By Paul Jeffrey

Tegucigalpa, 29 October (ENI) - Church leaders gathered in a small Italian town over the weekend to honor Archbishop Oscar A. Romero from El Salvador, and plot strategy for how to convince Vatican officials to finally declare the murdered church leader an official martyr.

The archbishop of San Salvador, the nation’s capital, Romero was gunned down on March 24, 1980, while celebrating Mass in a hospital chapel in his country’s capital. A truth commission later found that a group of army officers and rightist politicians ordered the prelate’s murder.

Romero was a popular spiritual leader for the poor majority of his war-torn country, and calls to recognize him as a saint began shortly after his death. Often referred to as “Saint Romero of the Americas,” the slain archbishop is today a spiritual and political hero for many throughout Latin America.

The formal process that could lead to Romero’s canonization by the church began in 1993 when the archdiocese of San Salvador created an Ecclesiastical Tribunal to study Romero’s homilies, writings, and personal letters, as well as receive testimonies regarding Romero’s short four years as archbishop. The archdiocese sent its paperwork on the investigation to the Vatican in 1997, where it was turned over to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

At the time, many hoped that instead of lingering in musty Vatican archives for decades, as is the case for most wannabe saints, Romero’s case would qualify for the fast track to beatification, in part because of the Vatican’s perceived need to appeal to Latin Americans, who today are the biggest single geographical constituency within the church.

Yet the controversial archbishop, whose unremitting condemnation of injustice troubled Vatican officials while he was alive, has proved no easier to manage when dead.

One obstacle on the path to sainthood is Pope John Paul II’s obsession with Latin American theologies that he views as aberrant. “Many in the Vatican are convinced that beatifying Romero would mean sanctifying liberation theology,” said Rafael Urrutia, a priest who served as chancellor of the San Salvador archdiocese under Romero.

Although his personal commitment to Romero’s canonization is questioned by many, the current archbishop of San Salvador, Fernando Saenz Lacalle, who is a member of the conservative Opus Dei, has sought to make Romero more palatable to the Vatican, stressing Romero’s personal piety and downplaying his strident criticisms of the Salvadoran military and the U.S. government that backed it.

Another factor slowing the movement of Romero’s case through the halls of the Vatican is concern that he was killed not for his faith, but rather for his politics. If the Congregation for the Causes of Saints decides that the archbishop was killed out of hatred for the faith (“in odium fidei,” in Latin), then the beatification process will not require a post-mortem miracle, as would be the case if the Congregation decides that Romero’s killing was essentially political.

The motivation of those who ordered Romero’s assassination has been of particular interest to the Vatican experts handling the case, who reportedly forwarded additional questions to church officials in El Salvador regarding the circumstances of Romero’s death.

To argue Romero’s case before the Vatican, the pope appointed Vincenzo Paglia, a founder of the San Egidio Community, as “postulator.” Since named as bishop of Terni, Paglia has the job of convincing Vatican bureaucrats that Romero’s death qualifies as martyrdom for the faith.

Should the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints approve the request, Pope John Paul II–or his successor–will have the final say.

Yet here in Central America, fans of Archbishop Romero aren’t waiting for the Vatican. A yearly commemoration in San Salvador of Romero’s killing has become a regional event, drawing Christian activists from throughout the hemisphere.

Gregorio Rosa Chavez, the auxiliary bishop of San Salvador, said that the massive turnout for the most recent commemoration last March surprised church leaders. Rosa Chavez said the participation of young people was particularly satisfying. “We were afraid that the youth of El Salvador, who didn’t live through those years or know Monseñor [Romero], wouldn’t understand about him,” said Rosa Chavez. “Yet we were surprised.”

Rosa Chavez said this rediscovery of Romero will inevitably aid the cause of canonization. “The theme of Monseñor was something taboo in El Salvador, but now it has become a normal and natural theme to talk about,” he said.

“He is the best known martyr of the 20th Century, yet in his own land he wasn’t treated as a prophet. The same as Jesus. With this last celebration of the anniversary of his death, however, many people have come to see him anew, including many people from the class that during his life looked at him with disrespect or that persecuted him. Many people, faced with the seriousness of our current situation and the richness of the testimony of Monseñor Romero, are now reconsidering him.”

Rosa Chavez claimed that with most public figures, “the more time goes by the more we forget them. Yet here in El Salvador the reverse is happening. The more time goes by, more people throughout the world open themselves up to the inspiration of Monseñor Romero. I believe time is on his side in the process of canonization. But we have to have a bit of patience, because it won’t happen as quickly as we wanted.”

End