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A woman carries an image of the late Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero during a march in San Salvador Oct. 29. (CNS/Reuters/Luis Galdamez)

Published statements from both the church and the government in El Salvador are raising hopes that the 30th anniversary of the death of Archbishop Oscar Romero may occasion an official announcement of his beatification.

San Salvador Archbishop José Luis Escobar Alas told a press conference Feb. 7 that the bishops of El Salvador had written to Rome to ask that Romero be canonized “as soon as possible.” Escobar cautioned that he had received no official word from the Vatican, but said the bishops would like to be able to give everyone the good news that Romero was declared “Blessed” on the anniversary day. Romero was assassinated while saying Mass on March 24, 1980.

Residents recover their belongings from their house destroyed by a major earthquake in Pelluhue, Chile, Feb. 28. (CNS/Ivan Alvarado, Reuters)

Two days after a massive earthquake in Chile that has killed more than 700 people, response efforts by Catholic organizations and church leaders are already underway.

Catholic relief organization Caritas Internationalis reported that Bishop Alejandro Goic, president of the Chilean bishops' conference, said that parishes and local Caritas centers have already begun moving to help those most affected by the quake.

Caritas Chile, the national arm of the international organization, has offices in 23 different areas already providing food and other relief. The first emergency aid is being distributed in Maule and Bío Bío, the regions most affected by the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the country Feb. 27.

SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Five years after the murder of U.S.-born Sister Dorothy Stang, a man accused of ordering her killing will face his third trial.

Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura, nicknamed Bida, will begin a new trial March 31. He remains in jail following a court order that he return to prison because of the power he wields in the region where the crime occurred.

A poster of the film 'Avatar'

SEOUL — Korean theologians have differed with the Vatican over the blockbuster movie Avatar saying the film holds a message against greed.

Vatican publications denounced Avatar for pandering to “all those pseudo-doctrines that turn ecology into the religion of the millennium.”

Father John Song Yong-min, theology professor of Incheon Catholic University, said that the message of the film was not so serious or dangerous as to shake or confuse the faithful.

“The Church teaches God’s revelation through Jesus which is quite different from the movie’s view on divinity.

“But as God is an unknowable mystery, and such a mystery can be differently expressed according to cultures, so there is room for us to understand Him through the Holy Spirit as ’spiritual energy’,” he said.

The film’s action takes place on Pandora, a utopian planet where an alien tribe has been living in harmony with nature until humans arrive to exploit resources there.

“It is true that the movie contrasts economic development with the preservation of nature. In that we can read a message,” Father Song says.