Ending Violence – Oscar Romero

We visited San Francisco at the end of February in 2020. Little did we know what would happen a couple of weeks later when the world went into the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. My dad was so pleased that we were able to visit the city where he was born and would later earn his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of San Francisco in 1964. Visiting USF and Balmy Street murals visit were two of the many highlights of the visit. This mural was one of the many murals we experienced.

On Archbishop Saint Oscar Romero’s feast day, I believe his quote is particularly appropriate given the state of this nation and world.

I will not tire of declaring that if we really 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. – Archbishop Oscar Romero (Homily on September 23, 1979)

Violence is never an answer and as the quote attributed to Mohandas Gandhi says, “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”