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EDITORIAL: Messages of Oscar Romero, Pope John XXIII have relevance today

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Neither Pope John XXIII nor Archbishop Oscar Romero ever came close to setting foot in Washington County, but the two saints will be an integral part of the lives of some Washington County residents starting July 1.

As a result of parish mergers the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh has been forging for several months, the Holy Rosary, St. Patrick and Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal parishes, all in or near Canonsburg, will be together in a parish named for Romero, while the St. Benedict the Abbot parish in Peters Township will be joining with the St. Francis of Assisi parish in Finleyville and the St. Isaac Jogues parish in Jefferson Hills to become the Saint John XXIII parish, named in that way since the late pope was canonized in 2014.

John XXIII and Romero were from different parts of the world and hailed from different generations, but they were both champions of social justice and stood up for the rights and dignity of oppressed individuals. John XXIII died 57 years ago, and Romero was assassinated 40 years ago, but insights that they offered in their lives still speak to us, particularly at this moment of intense tumult.

One of 14 children who lived in a home where cows took up the first floor, John XXIII was born Angelo Giuseppi Roncalli in the Italian region of Lombardy. Expected to have been little more than a caretaker upon ascending to the papacy in 1958, John XXIII made his mark as a reformer and advocate for social justice during his five-year tenure. He supported safety-net programs, supported the right of workers to organize and launched the Second Vatican Council, which looked to bridge the gap between the Catholic Church and modernity.

John stood up for “the right to a dignified life,” and once proclaimed, “The conviction that all men are equal by reason of their natural dignity has been generally accepted. Hence, racial discrimination can no longer be justified.”

In his lifetime, Romero was called “a voice for the voiceless,” and his murder is widely believed to have been ordered by a political leader on the extreme right in El Salvador. Elevated to sainthood just two years ago, Pope Francis explained that his ministry “was distinguished by his particular attention to the most poor and marginalized.”

Romero said, “When the church hears the cries of the oppressed, it cannot but demonize the social structures that give rise to and perpetuate the misery from which the cry arises.”

He also stated, “I will not tire of declaring that if we want an effective end to violence, we must remove the violence that lies at the root of all violence. Structural violence, social injustice, exclusion of citizens from the management of the country, repression. All this is what constitutes the primal cause, from which the rest flows naturally.”

With unemployment at Depression-era highs, fear and sickness afoot and protests unfolding as a result of long-festering injustices, the words of John XXIII and Oscar Romero take on a special urgency. The naming of the two parishes after these champions of the dispossessed is particularly well timed.

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