Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis

by Jonathan Blitzer

Each Romero sermon was a virtuoso literary feat in three sections. The first was the most directly theological, a ranging biblical exegesis interspersed with contemporary commentary. Next came a section that he called “The Life of the Church,” with announcements about church initiatives and activities, many of which were coming under direct threat from the death squads. But it was the final part, which Romero titled “The Events of the Week,” that drew the most attention. Part forensic analysis of state terror and part legal indictment, it was, above all, an impassioned personal plea to the government for mercy. Here the sermon grew dense with information about the violence and mayhem overtaking the country. For half an hour, sometimes longer, he would methodically list the names of people who’d been killed or disappeared, the dates of murders and mass arrests, and the locations of recent crackdowns.