Vatican official says Archbishop Romero's sainthood cause 'unblocked'

[catholictiger]

catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1301787.htm

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family and the official promoter of the sainthood cause of the late Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador, said the process to beatify and eventually canonize the slain Salvadoran archbishop has been unblocked.

Archbishop Romero was shot March 24, 1980, as he celebrated Mass. The Congregation for Saints’ Causes authorized the opening of his cause in 1993. Often the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is asked to review the writings of sainthood candidates to ensure they are free of doctrinal error; many people working for Archbishop Romero’s cause described the review as “blocked” in the congregation from 2000 to 2005.

A miracle is not needed for the beatification of a martyr

 

[manualman]

Nobody willing to be named was willing to describe it as “blocked.” That says rumor and gossip to me…

Who’d be doing the “blocking” anyways? Bishop Romero was no Liberation Theology boogeyman to be feared by one faction, not a hard line reactionary to be feared by the other. What constituency would have a motive to “block” his cause???

 

[catholictiger]

Nobody willing to be named was willing to describe it as “blocked.” That says rumor and gossip to me…

Who’d be doing the “blocking” anyways? Bishop Romero was no Liberation Theology boogeyman to be feared by one faction, not a hard line reactionary to be feared by the other. What constituency would have a motive to “block” his cause???

just posting about the news.

 

[manualman]

Oh I’m not attacking you for posting it. I’m just commenting on the content as I see it.

Sorry if that wasn’t clear.

 

[Cojuanco]

Nobody willing to be named was willing to describe it as “blocked.” That says rumor and gossip to me…

Who’d be doing the “blocking” anyways? Bishop Romero was no Liberation Theology boogeyman to be feared by one faction, not a hard line reactionary to be feared by the other. What constituency would have a motive to “block” his cause???

The good Archbishop may not have been in sync with the heretical strands of Liberation Theology, but many of them strangely claim him as an icon. Also, certain persons overly suspicious of our Holy Mother Church’s teachings on social justice, who seem to see subversives under every bed, also seem to disapprove of what he stood for.

I would surmise that action was delayed less on his merits or demerits and more because previous Popes may have rightly or wrongly feared conflict over this. It is evident that the Holy Father now believes that such fears are in balance no longer warranted.

 

[Tsuwano]

Archbishop Paglia, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family and the official promoter of the sainthood cause of Archbishop Romero, obviously thought the process was blocked for some reason. We can only speculate at this point, but I’ve read that there has been debate as to whether Archbishop Romero can truly be described as a martyr for the faith. Some have claimed his assassination was political in nature and did not serve as a witness to Christian faith. I completely disagree with this assessment and personally recognize Archbishop Romero as a tremendous witness of Christ’s love for the poor. I believe Archbishop Romero died because he took his vocation as a shepherd of God’s people seriously and refused to compose himself with injustice. If there was a block to his canonization, I am grateful to God that it has been removed and rejoice that Archbishop Romero’s sacrifice is being recognized by the Church.

 

[choose_to_love]

@manual & everyone,

My understanding was that in addition to the “political death” vs. “specifically for the faith death” issue, there was a feeling that a recognition of sainthood would be used politically,as cojuanco alludes to. Of course, that is also on the rumor and gossip level of information. It may have come from John Allen, who is usually reliable.