As holy defender of God’s rights and of his images, the church
must cry out. It takes as spittle in its face, as lashes on its back,
as the cross in its passion, all that human beings suffer, even
though they be unbelievers…Whoever tortures a human being,
whoever abuses a human being, whoever outrages a human
being abuses God’s image, and the church takes as its own
that cross, that martyrdom.
Oscar Romero from The Violence of Love