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| The Bishops of El Salvador in the Cathedral of San Salvador. |
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Four bishops in the Vatican with a dual purpose: the
altars, and the Pope in El Salvador in 2017 for the canonization.
The canonization of the two Johns (John XXIII and John
Paul II) may be the prelude to an Oscar. Operation sanctification for Romero,
assassinated in 1980 and propelled to the altars by a fame of martyrdom that
has only grown in the successive years, finds four Salvadoran bishops simultaneously
in the Vatican to obtain recognition – by 2017, within three years – of the holiness
of Romero. The plan is bold for two reasons: first because Romero has not even
been beatified yet, and because it seems that the prelates will ask Pope
Francis to go to El Salvador to celebrate the great event personally.
The 4 prelates in Rome to meet Pope Francis on May 9 are
the Archbishop of San Salvador, José Luis Escobar Alas; José Elías Rauda
Gutiérrez, Bishop of Chalatenango, who presided over the Mass for the official
celebration of the XXXIV anniversary of the death of Romero; Elías Samuel
Bolaños Avelar, Bishop of Zacatecoluca, who presided over the celebration in
2013 and accompanied Archbishop Escobar "ad limina" to visit Benedict
XVI in 2008; in that year the Pope Emeritus quoted Romero as an exemplary
evangelist. Bolaños had also accompanied Escobar to the beatification of John
Paul II in 2011. The last member of the delegation is Luis Morao Adreazza (Italian
born), Bishop of Chalatenango, in whose territory lies the rural "Monsignor
Romero University."
We do not forget that 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of
the birth of Romero, on August 15, 1917, and the church of El Salvador will
begin the countdown to the celebration with the commemoration of three theme
years. The first will run from August 2014 to the same month of 2015 and will
have the theme "Romero, man of God." The year 2015-2016 will be
devoted to "Romero, man of the Church," while 2016-2017 has the theme
"Romero, Servant of the Poor." It is not out of the realm of possibility that this 'triduum' can begin with some words from the reigning pontiff.
The bishops visiting Francis are armed with a letter
signed by all the bishops of El Salvador expressing their unanimous support for
Romero’s canonization in time for his centenary. What certainly is novel is the
fact that the four bishops are in Rome at the same time to talk to the Pope
about Romero outside the calendar of "ad limina" visits for the
Episcopal Conference of El Salvador.
Pope Francis knows that Romero is the most important
cause of canonization for Latin America and it appears that the pope is very
involved behind the scenes. “The Pope is
more motivated than we are,” said the auxiliary bishop of San Salvador,
Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chavez, in an interview on ‘Radio La Chevere.’‘ “That’s a bit of an overstatement, but it is
marvelous to see that he has no doubt about who Romero was, and that he is
issuing orders in the Vatican so that all will cooperate so that the process
speeds up.”
Francis’ orders include directives to various Vatican
departments to send all material about Romero to the Congregation for the
Causes of Saints, which recently took over the entire dossier for the
canonization of the prelate. “The
documentation that was missing is now in the hands of the Congregation of the
Saints,” Jesus Delgado, former Secretary to Romero told ContraPunto, a
Salvadoran newspaper: “The Pope recently
issued the order that everything relating to Archbishop Romero in any
congregation be sent to the Congregation of the Saints,” said Delgado. The documents involved “could be of a secondary or tertiary nature, but it was necessary. There could be an instance where some
congregation has some documentation, like the Congregation for Bishops,”
said Delgado.
This suggests that Francis wants Romero’s positio or final document to be
finalized and for all relevant documentation to be ready for review by the
commissions of theologians and then cardinals who will need to approve a
finding that Romero is a martyr. Such a
finding could pave the way for Romero to be beatified as early as March of next
year, which will mark the 35th anniversary of his March 24, 1980
assassination. Msgr. Delgado said that
he saw that goal as attainable.
If Romero can be beatified by next year, Msgr. Rosa
Chávez has no doubt that the martyr bishop can be canonized by 2017, the
centennial year. “I calculate that we
will have Romero on the altars by 2017,” Rosa Chávez remarked. Within three years?—he was asked by the news radio.
“Three years, tops,” he replied.
If Salvadorans able achieve this goal, it could be the
fastest canonization since the time of St. Francis of Assisi. Although Romero
has been in process since 1994, the fact is that his positio has yet to be submitted to the Congregation for the Causes
of Saints. Even Saint John Paul II,
whose canonization has been remarked for its speed, took six years (from 2008
to 2014) to go from the submission of the positio
to the conclusion of the process.
However, even the lightning speed with which the process
would be concluded might not be the most ambitious aspect of the three year
plan for Archbishop Romero. It is
rumored that the letter the bishops are handing to Francis also includes an
invitation to come to El Salvador in 2017—but no one will verify that in
public. “There are other things in the letter that cannot be revealed at the
moment,” was all Rosa Chávez would say about it on the Salvadoran news
radio.
The inhabitants of the small Central American country
have good reason to hope. Who does not remember the (informal) promise made
by Francis to go back to Latin America in 2017? Last year, at the Shrine of
Aparecida, Brazil, he said he would be back in South America in 2017 for the
300th anniversary of the apparition of the Virgin. Fortunately, Romero ‘s
birthday falls on the day of the Feast of the Assumption.
