After watching a movie about Archbishop Oscar Romero from El Salvador, watching my fellow parishioners prepare to leave the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle had a greater poignancy than I had imagined as I rushed down Connecticut Avenue.
Here were men, women, children all gathered on the steps of the Cathedral after the 1:00 PM Sunday Mass. Here was hope, enthusiasm, and love. It was a moment of wonderful fellowship.
Watching the signs and banners move from hand to hand, overhearing bits of conversation some in Spanish, some in English I was happy to be a part of this moment.
What a wonderful procession we made as we walked down Rhode Island Avenue. A child carrying a cross lead the procession. The American flag was there also, blowing this way and that way according to the wind.
The US Treasury Building was briefly our backdrop as our group merged with other groups united for this cause, immigration reform. We chanted in Spanish. We chanted in Spanish. We were able to see the Washington Monument in the distance. We were able to stop traffic, march across Constitution Avenue. We passed the remnants of Saturday's antiwar rally.
And as we marched onto the Mall, I could almost hear one of Archbishop Romero's homilies.
And, like everyone who has the smallest degree of foresight, the slightest capacity for analysis, the church has also to denounce what has rightly been called 'structural sin:' those social, economic, cultural, and political structures that effectively drive the majority of our people onto the margins of society.
(Archbishop Oscar Romero Aug. 6, 1977)
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