvadorans have estates out here. I didn't even know 205 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:16,560 Speaker 1: there was such a thing as rich Salvadorans when I 206 00:17:16,600 --> 00:17:20,440 Speaker 1: was a kid, and now I'm learning a lot about 207 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:22,879 Speaker 1: this hidden world that my parents never told me about. 208 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:31,960 Speaker 1: On the drive home, I asked my parents about something 209 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:35,520 Speaker 1: that I came across in my research, the fourteen families. 210 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:53,840 Speaker 1: The fourteen families, they say, oh, they're the owners. It's 211 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:59,880 Speaker 1: what Salvadorans call la the oligarchy, the rich land owning 212 00:17:59,880 --> 00:18:03,160 Speaker 1: families who have run the country since the late eighteen hundreds. 213 00:18:04,359 --> 00:18:08,720 Speaker 1: These families are the terretinents, the landowners that control most 214 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:13,960 Speaker 1: of the country's wealth. These families became fabulously wealthy by 215 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:20,440 Speaker 1: owning plantations that cultivated coffee, cotton, and corn. These families, 216 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:23,960 Speaker 1: they owned the stores and the goods that filled the stores, 217 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:27,840 Speaker 1: and the land that the goods were grown on. Meanwhile, 218 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:33,160 Speaker 1: the compassinos who worked on those plantations lived in abject poverty. 219 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:39,200 Speaker 6: Lussa ladio, heern dramente in crave lamentin houstos. 220 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:44,480 Speaker 1: This is Marisa da Martinez. She invited me to her 221 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:47,359 Speaker 1: home in the capitol and we spent an afternoon, sitting 222 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:50,800 Speaker 1: in rocking chairs and talking about her work keeping Oscar 223 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:56,479 Speaker 1: Romero's legacy alive. She's an activist who protested the unfair 224 00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:59,560 Speaker 1: treatment of the working class in the seventies, and she's 225 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:04,040 Speaker 1: the co founder of the Oscar Romero Foundation. Because what 226 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:07,280 Speaker 1: happened to Oscar Romero and the history of the working 227 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:13,640 Speaker 1: class in El Salvador, they kind of go hand in hand. 228 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:20,200 Speaker 6: And daran porlos seeing say colonees the ideas he Yeslasion 229 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:26,680 Speaker 6: Soto Campina kea Pocamari Bivier sultante. 230 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:31,119 Speaker 1: In the nineteen seventies, when Oscar Romero was serving in 231 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:34,560 Speaker 1: San Miguel, the vast majority of the country lived this 232 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: way in an insulting poverty. Competinos made less than a 233 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:46,720 Speaker 1: dollar a day, and most families suffered from malnutrition, including mine. 234 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:52,240 Speaker 1: My great grandmother who helped raise me. She had fourteen kids, 235 00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:58,119 Speaker 1: only six of them survived past six months. That's the 236 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:03,200 Speaker 1: kind of malnutrition we're talking about here. And for many families, 237 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:07,480 Speaker 1: the only option to survive was to buy things on credit, 238 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:24,360 Speaker 1: credit that they got from their own bosses, the plantation ownersdotals. 239 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:27,200 Speaker 6: I mean fila de hintel di lacinde la fila the 240 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:35,200 Speaker 6: hint parandoz it is euna. 241 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:44,680 Speaker 1: It was a never ending cycle. Most Campsinos never learned 242 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:48,040 Speaker 1: to read because there were no schools, and so neither 243 00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:51,119 Speaker 1: did their children. They lived at the mercy of the 244 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:52,800 Speaker 1: plantation owners for. 245 00:20:52,960 --> 00:21:02,400 Speaker 6: Generations loke sinica potlaying Houstisia. 246 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:06,800 Speaker 1: And these rich oligarchic families they didn't just control the 247 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:11,440 Speaker 1: country's wealth. They were also deeply involved in the Catholic Church. 248 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:20,440 Speaker 1: By involved, I mean controlling. Now, the relationship between the 249 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:23,320 Speaker 1: wealthy and the Catholic Church didn't start in El Salvador. 250 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:27,119 Speaker 1: They've been intertwined since the first gold bar was delivered 251 00:21:27,119 --> 00:21:30,800 Speaker 1: to Vatican City. But the relationship in El Salvador was 252 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:36,080 Speaker 1: particularly tight. It was a well oiled machine. The country's 253 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:40,080 Speaker 1: rich would provide lavish donations to the Church, and in return, 254 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:43,800 Speaker 1: the Church would turn a blind eye to the systemic injustice. 