This probably passed
unnoticed by some.
Pope Approves Martyrdom Declaration for Oscar
Romero, Slain Salvadoran Archbishop
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, FEB. 3, 2015
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis decreed
Tuesday that slain Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero was killed in 1980 out of
hatred for his Catholic faith, approving a martyrdom declaration that sets the
stage for his beatification.
Francis, the first Latin American pope, approved
the decree honoring one of the heroes of Latin American Christians at a meeting
with the head of the Vatican's saint-making office.
Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador,
was gunned down by right-wing death squads March 24, 1980 while celebrating Mass.
A human rights campaigner, Romero had spoken out against repression by the
Salvadoran army at the beginning of the country's 1980-1992 civil war between
the right-wing government and leftist rebels.
His assassination presaged a conflict that
killed nearly 75,000.
Romero's sainthood cause had been held up
by the Vatican for years out of concern over his perceived association with
liberation theology, the Latin American-inspired Catholic theology that holds
that Jesus' teachings require followers to fight for social and economic
justice.
Under then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the
Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith launched a crackdown on
liberation theology, fearing what were seen as its Marxist excesses.
Francis was no fan of liberation theology,
but his sympathies — concern for the poor, the marginalized and for social
justice issues — are very much those of Romero, who like Francis was a
conservative at his core.
Over the summer, Francis told reporters
that Romero's case had been "blocked out of prudence" by the
congregation, but that it had been "unblocked" because there were no
more doctrinal concerns.
No date for the beatification has been
set. Francis has all but ruled out celebrating it himself, saying recently that
it would be up to the head of the saint-making office, Cardinal Angelo Amato,
and the prelate who for decades has spearheaded Romero's cause, Monsignor
Vincenzo Paglia, to decide who would get the honor.
Paglia was to meet with reporters
Wednesday to discuss the historic case.
Unlike regular candidates for
beatification, martyrs can reach the first step to possible sainthood without a
miracle attributed to their intercession. A miracle is needed for canonization,
however.
Traditionally, the church has restricted
the martyr designation to people who were killed out of hatred for the Catholic
faith. Romero's case lagged in part over questions about whether he was killed
for his politics, or for his faith.
The decree signed Tuesday by Francis makes
clear that Romero was a martyr in the classic sense, killed out of hatred for
the faith.
But in discussing Romero's cause this past
summer, Francis suggested that the definition of martyr could be expanded.
Martyrs are typically killed in acts of anti-Catholic persecution, such as those
slain during the Spanish civil war.
Francis told reporters during an airborne
press conference that, with reference to Romero, he wanted theologians to study
if someone who is killed for "doing the work for the other that Jesus
commands" could also be considered a martyr.
