SHAFAQNA – Archbishop from San Salvador was ‘killed in hatred of the Faith’, says VaticanArchbishop Oscar Romero has been declared a martyr by the Pope.A statement released by the Vatican today confirmed a previous ruling that the archbishop from San Salvador was “killed in hatred of the Faith”.
Pope Francis met with Cardinal Angelo Amato SDB, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, at the Vatican today and during this meeting the Pontiff authorised the Congregation to promote the decree regarding Archbishop Romero.
The statement confirmed that Pope Francis recognised the “martyrdom of the Servant of God Oscar Arnolfo Galdámez Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador; born August 15, 1917 in Ciudad Barrios (El Salvador) and killed in hatred of the Faith, March 24, 1980, in San Salvador (El Salvador)”.
Plans for Archbishop Romero’s beatification will be discussed in a media briefing at the Vatican tomorrow, according to reports.
Archbishop Romero was assassinated while serving Mass in El Salvador in 1980 by Right-wing death squads. His murder came a day after he had said in a homily that soldiers should obey God’s commands and put down their guns.
Archbishop Romero’s Cause was opened at the Vatican two decades ago but was delayed for years as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith studied his writings, amid debate over whether he had been killed for his faith or for political reasons. In 2013 Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family and official promoter of Archbishop Romero’s Cause, said the process had been “unblocked”.
In January a panel of theologians at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints ruled that Archbishop Romero was murdered “in hatred of the faith”.
Source : http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/02/03/archbishop-oscar-romero-declared-a-martyr-by-the-pope/