255 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:49,879 Speaker 1: Priests would tell the poor, your reward is waiting for 256 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:55,440 Speaker 1: you in heaven. But in the seventies some priests dared 257 00:21:55,480 --> 00:22:17,719 Speaker 1: to break this protocol. That's after the break is one 258 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:19,480 Speaker 1: of the priests who dared to step out of the 259 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:25,920 Speaker 1: established oligarchy church relationship. I met him on a sweltering 260 00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:29,600 Speaker 1: afternoon at his parish in Montserrat, a suburb in the 261 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:39,520 Speaker 1: hills around San Salvador. He's about eighty years old, with 262 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:42,399 Speaker 1: a thin sheet of white hair and a twinkle in 263 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:46,480 Speaker 1: his eye. He invites me, in my fixed Roerto, into 264 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:50,680 Speaker 1: his cramped office in the back of the church. On 265 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:53,680 Speaker 1: his desk is a picture of him as a young man, 266 00:22:54,320 --> 00:23:00,480 Speaker 1: smiling next to a somber oscar Romero. If this is safe, Eira, 267 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:08,080 Speaker 1: It's ninety degrees with sixty percent humidity. I've already swept 268 00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:13,880 Speaker 1: through two shirts. He seems totally unfazed by the heat. 269 00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:16,960 Speaker 1: He offers me and Roerto some ice water. As we 270 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:21,200 Speaker 1: settle in, Roberto asks him, don't you need some water? 271 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:23,920 Speaker 1: Paparretoar just smiles. 272 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:30,080 Speaker 7: No, tomorrow, keta Coca col. 273 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:37,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, the old man's got swag anyway. When Barrettoar became 274 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:40,440 Speaker 1: a priest in the early seventies, the church was still 275 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:43,040 Speaker 1: doing what it had been doing since the Spaniards landed 276 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:46,120 Speaker 1: on the shores of a place called Guscatlan and decided 277 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:49,480 Speaker 1: to rename it after Jesus. Keeping their packed with the 278 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:51,560 Speaker 1: rich and the poor in their place. 279 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:58,520 Speaker 7: O Compecinokala King and Sulugan Ilo Rico Vivienzo Cistoia. 280 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:02,119 Speaker 1: And this is where Oscar Romero comes back into the picture, 281 00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:06,600 Speaker 1: because while my tapas might remember him as a man 282 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:09,440 Speaker 1: who knew the troubles of the poor, he did not 283 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:12,160 Speaker 1: have that reputation among the country's elites. 284 00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:17,520 Speaker 7: Yes, Mother and Plata de San Miguel. 285 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:23,639 Speaker 1: For the rich families in San Miguel, Oscar was the 286 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:29,960 Speaker 1: ideal priest, quiet shy, happy to baptize their babies and 287 00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:32,639 Speaker 1: enjoy a good carna with them afterwards. 288 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:48,760 Speaker 7: Elista and el sentido solo araci una fees in dimensium 289 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:53,000 Speaker 7: uman as in dimension politic as in dimensium. 290 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:02,280 Speaker 1: Oscar was regarded as a gentle bookworm, and this unassuming 291 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:06,680 Speaker 1: nature it got him far. He quietly rose through the 292 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:10,560 Speaker 1: ranks from deacon to priest to Bishop of San Miguel, 293 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:15,480 Speaker 1: far from the politics of the capital. If he disagreed 294 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:19,119 Speaker 1: with the elite's business practices, he didn't share it out loud. 295 00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:23,560 Speaker 1: Maybe he wrote about it in his journal, maybe he 296 00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:27,919 Speaker 1: prayed on it. But Oscar's easy life in San Miguel 297 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:32,720 Speaker 1: would soon get flipped upside down. In nineteen seventy seven, 298 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 1: Oscar's boss, a man who had served as archbishop in 299 00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:42,200 Speaker 1: El Salvador for thirty eight years, decided to resign. But 300 00:25:42,359 --> 00:25:47,240 Speaker 1: who would be next? The Church and the oligarchy came 301 00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:51,320 Speaker 1: together to hand pick the country's next top priest. The 302 00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:56,040 Speaker 1: obvious and expected candidate was the auxiliary archbishop who had 303 00:25:56,080 --> 00:26:00,719 Speaker 1: been second in command, but to everyone's surprise, the Vatican 304 00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:06,040 Speaker 1: announced that Oscar Romero would take the position. The nation 305 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:09,240 Speaker 1: turned their eyes to this quiet priest from the. 306 00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:11,960 Speaker 8: East, Hello the Rio. 307 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:18,159 Speaker 7: Conveniencias digamos de fe in Lilesia. 