Renewable Revolution

What a great find.

I was not aware of the Romero Institute. I wondered if it were named for the murdered cleric, and checked to see. It is.

Even though Romero didn’t openly embrace the movement, his defense of the poor and criticisms of the Salvadoran government dovetailed with liberation theology’s aims. He was murdered the day after he told a peasant army the they were murdering their brethren.

A little known fact about Romero is that he had ties to Opus Dei. Don't know what to make of that.

When I read about Romero and other martyr priests that saw against the Vatican tide, I am reminded of the words of 🕊 Dom Helder Camara:

“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.”

Thank you. I completely had missed the Romero reference! My cousin Raul Julia did a movie starring as that famous Bishop Romero that got got killed for advocating for justice and the defense of the poor and downtrodden.

Raulito, as he was known in the family, had always been an "Independentista" in Puerto Rico. The Independentista Political Party in Puerto rico is 100% Socialist.

Sure, he made lots of money in Hollywood, but he was a Socialist through and through and donated large sums of money throughtout his life for socialist causes.


 That said, Raulito was no saint. He liked to fool around way too much without thinking through the downstream sibling strife effect of "extra" children fathered by him, as the strife among the offspring he left behind from different women now evidences.


I had a friend down in Puerto Rico that educated me about Opus Dei. His father, an erudite man of color, was a staunch Catholic and wanted to become a member of Opus Dei. They refused to accept him because he was born out of wedlock (no "bastards" allowed in the holier than thou Opus Dei, don'tcha know?).

I don't know what Bishop Romero's connection to Opus Dei, a fascist/elitist organisation to the core, was. However, he may have become a member in his youth, not knowing the full deal there, and just never bothered to reisgn, hoping to work within to reform them.

The name, "Opus Dei" (Latin for "The Work of God"), is, in practice, an Orwellian title. I can see how a young, idealistic man who took the "Opus Dei" label at face value would be attracted to them.

Opus Dei is now known by its rotten fruit. I'm sure Bishop Romero figured that out early on.

I am looking forward to watching the full series of videos in this USCS course ✨, and will continue to post them here in chronological order.

For those readers who do not know Surly's background, he is a walking multi-volume source of accurate American History and Politics. He can discuss virtually any subject with considerable erudition and has far more patience than I do when engaging confrontational posters.

So, for those reading this that don't want to talk to me, feel free to register and comment on Surly's posts. He will respect your arguments, even if he disagrees with them. IMHO, you need to bring a very large sandwich if you plan to win a debate with him, but I am sure you will be the better for it if you DO engage him.