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ROME – Thirty-eight years after being shot in a church in a hospital in El Salvador, Monsignor Óscar Romero was named saint Sunday to encourage St. Peter's Square, while thousands of people watched the ceremony on a video monitor in the Salvadoran capital.
Pope Francis also canonized Pope Paul VI, credited with the continuation of his debut by Pope John XXIII and the entry of the church into the modern era through a series of imposed reforms by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.
In his homily, Francis declared that Archbishop Romero "has left the world's security, even his own, in order to give his life according to the Gospel, closer to the poor and his people." From the Pope, he said: "Even in the midst of fatigue and misunderstanding, Paul VI testified with passion the beauty and joy of following Christ totally."
In total, Francis canonized seven people at the ceremony attended by 70,000 people in Saint Peter's Square, according to the Vatican.
Francis, the first pope of Latin America, had From the beginning of his papacy, in 2013, he made it clear that he would defend the cause of the canonization of Archbishop Romero, who will now be known as St. Oscar Romero.
On Sunday, Francis was carrying the bloody band of the martyred archbishop, killed by a death squad on March 24, 1980, while he was celebrating mass. The Pope also used a coat, a staff and a chalice belonging to Pope Paul VI.
"Paul VI spent his life for the gospel of Christ, crossing new frontiers and becoming his witness in proclamation and dialogue, a prophet of an outward facing Church, looking to those who are far away and 'occupying the poor,' said Francis Sunday.
The path of holiness of Archbishop Romero was fraught with difficulty, including strong opposition from some church members to what was perceived as his political motivations. These reservations had ruled out previous attempts by his supporters to have the Vatican recognize him.
But that did not stop others from cheering him as a hero. Every March 24, the United Nations celebrates a day of human rights promotion in which the "important work and values" of Bishop Romero are recognized. In July 1998, a statue of the Archbishop was unveiled at Westminster Abbey in London, one of the ten "modern martyrs", including the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
For decades, the legacy of Archbishop Romero was blocked because several powerful prelates regarded him as a supporter of the theology of liberation, a movement focused on the poor that had been spawned by the discussions of the church on social justice in the 1960s. For the conservatives, the movement was a thinly veiled adaptation of the Marxist ideology manipulated by the communists to foment the revolution in Latin America.
The argument was played against the geopolitical context of the Cold War, during which the United States supported the government and the right-wing forces in El Salvador against leftist rebels, thus justifying the brutality that ensued. would ensue as a necessary bulwark against communism. Some have called the archbishop a martyr of the cold war.
"Romero was not a communist; he was not a guerrilla man; he was a pastor, "said Bishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Vatican Pontifical Academy for Life and promoter of the Archbishop's cause. "And yet, he was accused of being political, just like Jesus," he said.
He noted that it was "extraordinary" that: "Romero and Paul VI are being canonized together because, in reality, it is like theory and practice," he said. to unite in one, and it is a great truth for today, putting the poor and the weakest first, "he says.
In an interview, Bishop Paglia said that Pope John Paul II understood the message of Bishop Romero. "We must recover Romero, he belongs to us, he belongs to the church", he reminded John Paul II.
Benedict XVI paved the way for the sanctity of Archbishop Romero shortly before resigning in 2013, and François accelerated his conversion to holiness, beatifying him in 2015 as a martyr.
Archbishop Romero was considered a saint in El Salvador for decades.
"We knew that day would come – we did not know when, but we knew it well," said Sister María del Carmen Guardado, one of more than 5,000 Salvadoran women who went to Rome to see what was happening. she described it as a "blessing of God."
Archbishop Romero was the first saint of the country, she said, adding that her canonization was a recognition of more than a dozen priests and four nuns murdered during the civil war in El Salvador.
Reverend Fredis Sandoval also traveled to Rome for the Sunday ceremony. Many of his compatriots said they saw it as a sign that Archbishop Romero had been on the right side of the story.
"As a pastor, he understood that to proclaim the gospel was to serve the poor. He put the church at the service of the people, "said Father Sandoval, adding that the archbishop had followed the footsteps of Paul VI. courageous and free pontiff who understood and supported Romero. "
Fr Sandoval, a member of the Concertación Romero, an organization that works to make the truth about the death of Bishop Romero public, said the recognition of the Pope should lead to a broader justice. "Those responsible for his death have yet to be brought to justice," he said.
Fr Sandoval said: "The Church has finally recognized Romero's humanity, kindness and Christian piety. From now on, the Salvadoran State must be opened in the same way "and appoint its killers.
Pastor Robert Pelton, 97, a specialist in liberation theology and former missionary to Chile, traveled to Rome from Our Lady (Ind.) To attend the ceremony.
"They were the movers at the time," he said. To suppress the movement, their opponents had a simple tactic: "Kill the priests." He added, "Let's hope that Romero will serve as a pastoral model for the bishops of Latin America."
Karina Morey and Renee Workman, both 15, came from Fairfax, Virginia to Rome to pay tribute to their Catholic school counterpart, Paul VI. The pope's message always resonated with young people, they said.
"It's progressive and present," said Morey.
Ms. Workman said, "We are turning to him to see how we should act as Christians."
With Archbishop Romero and Paul VI, Francis also canonized two diocesan priests, Francesco Spinelli and Vincenzo Romano; Maria Katharina Kasper and Nazaria of St. Teresa of Jesus, two women who founded religious congregations; and Nunzio Sulprizio, an Italian who died at 19 and is often cited as an example of piety for young people.
