#SaintOscarRomero #Beatification
It’s official:
since last Sunday, October 14, 2018, we can now say “Saint Oscar Arnulfo Romero, Bishop and Martyr”. So it was decreed
by Pope Francis, ordering that his name be added to the book of saints in order
to receive dignified reverence throughout the whole Church.
Francis
structured his catechesis for the canonization by dedicating the main thrust of
his homily in Italian during the Mass for Canonizations to Paul VI, and
returning to Archbishop Romero more in depth the following day, speaking in
Spanish during an audience granted to the Salvadoran pilgrims in Rome for the
canonization.
During the ceremony on Sunday, the Pope placed Romero in the context of a “radical” Jesus and a “prophetic” Paul VI: Francis said
that “Jesus is radical. He gives all and he asks all: he gives a love that is total and asks for an undivided heart.” He added that, “Jesus is not content with a percentage of love: we cannot love him twenty or fifty or sixty percent. It is either all or nothing.”
Speaking of Paul VI, Francis said that he had been “a prophet of a Church turned outwards, looking to those far away and
taking care of the poor.”
He added: “It is wonderful that together with him ...
there is Archbishop Romero, who left the security of the world, even his own
safety, in order to give his life according to the Gospel, close to the poor
and to his people, with a heart drawn to Jesus and his brothers and sisters.”
If during the
canonization the Pope spoke of Romero’s heart, the next day the
emphasis was on Romero’s mind and his Thinking with the Church. After hearing
an exhortation from current San Salvador Archbishop Jose Luis Escobar Alas to
open the process for Romero to be recognized as a Doctor of the Church, Francis
referred to Romero as “an outstanding
pastor of the American continent.”
The Supreme
Pontiff stated
that “St. Oscar Romero knew how to
incarnate with perfection the image of the Good Shepherd who gives his life for
his sheep” and, addressing the bishops, said that they “can find in him an example and a stimulus in
the ministry entrusted to them.” Then, speaking to the clergy and
religious, he urged them: “make
yourselves worthy of his teachings.” He entrusted the lay pilgrims to the “message of St. Oscar Romero” and,
referring to the inhabitants of El Salvador, Francis said in improvised words,
veering off his text, that “the people
loved St. Oscar Romero” because “the
people of God know the smell of holiness.”
Returning to
the canonization, it was attended by Queen Sofia of Spain, the presidents of
Italy, Chile, El Salvador, Panama, and the Vice President of Taiwan, among
others. Religious leaders included hundreds of bishops, archbishops and
cardinals, and also leaders of other religions. The Anglican Church was
represented by the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, while the
current archbishop, Justin Welby, issued a statement.
“Blessed Oscar Romero,” Welby said in his
message written before Romero was canonized, “is a true example for all Christians, and particularly to our fellow
bishops.” The prelate concluded, “Blessed
Oscar is held in great esteem in the Church of England,” explaining that he
is included in the liturgical calendar and among the statues of martyrs of the
twentieth century in Westminster Abbey.
The presence of
Salvadorans was felt in St. Peter’s Square during the ceremony and the audiences
with the Pope, as well as throughout the city where the visitors were omnipresent
at Rome’s great tourist attractions. Many of them had to make significant
financial sacrifices to be there. Meanwhile, in San Salvador, thousands of
people crowded Plaza Barrios in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral, to follow
the ceremony live at two in the morning, local time, through giant screens.
By design, a
canonization in Rome delivers shock and awe, and so it was for Romero’s followers, especially Salvadorans who had never witnessed anything like it. The
magnitude of the ceremony before 70,000 spectators, the image of Romero in the “glory
of Bernini” (the colonnade of St. Peter’s), along with the other new universal
saints, the angelic singing of the Vatican choir, the Gospel read in Greek and
In Latin; all this tends to have an overwhelming effect, an attack on the
senses that dispels doubts and conquers minds.
* * *
Saint Oscar
Arnulfo Romero, pray for us!
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