308 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:25,680 Speaker 1: Politic it was a politically convenient move. Oscar was known 309 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:28,680 Speaker 1: as a quiet local priest, the kind who built his 310 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:34,000 Speaker 1: career on staying away from controversy. In February of nineteen 311 00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:38,240 Speaker 1: seventy seven, Oscar Romero was named Archbishop of El Salvador 312 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:40,080 Speaker 1: by Pope John Paul. 313 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:45,360 Speaker 7: Himself stansso Fuelay Garda de Monsignor Romero. 314 00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:50,399 Speaker 1: Oscar moves to the capitol his new parish and starts 315 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:53,600 Speaker 1: leading Sunday Mass in the largest cathedral in the country. 316 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:56,680 Speaker 1: The rich pat themselves on the back for assigning a 317 00:26:56,720 --> 00:26:59,600 Speaker 1: priest that they believe will watch over their interests for 318 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:02,800 Speaker 1: decad needs to come. Here's Marissa again. 319 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:03,960 Speaker 9: La. 320 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:13,280 Speaker 6: Porqurado alce seesuponi the via asumir elasovial. 321 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:19,199 Speaker 1: But Oscar was stepping into a hornet's nest. There had 322 00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:23,680 Speaker 1: been unrest brewing in the capitol and several protests led 323 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:30,359 Speaker 1: by Campasino groups. People were unionizing demanding better wages. The 324 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:33,359 Speaker 1: military government's response had not been pretty. 325 00:27:41,000 --> 00:28:01,480 Speaker 6: The Graciaca guando marchas solicitando pacificamente dos tortillas lejuadrons de quesouevoitres. 326 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:07,840 Speaker 1: Marisa says that the compasinos would organize marches in the 327 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:12,720 Speaker 1: capitol asking for better wages, and that those protests regularly 328 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:21,200 Speaker 1: ended with the military shooting directly into the crowd, and 329 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:25,400 Speaker 1: when the protests didn't stop, the military started going after 330 00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:37,240 Speaker 1: the leaders of the movements. People started disappearing. Oscar Romero 331 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:40,040 Speaker 1: had a habit of going out into his congregation after 332 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:43,080 Speaker 1: mass on Sundays. He wanted to get to know the 333 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:45,440 Speaker 1: people of his flock the way that he had in 334 00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:51,000 Speaker 1: San Miguel. But here in the capital people were coming 335 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:55,720 Speaker 1: to him with names, the names of sons, brothers, mothers 336 00:28:56,240 --> 00:29:00,640 Speaker 1: who had disappeared or been taken. Oscar had gone from 337 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:04,520 Speaker 1: baptizing babies to having to face the cries of mourning mothers. 338 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:11,440 Speaker 1: In the span of a few years, Oscar transformed from 339 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:16,640 Speaker 1: a quiet bookworm into a champion for the poor. Three 340 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:20,280 Speaker 1: years after his arrival to the capitol, he stood before 341 00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:25,120 Speaker 1: his congregation as a changed man, not a puppet, but 342 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:25,760 Speaker 1: a priest with. 343 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:45,360 Speaker 9: A message Ermano's song de matan ermanos campesinostar ure lala matar. 344 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:54,760 Speaker 1: He gave a speech that cemented his legacy. It's a 345 00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:58,680 Speaker 1: speech that's the Salvadoran equivalent of Martin Luther King's I 346 00:29:58,840 --> 00:29:59,760 Speaker 1: Have a Dream speech. 