Hundreds of local Latino residents turned out Sunday evening for a special procession, Mass and celebration of the first Salvadoran saint at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in Riverhead.
Almost a thousand community members filled the pews and stood on side corridors, many dressed in traditional Salvadoran blue-and-white garb, while others waved the Salvadoran flag and wore T-shirts and carried postcards with the image of Archbishop Oscar Anulfo Romero, a priest who brutally murdered in 1980 for speaking against a corrupt government and fighting for social justice. He was canonized by Pope Francis on Oct. 14. (See prior story.)
Parishioners, many visibly moved, listened to Father Marvin Navas, a native of El Salvador, tell the story of Romero. He urged Catholics to follow the Saint’s teachings by helping the poor, as well as being a voice for the voiceless.
Long Island’s El Salvador’s General Consul Miguel Antonio Alas Sevillano—a special guest at Sunday’s event— said that this past week he has attended numerous events all throughout Long Island honoring Saint Romero. He said that Romero “lives in all of us” and that people from all church denominations, races and countries identify with the Saint’s message.
“There’s a reason why Salvadorans are either young or old, there was an entire generation in the middle that was nearly wiped out,” he said. “Our country has suffered enormously and Saint Romero was the voice that denounced loud and clear the injustices that were happening.”
Alas Sevillano said that if Saint Romero lived today he would be denouncing the policies of Donald Trump’s government, specifically the separation of children from their parents and the cancellation of the Temporary Status Program. Currently 14,700 Salvadorans living on Long Island are TPS beneficiaries, according to a Suffolk Department of Economic Development and Planning analysis.
North Fork Spanish Apostolate executive director Sister Margaret Smyth gave a final message from the pulpit telling a story from the final days of Monsignor Romero.
Romero, said Smyth, heard of a little town that even though it had been ravaged by the war and its residents were especially hit hard by the violence of that time, they were going to do a small celebration, and he decided to go an join them.
“Even amidst of all the suffering and pain, Saint Romero was moved by the people of that town who took some time to dance and celebrate, at least for a little while, and have some hope in their lives,” Smyth said. “Likewise, there are many Latinos living today in this country whose families are separated, who are going through many difficult situations and they too deserve, at least for today, to have some hope in their lives,” she said.
The Mass ended with a celebration in the parish’s basement community room. Traditional dances were performed courtesy of Greenport’s St. Agnes Church group “Rabin Ajau.” A band played Salvadoran songs and ‘tamales’ (a corn dough filled with stewed hen or meat and wrapped in plantain leaves and boiled) were served.
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