Could Óscar Arnulfo Romero be beatified soon?

Mgr. O. Arnulfo Romero

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints has been examining Romero’s cause for beatification since 1996 but has come up against more than one hurdle

Giorgio Bernardelli Milan Now that the Holy See has a Latin American Pope is it Rome’s time for a “San Romero de América”? The Pontifical Institute for Foreign Mission’s magazine MissiOnLine.org asked this question, recalling that Sunday marks 33 years since the assassination of the Archbishop of San Salvador. He was killed by a commando of one of El Salvador’s paramilitary death squads whilst celebrating Mass. A bloody civil war raging in the country at the time.
 
In its article, MissiOnLine.org quotes an important witness: the 70 year old Auxiliary Bishop of San Salvador, Gregorio Rosa Chávez, one of Mgr. Romero’s closest collaborators. In the mass he celebrated in San Salvador cathedral on Sunday, he speculated that Romero’s beatification could be near: “I know Bergoglio personally – he said – and I know he is absolutely convinced that Romero is a saint and a martyr. Everything points to his beatification being on the cards, although we follow God’s time frame which is not the same as ours.”
 
The Congregations for the Causes of Saints has been examining Romero’s beatification cause since 1996. Despite El Salvador’s Bishops’ Conference has consistently asked for its quick examination, the process for the recognition of his beatification has been slowed down by a number of obstacles: the Vatican seemed eager not to turn Romero’s beatification into the restoration of the theology of liberation. It is worth remembering, however, that in 2000, John Paul II explicitly mentioned the name of the archbishop who was assassinated in San Salvador during a commemoration ceremony in honour of the martyrs of the 20^th century in the Coliseum, one of the key moments of the Jubilee.
 
Pope Francis – who is not part of the Liberation Theology movement but is aware just the same of the love which Latin American poor feel for Romero – could play a key role in helping his cause for beatification. This rite would make Romero’s veneration – which is already taking place across the Continent – official. The anniversary of his death falls on Palm Sunday, when during the Pope’s Palm Sunday mass, everyone expects Bergoglio to announce his attendance at the World Youth Day next July. This will make his first apostolic visit to his homeland, Latin America, official. In a context like this, it would not be surprising if Pope Francis decided to mention Archbishop Romero on Sunday as well.