Archbishop Romero, martyr, to be made saint at Vatican ceremony Oct. 14 | National Catholic Reporter

Archbishop Romero, martyr, to be made saint at Vatican ceremony Oct. 14 | National Catholic Reporter
by Joshua McElwee

VATICAN CITY — After a 38-year-wait, it is now official. Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, murdered in 1980 for speaking out against military oppression, will be made a saint of the Roman Catholic Church at a Vatican ceremony Oct. 14.

Pope Francis, the first pontiff from the Americas, announced the decision May 19 during a meeting with cardinals based in Rome.

Romero, long considered a saint by Catholics across the Americas, will be elevated to universal veneration at the Vatican ceremony alongside Pope Paul VI, the pontiff who first appointed him a bishop and made the fateful decision in 1977 to make him archbishop of San Salvador.

Four others -- two Italian priests and German and Spanish founders of separate women’s religious orders -- will also be made saints at the ceremony.

The Salvadoran's canonization, while expected in recent months, nonetheless represents the culmination of one of the clearest turnabouts of Francis' nearly five-year papacy.

The cause for Romero had languished for decades under Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, who expressed unease with his connection to liberation theology and his vocal denunciations of government killings and kidnappings.

Less than two years after his election as pontiff, Francis placed Romero firmly on the sainthood track, formally decreeing in February 2015 that the archbishop was assassinated as a martyr for the Catholic faith. He then authorized his beatification, the last step before sainthood, in May of that year.

El Salvador's ambassador to the U.K., Elisabeth Hayek-Weinmann, told NCR that Romero's coming sainthood "represents a unique opportunity" for the country "to heal our historical wounds, restore our social fabric and build a new sense of national identity based on common values, with social justice and respect for human dignity at its core."

"His teachings and legacy provides us, as a nation, a strong moral compass," said Hayek-Weinmann.

Support