Rob Kall:
That's a beautiful quote.
Staughton Lynd:
Well I'm glad you respond to that metaphor as I do. And it was extraordinary, because El Salvador
-- you know, this was that time in Latin America when in almost every country
there was an armed Guerrilla uprising.
As, for example, there was also in neighboring Guatemala, where our
daughter now lives. And Romero would say
to young men and women who were into the Revolutionary Movement, he said, "Of
course I can't use a gun, but maybe I could be helpful bringing in the bodies or
taking care of the wounded." And it struck
me, because when I was drafted way back at the time of the Korean war, I felt I
didn't want to exempt myself as a goodie-goodie Quaker, so I asked to be the
very same thing Romero spoke of, a non-combatant medic. I just have a lot of identification with the
guy.
Rob Kall:
Well, you cite in your book - one of your sub-headings is, in the
chapter about Romero is "Life with 'The Least of These.'" You say, "Anecdotes abound as to how MonseÃ...ˆor
Romero lived out day by day the instructions of Matthew 25 about living with
'The Least of These.'" And think that this and the anecdote you give
describe's it: how he said he would take more time with the campesinos than
with the Bishops and the top people, because the top people had cars and easy
ways to get around, and the campesinos had to do the most effort to get tot
talk to him.
Staughton Lynd:
Yes. And I know exactly the
anecdote you have in mind, where he showed up at the Diocesan headquarters: all of the Bishops (he was now
Archbishop) were waiting for him, but there was one woman sitting in the
hall. And he said "Has anyone responded
to you?" And before you knew it, they
were walking up the hall together and his (Romero's) secretaries were saying
"Why, all the Bishops are waiting for you! "
And then (just to repeat your quotation) he said "Look. They all have cars (laughs). The priests have
buses. I don't know how this lady made
it here, she may not even have had anything to eat yet, but apparently someone
in her family is missing, and I'm going to finish my talk with her." I love it. (laughs)
Rob Kall:
Yes. It's the perfect example.
You talk about
unions, and you talk about how unions became top down, and how that was a
problem. Can we shift over to the unions
no w?
Staughton Lynd:
Yes, sure! Did you want me to
comment on that?
Rob Kall:
Yes. You know, there's a lot in
here -- you say "How did the new trade union movement become a top down
bureaucratic affair that caused me to describe rank and file labor activists in
Youngstown as brokenhearted lovers?"
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