EUROPE/ITALY - A week dedicated to Archbishop Romero and the Missionary Martyrs of every continent

Rome (Agenzia Fides) – On March 24, 1980, Archbishop Oscar A. Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, was assassinated while celebrating Mass. Since 1993, this date was chosen by the Missionary Youth Movement of the Pontifical Mission Societies of Italy to be dedicated each year to all the missionaries killed in the world, with a "Day of Prayer and Fasting in Remembrance of Missionary Martyrs." The initiative this year is especially dedicated to the memory of Archbishop Romero, on the 30th anniversary of his assassination (see Fides 9/3/2010).
Some initiatives taking place in Rome this week, dedicated to Archbishop Romero and all the missionaries who gave their lives for the Gospel, have been reported to Fides. The "Diocesan Vigil in Memory of the Missionary Martyrs,” promoted by the European Cooperation Mission of the Diocese of Rome, will be held in the Basilica of San Lorenzo Outside the Walls, in Rome, at 8:45pm on Sunday. March 21, chaired by the Bishop Armando Brambilla. Archbishop Joseph Coutts, Bishop of Faisalabad in Pakistan, will present his testimony.
On Tuesday, March 23 at 6:30, in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, Cardinal Sepe, Archbishop of Naples, will preside at the Eucharistic Celebration sponsored by the Sant'Egidio Community.
March 24, there will be a Mass presided by Father Camillo Maccise, former Superior of the Union of Superiors General (USGI) in the Parish of St. Joseph Moscati in Cinecittà (at 8pm). On March 25, at 5pm, at the "Bishop Luigi Di Liegro" Hall of the Province of Rome (Via IV Novembre), there will be a meeting on "Church and Society in Latin America" and a narrative play in memory of John XXIII and Oscar Romero.
On March 26, there will be an Ecumenical Prayer Vigil in the Church of San Marcello on Via del Corso (at 7pm), led by Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chavez, Auxiliary Bishop of San Salvador, during which all the martyrs of the world will be remembered. Sunday, March 28, Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chavez will preside at a concelebrated Mass for the Latin American community in Rome at the Parish of Santa Lucia, at 5pm. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 20/3/2010)