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PDF versionAnticipation high ahead of Romero anniversary
Mar. 04, 2010
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.
Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes, who represents the political wing of the leftist rebels in El Salvador’s 1980-92 civil war, said when he was elected in March 2009 that he sought the “kind of government envisioned by Monseñor Romero,” including a commitment to the “option for the poor,” a phrase found in church documents and in liberation theology, which holds that the Gospel rejects the historic disequilibrium between privilege and wealth of the few and the vast poverty of the majority in many Latin American countries.
In a Jan. 17, 2010, statement, Funes formally apologized for the government’s role in human rights abuses during the civil war. Last November, he acknowledged official complicity in the 1989 murders of six priests, their housekeeper and her daughter on the campus of the Jesuits’ Central American University in San Salvador. Funes is widely expected to mark the Romero anniversary with a similar admission of government involvement in Romero’s death, clearing away any concerns that canonization might create a breach between the Vatican and the Salvadoran state.
Romero’s canonization could strengthen both Funes’ political and economic reforms and the church’s call for a process of truth and reconciliation, stalled by a general amnesty for war crimes that was built into the 1993 peace accords. Romero’s canonization would also help the church counter the wave of conversions of Latin America’s historically Catholic population to Pentecostal movements.
The cause for sainthood seemed on track in 2005 with formal verification from the Vatican that Romero’s writings contained no doctrinal errors and with strong support from Pope John Paul II, who had personally added Romero’s name to a list of slain church workers during a ceremony in Rome in May 2000 for contemporary martyrs.
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But John Paul’s death in 2005 and the election of Pope Benedict XVI seemed to slow the process over charges by some in the hierarchy that Romero is too closely tied to liberation theology’s emphasis on social transformation and church involvement in politics. While Benedict praised Romero in 2007 as a “great witness for the faith and a man of great Christian virtue who worked for peace,” he also permitted an aggressive probe of the writings of Jesuit Fr. Jon Sobrino, El Salvador’s most prominent liberation theologian and a key advisor to Romero in the final years of his life. Sobrino, a tireless promoter of Romero as an embodiment of the “church of the poor,” said in August 2009 that he feared Romero’s canonization would be delayed for political reasons and that his legacy would be watered down over time.
What happens -- or does not happen -- during the upcoming ceremonies in San Salvador will be closely watched for signs that the road to sainthood is either open or being extended. Romero, controversial in death as in life and already revered throughout the world, is likely to continue to influence the direction of both church and state in the Americas.
[Patrick Marrin, editor of Celebration, NCR’s sister publication, will be in El Salvador to cover the Romero anniversary.]
FYI, the Episcopal Church
FYI, the Episcopal Church already commemorates Romero in its calendar.
I pray that this be a
I pray that this be a reality!
Thank you for keeping this
Thank you for keeping this very important issue in front of our eyes here in the U.S. too, Pat.
Msgr. Romero still brings hope and a guiding light to those who carry the cause of the poor. The Vatican would do well to elevate this holy man and give affirmation to peace and justice work around the world. In this case no action from Rome will speak loudly.
Blessings on your journey.
God willing, I'll also be in
God willing, I'll also be in San Salvador for the 30th Anniversary as I was for the 25th, and we heard the constant chant during the outdoor Mass at the Salvador Del Mundo park: "Queremos obispos como Romero...Queremos obispos como Romero." I suspect that that popular demand is what is giving Rome reason to delay a decision until those who experienced Oscar Romero as both a human being and a saintly human being have gone to their reward, as well as those who participated in making life diffcult for him.
In the meantime, for those who can't join us in San Salvador let me recommend Scott Wright's recently released book: OSCAR ROMERO and The Communion of the Saints (Orbis, 2010), as I look forward to the primere showing of a new film produced by Notre Dame's Father Robert.... at the UCA Friday, 19 March, 2010.
Fr. Bernard Survil
Fr. Bernard! I recognize your
Fr. Bernard!
I recognize your name from a few years ago, you brought Bishop Gerardi
another Latin American martyr to my attention. I had never heard of him. I
am now sponsoring a little girl in Guatemala in his memory. I would likely
never heard of him if you hadn't mentioned him to me.
We already know that Romero
We already know that Romero is a saint. It only remains for the pope and Vatican to declare it publicly by canonizing him!!!
The Vatican should be ashamed
The Vatican should be ashamed of itself. Whether Archbishop Romero is canonized or not, neither adds or detract from the heroic witness he bore to the call of Christ to care for the poor, hungry, and oppressed. He took a bullet in the most sacred of moments knowing that it was coming. If Rome cares at all about it Latin American flock, it could nothing more than share the deep reverence and admiration of Archbishop Romero held by by poor who are looking for a champion in their midst of the unique social justice teachings of our Church. If his example is not a vivid demonstration of orthodoxy at its fundamental best, then nothing coming out of Rome deserve our attention.
. The 'voice of the people'
. The 'voice of the people' has already declared Romero a saint. As usual, the sensus fidelium shows the way, and the vatican is left behind, mired in legalisms which have nothing to do with living the gospel. I don't think even Jesus himself would escape a long investigation to determine whether he is qualified for sainthood.
