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JUBILEE YEAR for the CENTENNIAL of BLESSED
ROMERO, 2016 — 2017
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| Francis and Benedict, with Francis' designated cardinal, Romero friend Gregorio Rosa Chavez (L). |
In a recent letter, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI refers to
Pope Francis in terms of an “inner
continuity between the two pontificates, despite all the differences of style
and temperament.” The stability that should result from such a declaration
has been temporarily lost because of the controversy that has arisen around the
way in which Pope Emeritus' letter was published by the Vatican, but it can be
recovered if we examine the evidence of such “continuity;” one of the points of
convergence is Blessed Oscar Romero.
In a recent interview, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the Postulator of the Romero Cause
recalled that it was Benedict XVI who ordered unblocking the cause in December
2012, several months before the action of Pope Francis to expedite it, which was
more or less a ratification of the decision by Pope Ratzinger, whose
resignation in February 2013 had suspended the thaw. In a subsequent tweet, Paglia expanded, “Both
Benedict and Francis, as Cardinals and as Popes, followed the questions
closely. As Pope, Benedict was able to remove persistent and non-canonical
roadblocks. As Pope, Francis has ensured that the canonical proceeds in full
and timely compliance with canon law.”
The initial
unblocking by Benedict had been previously reported; in fact, it was published
for the first time in this blog. The new interview with Archbishop
Paglia reveals the energy with which Benedict spoke about the case. According
to Paglia, the then Pope told him, “you
have to unblock it. Go downstairs immediately, go see the prefect of the
Congregation and tell him that the Pope is asking for it to be unblocked and
then I will issue it myself.” Benedict’s words contain the same urgency as Francis' statements in 2014: “right
now the postulators have to move forward because there are no obstacles ... This
is very important, to do it quickly.”
The continuity between pontificates is also evident in the people put in charge of the Romero Cause, starting with
Vincenzo Paglia himself, appointed to the Roman Curia and elevated to the rank
of archbishop by Benedict XVI in 2011 and retained by Francis as one of his
advisers. Similarly, Cardinal Angelo Amato, appointed Prefect of the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints by Benedict in 2008, has been retained in
that position by Francis, event though at 79 he has exceeded the customary
retirement age of 75.
This week we are
reminded of another key character in Romero's sanctification who acts as a
bridge between the two pontificates. On February 22, 2013, in one of his last
appointments, Benedict named Archbishop Leon Kalenga as Apostolic Nuncio (Vatican
ambassador) for El Salvador. The cleric has played an extremely important role
in promoting the cause as a priority within the Salvadoran Church. Now Pope
Francis has awarded him with an eminently personal appointment: making him his
representative for the Pontiff’s homeland, Nuncio in Argentina.
From the
declaration during a press conference in a papal flight in May 2008 by
Benedict that “he did not doubt” that Romero deserved beatification until the
decree by Francis making it a reality, we can draw a line of continuity between
the two pontificates through the figure of the soon-to-be-saint Oscar Romero.
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