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JUBILEE YEAR for the CENTENNIAL of BLESSED
ROMERO, 2016 — 2017
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| Vatican workers prepare the canonization icon of Oscar Romero on Oct. 4. |
Google Translate:
With ten days
left until the canonization of Archbishop Oscar Romero (alongside his mentor
Pope Paul VI and five other blesseds), I thought I’d post an English-only
round-up of recent canonization-related events.
By now, of course, the Synod of Bishops on Young People, the Faith, and
Vocational Discernment, which will be the stage of the October 14 ceremony, has
gotten underway, with an opening Mass presided by Pope Francis. The Vatican has confirmed
that the Holy Father’s next public liturgy will be the rite of canonization “on the parvis of the Vatican Basilica”
(i.e., St. Peter’s Square). The highest
ranking attendees made public so far are the President and First Lady of El
Salvador, and the Vice President of Taiwan.
For a schedule of events in and around the Vatican, see the prior post here.
Believers in the
English-speaking world are also gearing up for the canonization of a man one published editorial has termed a “new American saint.” One American bishop, +John Barres of Rockville
Center, NY, has published A Pastoral Letter on the Canonization of Archbishop Saint Oscar Romero. In the UK, the Westminster Diocese
in London has announced a Romero Novena. Other British dioceses are
holding events, all of them summarized in the Romero Trust website. In the U.S., there are
events planned in cities such as Los Angeles, Houston,
Cleveland,
Detroit,
St. Louis and Burlington, VT. In Canada, the
commemorations include Vancouver,
Calgary, and Saskatoon. I am sure I missed lots of others, and I
apologize in advance, asking readers to kindly post any information in the
comments below.
In the next
few days, I will try to post a summary of events in El Salvador; for now, this graphic posted in the Salvadoran press should hold us over. Not reflected in this agenda of public events
are the little dramas that occasionally bubble up in the still polarized
Salvadoran society. In one central
episode, the Legislature named a tripartite delegation to go to the
ceremony. There was an organic outcry
against the spectacle of politicians getting a nice trip to Rome paid from
public funds, while thousands of ordinary Salvadorans, including the masses of
the poor whom Romero died for, had no way to go. One by one, the three members of the
delegation were shamed into abandoning the plan (except for one, whose trip
will now be underwritten by her political party). Another controversy surrounds the rightwing
party candidate for president, whose political organization was founded by the
man universally believed to have ordered the killing of Romero. The candidate and the party refuse to concede
the point, and the candidate has vowed to find the real killer if elected—to much
public ridicule.
The
Archdiocese of El Salvador will have a parting Mass this coming Sunday for the
Salvadorans going to Rome. The delegation will include up to 5,000 faithful including
some 200 priests. Look out Eternal City; a Salvadoran invasion is on the way!
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