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| Francis addresses Brazilian slum with giant Romero painting overhead; Francis blesses likeness of Romero presented by the faithful; Romero banners at Francis' «Angelus» event at the Vatican. |
Let’s be frank: Pope Francis is the best thing to happen for
Óscar Romero. But let’s also be clear: the
reason why Francis is so good for the memory of the slain Salvadoran archbishop
(1917-1980) is not that Francis has advanced Romero’s beatification cause
(though he has) or that Francis has validated Romero by taking social stances
reminiscent of Romero (though he has also done that). The greatest thing Francis has done for
Romero is to attract the contempt of the right, showing the world that being
painted as a Marxist for espousing the social gospel is badge of honor, not a
cause of shame.
Beatification
“unblocked”
Romero supporters have much to be thankful for in Francis’
pontificate so far. Cardinal Jorge Mario
Bergoglio’s views about Romero were known in the inner circles before he was
even Pope. In May 2007, Cardinal Bergoglio
told
a Salvadoran cleric, “If I had been
pope, the very first thing I would have done is order the beatification of
Archbishop Romero.” According to
reports, the Argentine had come in second behind Joseph Ratzinger in the 2005
conclave. But on March 13, 2013, the
Argentine became Pope Francis, and on April 20 he let it be known that he had “unblocked”
the Romero beatification.
During his years as Archbishop
of Buenos Aires, Card. Bergoglio attended several ceremonies paying tribute
to Archbishop Romero in events organized by the Sant Egidio community of Argentina,
in the framework of the ecumenical commemoration of twentieth century martyrs.
For example, in the 2005 commemoration of Romero and others, held at the Buenos
Aires Cathedral, Card. Bergoglio railed against the “greatest evil that can happen to the Church of the Lord: spiritual
vulgarity—when we enter into accommodations with the schemes of this world.”
When Card. Bergoglio led a delegation of Argentine bishops to Rome in 2009,
they visited the Basilica of St. Bartholomew on Tiber Island, which pays
tribute to twentieth century martyrs, including Archbishop Romero.
In the year that he has been Pope, Francis
has continually discussed Romero and his beatification with a long line of
visitors. For example, in the days
around his inauguration, Francis received several guests who took up Romero
with the new pope, including the Anglican archbishop of York John Sentamu, who
handed Pope Francis a "Romero Cross" like the one Sentamu wears. In those first months, Francis met twice with
the Argentine Nobel Peace laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, and they discussed
Romero and the desirability of a positive result in his canonization process. That specific topic—Romero and his
canonization process—took center stage in several high
profile meetings, including with Salvadoran president Mauricio Funes, with
his successor Salvador Sánchez Cerén, and with the President of the Central
American Parliament who Francis assured that the canonization is “on the right path.”
When Pope Francis received a high ranking delegation of
Salvadoran bishops last month, and the topic of discussion was, again,
Archbishop Romero, there were widespread
rumors that a beatification announcement was imminent. Although that ultimately turned out to be premature
speculation, it showed how high the expectations for Romero have risen under
this pontificate, where a year before Francis’ election, the prospect of Romero’s
sainthood was being sized up by Vatican-watchers as a “lost
cause.”
‘A
poor Church, for the poor’
The elevation of the first Latin American to the See of
Peter represented a tectonic shift for the Church—and for the Romero
cause. As explained
by Italian Cardinals Achille Silvestrini and Andrea Cordero Lanza di
Montezemolo, Romero symbolizes “the Church that Pope Bergoglio wants to project
to the geographical and existential peripheries” in this Pontificate and there
is “an identity of thinking” between Archbishop Romero and the new Pope, who
announced he would like to see the Catholic Church be “a poor Church for the poor.”
The Argentine Pontiff has said that he chose the name
“Francis,” in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, because of the beloved saint’s
association with the poor and the environment.
“How I would like a Church which
is poor and for the poor!,” he declared within days of being elected. For
his part, Romero is best recalled as a champion of the poor, who sought to be
the voice of the voiceless: “We are never
ashamed to say the Church of the poor,” he insisted.
Because Francis hails from Latin America, says Honduran Cardinal
Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, a close advisor to the Pope, he
knows how the other half lives. “For us, poverty is concrete people, concrete
faces of people — people who suffer, people who are living in slums, people who
are in prison, people who are deported, people who are in refugee camps,” says
the prelate. Cardinal Rodríguez, an
avowed Romero admirer, says that it was “the
constant seeking of the will of God that led him to face bravely the structural
sin that was crushing the little ones of his dear country.” According to the Honduran cardinal, “Francis analyzes the economy from the point
of view of the poor which is in line with Jesus’s perspective.” Moreover, says Rodríguez, “Francis recognizes in those unjust
structures an illness of the system as such.” An illness which the Pontiff—like Archbishop Romero—consistently
denounces.
‘If
the world hate you, it hated Me before it hated you…’
Perhaps the greatest validation Pope Francis has brought
to Archbishop Romero is to put the slanders against the Salvadoran martyr in
context in the way that the Pontiff has become a lightning rod for
ideologues. For years, the greatest
stumbling block in Romero’s path to beatification was the perception that he
was Marxist-tainted or affiliated with the “socialist” current of Liberation
Theology. Francis has largely
obliterated that stain by showing that ideological critics will bristle even at
fair criticism of capitalism (they had similarly attacked
Paul VI), and are not too shy to attack even the Pope.
The American conservative radio talk show host Rush
Limbaugh dismissed Pope Francis’ criticism of capitalism as “pure Marxism coming out of the mouth of the pope.” Limbaugh accused Francis, among other things
of using Marxist terms like “unfettered capitalism” to describe the world
economy. “Unfettered capitalism? That
doesn’t exist anywhere. Unfettered
capitalism is a liberal socialist phrase to describe the United States.” Even a Harvard University’s Kennedy School of
Government scholar criticized Francis for supposedly “promoting envy” of the rich while discouraging entrepreneurship and
innovation. “Encouraging people to
measure themselves against others only leads to grief,” wrote
Lant Pritchett. “Resenting the
success of others is a sin in itself.”
Similarly, Loyola Marymount (a Catholic institution) professor David
Byrne admitted
that he “cringed” at the echoes of
Liberation Theology in the Pope’s exhortation «Evangelii
Gaudium».
Of course, rightwing extremists had branded Romero (whose
middle name was Arnulfo—after St. Arnulf of Soissons, upon whose feast day he
was born) “Marxnulfo” and accused him
of everything from stirring up class hatred to actively leading a Communist
rebellion (seriously). The smears have
nothing to do with truth or honest analysis, and everything to do with the
sting when denunciation strikes a chord:
If the world hate you, know
that it hated Me before it hated you. If
you were of the world, the world would love its own, but because you are not of
the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates
you.” (John
15:18-19.)
In light of these words of Jesus, the revulsion from
certain quarters inspired by Romero and the Pope are no cause for shame, but
rather they are confirmations of authenticity and badges of courage. By attracting the same venom and contempt as the abused Salvadoran, Pope Francis is helping the Catholic world to understand Romero.
