25 Oscar Romero Quotes From the Catholic Archbishop Who Was Canonized
Published July 26, 2023
Look at these Oscar Romero quotes to learn more about this man declared a Saint by the Catholic church.
Oscar Romero was born in San Miguel, El Salvador, in 1917 and died by assassination in San Salvador, El Salvador, in 1980 at the age of 62.
Romero was a high-ranking official in the Catholic Church in El Salvador, where he served as first the Auxiliary Bishop, then the Titular Bishop, and finally the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador.
He was known as a man who loved the poor and would speak against social injustice or violence.
His strong beliefs made him a target among some during the Salvadoran Civil War, and he was assassinated by an unknown assassin during Mass in 1980.
Take a look at these Oscar Romero quotes to learn more about the man that would become a Saint.
The Best Oscar Romero Quotes
Here are some of the best Oscar Romero quotes.
1. “Let us not tire of preaching love.” — Oscar Romero
2. “Aspire not to have more, but to be more.” — Oscar Romero
3. “Peace is not the product of terror or fear.” — Oscar Romero
4. “Our responsibility as Christians makes us tremble.” — Oscar Romero
5. “We lay foundations that will need further development.” — Oscar Romero
6. “The ones who have a voice must speak for those who are voiceless.” — Oscar Romero
7. “There are many things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried.” — Oscar Romero
8. “We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.” — Oscar Romero
9. “Unfortunately, brothers and sisters, we are the product of a spiritualized, individualistic education.” — Oscar Romero
10. “We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.” — Oscar Romero
Thought-Provoking Oscar Romero Quotes
Check out these thought-provoking Oscar Romero quotes.
11. “When we say ‘for the poor,’ we do not take sides with one social class, please note.” — Oscar Romero
12. “You can tell the people that if they succeed in killing me, that I forgive and bless those who do it.” — Oscar Romero
13. “Some want to keep a gospel so disembodied that it doesn’t get involved at all in the world it must save.” — Oscar Romero
14. “It pains my heart deeply to know how our people are tortured, how the rights of God’s image are trampled.” — Oscar Romero
15. “The church is pointing out sin, and society must listen to that accusation and be converted and so become what God wants.” — Oscar Romero
16. “It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.” — Oscar Romero
17. “No one wants to have a sore spot touched, and therefore a society with so many sores twitches when someone has the courage to touch it.” — Oscar Romero
You will also enjoy our article on Padre Pio quotes.
Inspiring Oscar Romero Quotes
Take a look at these inspiring Oscar Romero quotes.
18. “Let us be today’s Christians. Let us not take fright at the boldness of today’s church.” — Oscar Romero
19. “Each time we look upon the poor, on the farmworkers who harvest the coffee, the sugarcane, or the cotton… remember, there is the face of Christ.” — Oscar Romero
20. “Let us not forget: we are a pilgrim church, subject to misunderstanding, to persecution, but a church that walks serene, because it bears the force of love.” — Oscar Romero
21. “Liberation that raises a cry against others is no true liberation. Liberation that means revolutions of hate and violence and takes away lives of others or abases the dignity of others cannot be true liberty.” — Oscar Romero
22. “That is the hope that inspires Christians. We know that every effort to better society, especially when injustice and sin are so ingrained, is an effort that God blesses, that God wants, that God demands of us.” — Oscar Romero
23. “Even when they call us mad, when they call us subversives and communists and all the epithets they put on us, we know we only preach the subversive witness of the Beatitudes, which have turned everything upside down.” — Oscar Romero
24. “Beautiful is the moment in which we understand that we are no more than an instrument of God; we live only as long as God wants us to live; we can only do as much as God makes us able to do; we are only as intelligent as God would have us be.” — Oscar Romero
25. “When we struggle for human rights, for freedom, for dignity, when we feel that it is a ministry of the church to concern itself for those who are hungry, for those who have no schools, for those who are deprived, we are not departing from God’s promise.” — Oscar Romero
You will also enjoy our article on St John of the Cross quotes.
How Did Romero Become a Saint
Due to Romero’s dedication as a Servant of God, in 1997, Pope John Paul II opened a cause for Romero’s beatification so that his entrance into Heaven would be official.
Later, in 2018, Pope Francis officially canonized Romero, meaning he was declared a Saint.
Share these Oscar Romero quotes with your friends and family, and post any comments about Romero in the comment section below.
