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JUBILEE YEAR for the CENTENNIAL of BLESSED
ROMERO, 2016 — 2017
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For the tenth
and probably the last time, here is the customary review of the top ten developments
relating to Oscar Romero from the year that is about to end.
1. The Centenary
The predominant
event in relation to Romero this year has surely been the commemoration of the centenary of his birth. On the one hand, there is
everything that has to do with the institutional observation of the milestone.
The Latin American Bishops’ Conference (CELAM), the Episcopal Secretariat of
Central America and Panama (SEDAC), the Catholic and Anglican churches in England, and other private churches in the
United States and elsewhere have organized commemorative events. But aside from
this, the one hundred years of Archbishop Romero has left us a new reflection
on his legacy that looks beyond his martyrdom to a certain model of a new way to be a bishop, which takes on greater importance in
the context of the teachings of the Bergoglio papacy. In a message to SEDAC, Pope Francis urged the
bishops of the region to “follow the
example of Blessed Oscar Romero, to commit yourselves more and more to ‘Feel
and Cause to Feel with the Church,’ so that the love of Jesus and the
commitment to solidarity with the poorest and most excluded grows among the
faithful of your lands.”
2. The Miracle
The Vatican has
been studying a miracle through the intercession of Blessed
Romero to complete the process of his sanctification. It is “a woman from El Salvador who was in the
seventh month of her pregnancy and was at risk of dying and losing her own
child due to a serious complication,” Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the
postulator of the case, explained in March. “Her friends prayed to Blessed Romero, and after a few weeks the woman
not only did not die, but she was able to give birth to her son, the medical
records, in the opinion of the doctors document, an extraordinary and
miraculous event.” Sources in the Church say that the evaluation “seems to be going very well, proceeding in a
good way.”
3. The Cardinal
On another
front, the appointment to the college of Cardinal of auxiliary
bishop Gregorio Rosa Chavez, a “disciple” of Romero, has been recognized as a papal
hommage to the legacy of the
Salvadoran martyr.
4. The Holy Year
In relation to
the Romero centenary, the Salvadoran Church decreed a jubilee year, which has entailed
several activities, including a massive pilgrimage to the small town where
Romero was born, tours of his relics inside and outside of El Salvador, and others.
5. «Ad limina apostolorum»
Visit
The Salvadoran
bishops visited Pope Francis in March. Naturally, the
subject of Romero—both his canonization and the need to imitate him—dominated
the meeting.
6. The doctoral proposal
The idea of
promoting Romero as one of the “doctors of the Church” arose from Fr. Robert Pelton, at the
annual seminars organized by the University of Notre Dame in the USA.
7. The London indult
An unusual sign
of Romero’s universality, even as a blessed, was the decision of the
Congregation for Divine Worship to grant an “optional memorial” to celebrate Romero at Saint George’s
Cathedral Southwark (London), every March 24.
8. New category of saints
/ Stanley Rother Beatification / Escobar Alas Pastoral letter
The
introduction of a new path for canonization, the beatification of the American
Stanley Rother as a martyr in Guatemala, and the pastoral letter of Archbishop Jose Luis Escobar Alas on
the other martyrs of El Salvador, will all help contextualize Romero’s martyrdom.
9. Legal proceedings for
Salvadoran war crimes
The advances—sometimes
at a glacial pace—in the trials for the massacres of the Jesuits at Central
American University in 1989, and of a thousand peasants in El Mozote in 1981,
seem to disentangle a possible future of justice for war crimes that include
the Romero assassination.
10. Patronage of the World
Youth Day Panama 2019
It was
confirmed that Blessed Romero will be, together with St. Martin of Porres, St.
Rose of Lima, and others, one of the patron saints of the great Catholic youth
meeting. The nomination will become more important when the canonization kicks
into high gear.
* * *
Finally, in the
blog we can highlight the activity undertaken to promote the celebration of the centenary, with publication of
notes in L’Osservatore Romano, CRUX, Emmanuel, and other forums. With great joy we can proclaim mission
accomplished and with some sadness announce that 2018 will be the last year of
this blog. Thank you all for your readership and for the friendship.
Prior Year Reports:
Top
10 of 2016
Top 10 of 2015
Top 10 of 2014
Top 10 of 2013
Top 10 of 2012
Top 10 of 2011
Top 10 of 2010
Top 10 of 2008
Top 10 of 2007
Roundup of 2006 (Spanish)Top 10 of 2015
Top 10 of 2014
Top 10 of 2013
Top 10 of 2012
Top 10 of 2011
Top 10 of 2010
Top 10 of 2008
Top 10 of 2007
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