Yo, Myself & Ich

  As some of you might remember, my very first entry on this blog was about priest martyr Héctor Gallego, whom I cited as a strong personal role model. This time around, I come to you with yet another prominent Latin American Catholic figure, who was also known for standing on the side of those who were poor and marginalized, on the 42nd anniversary of his passing. The title already gives out it's Saint Óscar Romero, archbishop of San Salvador, capital of El Salvador, well-known for his sermons in defense of social justice and peace in the context of the Salvadoran Civil War. Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdames was born on August 15th, 1917, in Ciudad Barrios, located in the San Miguel department in the eastern part of El Salvador. He was the second of eight children, six brothers and two sisters, born to his parents Santos and Guadalupe. From an early age, his father taught him the skill of carpentry and he proved to be a great aprentice; however, the young Romero soon decided he wan...

Today, June 9th, 2021, marks the 50th anniversary of the unlikely martyrdom of an extraordinary man, one of my greatest inspirations both professionally and personally. I'm talking about Colombian-born Panamanian priest  Héctor Gallego , who on this day in 1971 bravely laid down his life fighting for a better world. I decided to inaugurate this blog by telling his amazing story. Jesús Héctor Gallego Herrera was born on January 7th, 1938 in Salgar, Colombia, the eldest of 11 siblings. His parents were Horacio Gallego and Alejandrina Herrera. Not very much is known about his childhood, other that the fact that, from a very young age, he showed a strong inclination towards priesthood. He followed his vocation and entered seminary in 1963. In 1965, at the age of 27, Héctor was informed by one of his fellow seminarians, a Panamanian, about a serious lack of priests in the newly formed Diocese of Veraguas, Panama, where only nine men were available to render spiritual services to 160,00...