As we near
the end of the month in which Archbishop Óscar A. Romero was recognized as a martyr and thus,
made eligible for beatification, no date has yet been announced for his
beatification ceremony. The delay is not
seen as anything but a logistical hold-up and the announcement is expected to
come soon. (In fact, the Vatican did
announce this week the dates for the beatification of the Peruvian churchmen
whose martyrdom was approved on the same day that Romero’s martyrdom was
approved.)
As time goes
by, it seems less likely that the Romero beatification date will coincide with
the 35th anniversary of Romero’s martyrdom (March 24—now, too soon) or Romero’s
birthday (August 15—too far off and, worse, in the middle of Rome’s
end-of-summer hiatus). If the
authorities were looking for another date with some significance, they might
consider one that appears to fall within the planning “sweet spot” and has
significance that Archbishop Romero himself might have approved. Sunday June 21, the date of the summer
solstice, will also mark the 45 anniversary of Romero’s episcopal ordination in
1970. Romero’s elevation to the
episcopate was organized by his friend Fr. Rutilio Grande, who was killed
shortly after Romero was named Archbishop in 1977, and whose beatification
cause was recently opened (photo).
Romero picked
June 21st for the ceremony in which he was ordained a bishop because of his
devotion to the Virgin Queen of Peace, the Patroness of his native San Miguel,
whose feast day is November 21, which Romero remembered every month of the
year. Five years later, the date would
figure prominently again in Romero’s life when, on June 21, 1975, the
Salvadoran army committed a peasant massacre at a hamlet called Las
Tres Calles, in
Romero’s rural diocese of Santiago de María.
The incident triggered an awakening in Romero to the brutal reality of
peasant life in El Salvador, which flourished more fully when he was
archbishop. June 21 was also the date of
Romero’s last audience with Pope Bl. Paul VI, which he recalled fondly in a pastoral letter.
Paul, Romero wrote, “confirmed our
episcopal service when, on that unforgettable June 21, he spoke to us with the tenderness
of a father [who] was already aware
of the approach of death” (the Pope passed away the following August 6).
Super Martyrio will continue to monitor developments
and provide an update every Friday regarding plans for the beatification, as
well as for commemorations of Romero's anniversary in March and his birthday in
August. And when there is no news to
report (like this week), I will console you with miscellaneous musings to pass
the time while we await real developments!
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