JUBILEE YEAR for the CENTENNIAL of BLESSED
ROMERO, 2016 — 2017
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Ahead of
2015, the pieces had so come together for Archbishop Romero’s beatification
that I was not only able to correctly predict that it would happen that year, but also the time when the
announcement would come. A short two
years later, the stars appear to be aligned again such that I can try my hand
at prognostication with respect to his canonization—the final step in the
saint-making process. Specifically, my
prediction is that Romero’s canonization will be announced this year. A
second, more qualified prediction, is that Romero’s canonization will actually take place this year. It may happen, but it is less certain. Let me explain.
[See also: 2016, the Romero Year]
First, let me
set the scenery. 2017 marks the
centennial of Romero’s birth, so people will be talking about Romero and calls
for his canonization will be a natural part of that discussion. More importantly, a presumptive miracle has
been reported and is being investigated by church authorities, with the early
word being that it looks likely to be approved.
That has set San Salvador abuzz with speculation that a canonization
announcement is imminent, with supporters sounding as confident as they did at
the beginning of 2015 when Romero was beatified.
Msgr. Rafael
Urrutia, vice-postulator of the cause, tweeted a picture of Romero on New
Year’s Eve with the caption “May we
celebrate his canonization in 2017.”
San Salvador Auxiliary Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chavez went a step further,
predicting on January 2nd that the Salvadoran Church would receive a definitive
status update on the cause from Pope Francis himself when the Salvadoran
bishops make their “ad limina” visit
to the Pontiff in March. The date of
their visit will even be March 24, the anniversary of Romero’s martyrdom, which
is also his feast day. Obviously, the
confidence expressed by the men best positioned to know the precise status of
the cause is a primary indicator for the rest of us.
Three
critical markers throughout the year will be: March 24, for the reasons
stated by Bishop Rosa; May 9 – 12, when the Latin American
bishops hold their general assembly in San Salvador to honor Romero; and August
15, the 100th anniversary of Romero’s birth.
The March “ad limina” visit is worth watching
closely, no doubt. The last “ad limina” visit by the Salvadoran
bishops, with Pope Benedict XVI in February 2008, generated Romero-related
headlines when Benedict told the bishops that, in El Salvador, the gospel had been “preached fervently by Pastors full of love
for God such as Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero.” The references will undoubtedly be more
emphatic during this visit with a pope widely seen as a kindred spirit of
Romero, on a date so closely associated with Romero, on his centennial
year.
But it seems
unlikely that the miracle investigation would be wrapped up by then, such that
the pope would be in a position to make a definitive canonization announcement
to the Salvadoran bishops. Take, for
instance, the Mother Teresa miracle approval, for comparison. Mother Teresa received, no one would dispute,
the fast track treatment, starting with the waiver of the five year hold after her
death, right through the desire to have her canonization take place during the
Jubilee Year of Mercy. Nevertheless, in
Mother Teresa’s case, it took six months from the opening of the diocesan
inquiry on the miracle for her canonization in June 2015 through the
promulgation of the decree approving the miracle in December 2015. A similar trajectory would seem to be Blessed
Romero’s best-case scenario.
For that
reason, a definitive announcement would appear unlikely to be ready either in
March or even in May, when the Latin American bishops descend upon San Salvador
for their meeting. There had been some
speculation that Francis could make a hastily announced visit to the meeting,
to mark the ten-year anniversary of an earlier meeting at Aparecida, Brazil,
presided by Pope Francis, and to canonize Romero in San Salvador. But that’s impossible given the announced
papal agenda for the year, which has the Pope visiting Portugal May 9 – 12;
those dates are pretty much set in stone, because they correspond to another
important centennial, the Marian apparitions at Fatima. So, March or May both seem unrealistic.
Which leaves
us with August 2017. That date seems
workable. It would provide enough time,
using the Mother Teresa “fast track” model, to have the miracle certified, so
that an announcement could be made by the date of Romero’s centenary (August
15). Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the
postulator of the cause, is scheduled to give a talk on Romero in London on August 12—it will be interesting
to see what he says. Then, the
canonization could happen at the end of the year—perhaps in Rome at the papal
mass for Our Lady of Guadalupe?—or in El Salvador next year.
Accordingly,
for these reasons, the most likely scenario seems to me to be that we will hear
grand, lofty praises for Romero in March and May, and perhaps prefatory
announcements—but no final decision regarding his canonization until August.
(Prediction #1.) Of course, I could be happily
wrong, and we may hear an announcement in March or May and, in that case, the
ceremony could conceivably take place on or around the actual centenary.
(Prediction #2.) And, the Pope is also
free to waive the miracle requirement, though I do not think that is likely,
but if he does then all bets are off and we could see things move quite
dramatically.
In any case, 2017
is shaping up to be a big year for the Salvadoran martyr and for his companion,
Rutilio Grande who was killed three years earlier, and whose beatification is
likely to be approved this year, probably in tandem with Romero’s cause.
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