This is all good & fine and I
This is all good & fine and I fully support sainthood for Romero...but when do we get some real, married (not in name only, or widowed) saints??
I was a journalist there, and
I was a journalist there, and suffered inside with the horrors of that time, yet saw also that there were those who were not afraid. What we learned from those years! How could any doctrinal error make any difference, when a man did what he did? Is the world not looking for, praying for, examples of those who have the courage to break with the people who commit the greatest error, of murder in the name of exploitation? It is not doctrine, but the life, the man, the living example, that is important. If the Vatican does not know this, they know nothing.
But the great masses of the Salvadorean people know, because he made Christ alive for so many of them in a time when danger was everywhere. No church or no authority can take that away.
Not only has Mons. Romero
Not only has Mons. Romero being an inspiration of Christian living, but it has touched the lives of so many more around the world. His witness and his writings has helped strenghthened the perennial tradition of Catholic Social Teachings. If Rome does not canonized this holy man, the people already have.
The beatification of Romero
The beatification of Romero would be a good news for the whole world. That should be done as soon as possible. The beatification of some good politicians too would encourage people to see in politics a way of improving human conditions.
Fat chance those Vatican fat
Fat chance those Vatican fat cats would entertain this request!
Beautiful article. Rome's
Beautiful article. Rome's canonization will add nothing to Msgr. Romero's legacy, but it will be a real blessing to the Roman Church.
I don't think they had
I don't think they had Beatifications, Devil's Advocates and Canonization when Peter and Paul and all the early Saints of the Church were acclaimed.
Let us, the People of God, proclaim Archbishop Oscar Romero a Saint by general acclamation and practice? Oscar Arnulfo Romero is a Saint!
Rome can catch up to our acclamation, or not, truth is truth!
When I read: "the Bishops
When I read:
"the Bishops have 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,"
I concluded thatRome has no time and no means to beatify (even less canonize) Romero, as the "Church" concentrates on her new traditi0n of canonizing popes.
especially that
Even though "Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes, who represents the political wing of the leftist rebels in El Salvador’s 1980-92 civil war, said when he was elected in March 2009 that he sought the “kind of government envisioned by Monseñor Romero,” including a commitment to the “option for the poor,” a phrase found in church documents"
which everybody knows are NOT REFORMED, as liturgy is, b ack to Vatican I.
Of course! It will
Of course! It will acknowledge what is! His was a life of integrity and certainly one to recall.
FYI, not only Latin America,
FYI, not only Latin America, dude:
" . . .the Gospel rejects the historic disequilibrium between privilege and wealth of the few and the vast poverty of the majority in many Latin American countries."
The Gospel rejects this everywhere.
Seen the USA lately, since its founding?
I tried to make a simple visit to ANY doctor's office, and even with medical insurance cards was told to go to the ER . . .
Let's read once more
Voice of the Voiceless: The Four Pastoral Letters and Other Statements
Love That Produces Hope: The Thought Of Ignacio Ellacuria
The Violence of Love
Oscar Romero: Reflections on His Life and Writings (Modern Spiritual Masters Series)
Archbishop Romero: Memories and Reflections
and all of the rest, please, and read them to me, please, who grow so old and tired.
frère charles du désert OSB OBLAT (Congrégation de Subiaco)
I truly appreciate the fact
I truly appreciate the fact that the Catholic Church is moving toward canonization of Bishop Romero. It is long overdue.
Let us not forget to recognize the 4 Church women who were assassinated in December of that same year and who by their deaths add their names to the list of martyrs who were killed in El Salvador. Sister Ita Ford, a Maryknoll Sister Maura Clarke, a Maryknoll, Sister Dorothy Kazel, an Ursuline and Jean Donovan, a lay woman from Cleveland.
With or without Rome's
With or without Rome's offical position, the Church of Latin America has already "canonized" this brave bishop who had the courage to change his attitudes and actions once he saw the great injustices that had been going on around him. Viva Santo Romero, rogai por nos.
Pe. Luis, CSSR
Solidarity with the poor and
Solidarity with the poor and voiceless of Latin America, indeed, of the
whole world, has not been since Jesus' time a crusade worth embarking upon
by the official hierarchical church. Archbishop Romero was an exceptional
exemplar who came around to implementing the teachings of Christ to the
ultimate degree of personal heroism and sanctity. I am certain that the
Faithful of El Salvador, as well as the beleaguered people of Honduras,
can rest assured that they have the steadfast intercession in Heaven of this
holy man. Would that the Vatican, on this 30th anniversary of his martyrdom,
might in a timely fashion arrive at the realization that he is worthy of
canonization.
Thanks too, to the many
Thanks too, to the many people in many countries who have fought, or prayed, for the Romero cause. While I have prayed to Romero as a saint, as I know many others have, for the last several years, rarely has the Church needed such a model to present to the world as much as it does today.
Many things have happened of which we are ashamed. Romero enables us to hold our heads high.
Why cannot the local Church
Why cannot the local Church proclaim its own saints like it used to be? After all Rome only grabbed the power in more recent times.
¡Ya es santo! The people have
¡Ya es santo!
The people have already spoken. He is their saint.
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