Romero Days: South African Bishop to Deliver Romero Lecture
Craig Iffland
The 16th annual Romero Days will be held at the University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s College on March 27–28. With the theme “Romero and the Social Teaching of the Church,” this year’s celebration of the life and work of Salvadoran Archbishop Óscar Romero will also commemorate the 40th anniversary of the 1971 Bishops’ Synod on Justice, and the 30th anniversary of Justice Education at St. Mary’s College.
The Bishop of Rustenburg, South Africa, Kevin Dowling, CSsR, will deliver the annual Romero Lecture on Wednesday, March 28.
His talk, which will focus on how Romero was inspirational in the struggle against apartheid, is entitled “Archbishop Romero: An Icon for South Africa.” Free and open to the public, the lecture will be held at 7:30 pm in Carroll Auditorium, Madeleva Hall, on the campus of Saint Mary’s College.
During South Africa’s apartheid era, Bishop Dowling worked tirelessly in defense of human rights, leading numerous peaceful protests against the government. In 1997, he was a key witness at a Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearing about the murder of a young student who participated in one of these protests.
Romero Days 2012 explores how the archbishop’s life and ministry can serve as both a catechetical tool for laypeople and a model for priests, bishops, and lay leaders in the Christian church.
On Tuesday, March 27, a public screening of the documentary “Monseñor: The Last Journey of Óscar Romero,” which chronicles the last three years of Romero’s life, will take place at 7:00 pm in the auditorium of the Hesburgh Center for International Studies at Notre Dame.
Also on the 27th, an educational workshop will focus on using the film as a tool for catechesis in Catholic Social Teaching. Margaret Pfeil, assistant professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, and Michael Amodei, executive director of adolescent catechesis at Ave Maria Press, will lead discussions of the film beginning at 4:15 pm. (Registration for this workshop is required: please email Michael Amodei at mamodei@nd.edu for details.)
Romero Days celebrates the life and witness of Óscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, who was assassinated on March 24, 1980. Known for his advocacy for improved socioeconomic conditions for the poor and his strong criticism of the government of El Salvador, Romero is an archetype for Christian leaders in the modern world.
Romero Days is organized annually by Latin America North America Church Concerns or LANACC, which seeks to interpret Latin American Catholicism to US Catholics and others through films, publications, and public events. Rev. Robert Pelton, CSC, serves as LANACC director.
Romero Days is cosponsored by Latin American/North American Church Concerns (LANACC), the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, the Latin American Studies Program, and the Center for Social Concerns at the University of Notre Dame and by Saint Mary’s College.
Contact: Rev. Robert Pelton, CSC, (574) 631-8528, lanacc@nd.edu
