These words from a prayer that is ascribed to Archbishop Oscar Romero, but which he actually neither wrote nor used, describe the life of a missionary. The murdered Archbishop of El Salvador, whom many believe to have been a martyr, would be in complete agreement with its sentiments,
‘We may never see the end results, but that is the
difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not
messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own.’

Romero never actually spoke these words and yet their humility reflects the holiness of the man who died 30 years ago on 24th March 1980, as he celebrated Mass in his cathedral in El Salvador.

Many books have described the life of the academic priest who reluctantly became an archbishop during San Salvador’s bloodiest period. His own Vicar General, Mgr Ricardo Urioste, recalled that, in protest against Romero’s appointment, he refused to attend the archbishop’s installation. His heart began to soften when their paths crossed shortly afterwards. ‘Help me!’ Those two words were all that Romero could say. Sometime later, Urioste heard Romero ask a beggar for the same advice he had sought from a meeting with his brother bishops, priests, and other pastoral ministers. ‘Help me!’

Many organisations working for social justice have taken Romero as their patron, but that is to narrow the importance of a man with a mission:
‘The Church can be Church only as long as it goes on being the Body of Christ. Its mission will be authentic only so long as it is the mission of Jesus in the new situations, the new circumstances of history... It is the Church's duty in history to lend its voice to Christ so that he may speak, its feet so that he may walk today's world, its hands to build the reign of God, and to offer all its members to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ.
Should the Church forget this identification with Christ, Christ would himself demand it of the Church, no matter how uncomfortable that might be, or how much loss of face that might entail.’ (8 June 1977)

Romero knew only too well that there is much more to life than merely ensuring people have food, drink and shelter. Human needs are not fulfilled merely by putting a water pump in a village or by providing a school with educational materials, although these are useful and necessary. Human beings are body and soul, and this is where the whole concept of ‘mission’ is so crucial to today’s world. ‘Mission’ feeds hearts and souls as well as bodies. It is ongoing until the end of time because ‘mission’ arises from our baptismal response to Jesus words ‘to go out into the whole world and proclaim the good news.’

In his homily for World Mission Sunday 1977, Archbishop Romero explained, simply and beautifully, the meaning and significance of the missions. He describes the function of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, of which Missio is its outreach for the support of the mission territories across the world. On the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero, Missio can offer no greater tribute than to leave him to explain how and why it exists.

‘In the first place what are the missions? The Second Vatican Council’s document on the missions ... explains to us that the missions are primarily an endeavour to go forth and evangelize, to establish the Church of Christ in those communities and lands where the Church does not exist. The concept of mission involves communicating the gospel message and organizing the Church in those countries or continents where no such organization exists.

Therefore the Church, in her great work of evangelization, is divided into two groups.

First, the organized Church. El Salvador, for example has five dioceses and is an area where the work of evangelization has achieved an organizational level. The institutional Church is visible and alive. There are five dioceses and no mission territory in El Salvador. On the other hand, those territories where no diocese has been organized are called mission territories. In Central America for example, in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, we have two territories that still have no diocese. In other countries, there are vast areas where the missionaries are directly dependent on the Sacred Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. This Sacred Congregation is the name that has been given to the department that assists in this ministry of bringing the Gospel to the whole world. A cardinal is in charge of this Congregation and he, together with personnel and missionaries from the Holy See and the mission territories, labour for the organization of the Church in these missionary lands. And so we direct our thoughts this morning to these missionary territories, where men and women and priests and religious and laity are trying to bring the Good News of the Gospel and organize a native hierarchy that has its own bishops and priests. They are trying to organize the Church in such a way that the proclamation of the Gospel will continue there as it does here in El Salvador - through the ministry of bishops and organized parishes.

These are the missions: they are not some invention of our time...

The ancient means of communication and those used by Saint Paul and the first Christians have now become modern means of communication: radio, airplane, automobile, etc. Today the missionaries use these means of communication and come to the missions bringing gifts ... They bring these gifts not only from the East, like the kings who came to adore Jesus, but from all the peoples of the world. My sisters and brothers, you can see that the Church is most beautiful, for the Church is composed of all these different areas that are organized into dioceses. Each diocese contributes its individual and autonomous values. The Church does not kill or stifle initiative.

...The corn festival in San Antonio de los Ranchos... is really a missionary scene for the Church speaks to those who plant corn and from the perspective of the gospel tells them that they are able to enlighten their paths of sadness with the joy of a celebration that utilizes the products of the earth.

In the same way the Church discovers the values of the people in Africa and Asia. She does not destroy them like other colonizers who eliminated these values of the native people. The Church is not a colonizer; rather the Church inspires the values that exist throughout the world. She gathers these values together and at the time of the presentation of the gifts prays, Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation, through your goodness we have this bread and wine to offer, fruit of the vine and work of human hands. Thus the Church gives value to this human labour that provides sustenance to the families of our campesinos [peasant farmers]...’

The mission of both Archbishop Oscar Romero and Missio is ‘to share faith and give life.’