June 1, 2015
Although civil war ended in El Salvador in 2002, violence still runs rampant in this smallest and most densely populated of Central American Countries.
But there is a light shining through the darkness in the beatification of Archbishop Oscar Romero.
Chris Donahue, president of Paulist Productions, recently visited El Salvador for a special screening of Paulist Pictures’ 1989 film Romero. The screening was in celebration of the upcoming beatification of Archbishop Romero arranged by the Secretary of Culture at San Salvador’s Museum of Anthropology.
“The film is as relevant today as it was 25 years ago when it was released,” said Mr. Donahue. Father [Elwood] Kieser, CSP, made a bold choice to tell this story.”
Unable to get it made as a movie-of-the–week, Father Kieser raised funds, hired an excellent writer, John Sacret Young (China Beach, West Wing), director John Duigan (Wild Sargasso Sea), and cast including Raul Julia (Kiss of the Spider Woman, Adam’s Family) and then released it as a theatrical film.
Archbishop Romero openly opposed the Salvadoran government for its tyrannical rule during the late 70s. This eventually led to his assassination in 1980.
Though much has changed in El Salvador, much has also remained the same.
“Violence, poverty and corruption are still a big part of daily life,” said Mr. Donahue, “but one can also find hope in the number of young people that were visible in the crowd of 300,000 at the beatification (May 23).”
Romero is available on DVD through Vision Video and online at Amazon Instant Video and iTunes.