Four men were killed by death squads in El Salvador decades ago. Now, as the martyrs are closer to official sainthood, Salvadorans in the U.S. hope the designation could inspire the church to center the poor and marginalized.
Commentary: Perhaps those pastors who align themselves with a leader who makes an idol of power and demeans anyone who gets in his way will have a conversion. Archbishop Óscar Romero started out as a conventional, even conservative bishop who did little to disturb the status quo.
Declaring Pope Paul VI and martyred Salvadoran Archbishop Óscar Romero saints of the global Catholic Church, Pope Francis said the two prelates show that Christians are called not to take "half measures" but to strive for holiness, even sometimes at the risk of their own safety.
Listen: Pat Marrin talks about Óscar Romero's legacy and his connection to Pope Paul VI. GSR national correspondent Dan Stockman shares the story of Catherine Kasper, founder of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, and others to be canonized Oct. 14.
Conventional wisdom has it that Archbishop Romero was dramatically transformed into a defender of the oppressed when his friend Fr. Rutilio Grande was killed. Conventional wisdom is gravely mistaken.
Commentary: Martyrdom was once a very restricted idea, but today we recognize that Christian faith must influence all we do — and Archbishop Romero exemplified that.
Mercy Sr. Ana María Pineda, a theologian at Santa Clara University, spoke to NCR about the friendship between Archbishop Óscar Romero and Jesuit Fr. Rutilio Grande, about Romero's spiritual life and the meaning of his pending sainthood.
Pope Francis has expressed strong support for the canonization of Fr. Rutilio Grande, the martyred Jesuit who is said to have inspired Blessed Oscar Romero.