347 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:05,000 Speaker 9: Nimundo esto. 348 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:13,960 Speaker 1: Oscar was issuing a warning, a warning to the rich 349 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:19,520 Speaker 1: that he would not be in their pockets. The speech 350 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:23,760 Speaker 1: would be the landmark of his career, and he tells 351 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:27,360 Speaker 1: the government soldiers to disobey the orders of their commanders, 352 00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:32,160 Speaker 1: to stop the repression against their own people and follow 353 00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:35,840 Speaker 1: God's most basic command, thou shalt not. 354 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:46,400 Speaker 9: Kill ignombre de dios, the numbre pueblo, CuO lament maas 355 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:55,760 Speaker 9: tumultuosos lesuplico leego leon. 356 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:05,920 Speaker 1: It's the last homily he ever gave, the very next day, 357 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:10,440 Speaker 1: before Oscar could give communion, he was shot in the heart, 358 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:17,120 Speaker 1: murdered at his own pulpit. But Oscar was just the 359 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:20,840 Speaker 1: beginning of a domino effect, one that brought us to 360 00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:26,320 Speaker 1: the new El Salvador we have today. El Salvador's President, Naibukele, 361 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:29,440 Speaker 1: has won reelection today in a resounding victory that has 362 00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:36,400 Speaker 1: essentially wiped out the opposition. Over the next eleven episodes, 363 00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:39,960 Speaker 1: we're going to cover one of the bloodiest chapters in history, 364 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:42,840 Speaker 1: one that includes government cover ups. 365 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:45,720 Speaker 6: So it was just outrageous that the nuns would have 366 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:48,560 Speaker 6: guns and would have exchanged fire. 367 00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:52,000 Speaker 8: A school for dictators every time there was a heinous 368 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:57,920 Speaker 8: killing in Alsawada Hills with somebody that was past grides 369 00:31:58,000 --> 00:31:59,280 Speaker 8: of the School of America. 370 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:03,560 Speaker 1: One of the biggest massacres to ever occur in the Americas. 371 00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:07,720 Speaker 3: The security forces in Al Salvador have been responsible for 372 00:32:07,840 --> 00:32:12,440 Speaker 3: the deaths of thousands and thousands of young people. Are 373 00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:17,080 Speaker 3: we really going to send military advisors in there to 374 00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:19,600 Speaker 3: be part of that type of machinery? 375 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:24,880 Speaker 1: But I'll also tell you the story of one family mine, 376 00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:29,320 Speaker 1: because on this journey I discovered things about my family 377 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:34,120 Speaker 1: that still haunt us today, Mom. 378 00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:38,320 Speaker 5: What happened to your sister Margarita? 379 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:46,760 Speaker 1: Well, they said that they took her and the next day. 380 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:49,560 Speaker 2: She was that she was killed. 381 00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:50,920 Speaker 8: She was killed. 382 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:10,560 Speaker 1: Ye, that's this season on Nation of Saints Sacred Scandal. 383 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:13,640 Speaker 1: Nation of Saints is a production of AJA Podcasts in 384 00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:17,280 Speaker 1: partnership with Iheart's Mike Wultura podcast Network, and is hosted 385 00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:21,520 Speaker 1: and written by me Jasmine Romero, produced by Jazmine Romero 386 00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:26,880 Speaker 1: with help from Jorge Just, Renald Gutierres, and Aloesbres. Research 387 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:31,000 Speaker 1: and reporting by Jasmine Romero, Edited by Cyda Kevelo, Porge 388 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:34,160 Speaker 1: Just and Rose Red. Nation of Saints was recorded in 389 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:36,520 Speaker 1: New York City at the Relic Room with engineering by 390 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:41,400 Speaker 1: Sam Bear, Mixing and sound designed by Paciquinones. Original music 391 00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:45,280 Speaker 1: by Golden Mines, Darko and Dieme based on Patrick Hart's 392 00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:51,160 Speaker 1: original composition. Fact checking by Erendidra Aquino Ayala. Executive producers 393 00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:54,840 Speaker 1: are Carman geraterol Isaac Lee, rose Red, and Nando Villa. 394 00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:59,080 Speaker 1: Our executive producers at iHeart are Giselle Mansis and Arlene Santana. 395 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:03,200 Speaker 1: Sacred Scandal was created by Melanie Bartley and Paula Vadros. 396 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:08,640 Speaker 1: Special thanks to Roerto Valencia, Matt Eisenbrandt, sayid Tjan Thomas, 397 00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:14,279 Speaker 1: Alice Wilder, Sofia Palita Carr, Eric Mennel, Peter Bresnan, and Riemachres. 398 00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:16,960 Speaker 1: The recording at the top of the episode is from 399 00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:22,000 Speaker 1: Latino USA and provided courtesy of Futuro Studios. This episode 400 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:25,399 Speaker 1: is dedicated to Mythia Pacita, who passed in twenty twenty four. 401 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:30,200 Speaker 1: For more podcasts, go to the iHeartRadio app or wherever 402 00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:31,880 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite podcasts.