Remembering Oscar Romero

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the assassination of archbishop Oscar Romero. Romero was assassinated while saying mass on March 24, 1980 in a killing ordered by right wing death squad leaders. With the 30th anniversary date approaching, we are going to see more articles about Romero, his legacy, and his formal recognition as a saint of the Roman Catholic church. (Multitudes of the common people Romero loved in El Salvador already view him as a saint).

An article in Spero News describes the discourse of the Salvadoran Catholic church surrounding the prospects of Romero's beatification:

The Catholic Church has urged Salvadorans to pray for promoting the beatification of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero, and called in a special way to have respect for the figure of the assassinated Archbishop, so as not to influence on his process of beatification. "If someone is canonized, it is because God wills it," said the Archbishop José Luis Escobar Alas of San Salvador, referring to the process of beatification underway at the Vatican.

During a press conference, he informed that the case "is very far along," but no one knows "how long it will take still" before Archbishop Romero is declared Blessed. The Arcbishop was assassinated March 24, 1980 while celebrating Mass in the Church of Divine Providence. "We would have liked that on a day like this we would be able to give everyone the good news that Archbishop Romero was declared Blessed, but we still have no communication," said the Archbishop, recalling that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Romero.

A note to regular readers of the blog: Because of a busy schedule I have fallen behind on regular posts about what's going on in El Salvador. I'm going to try to do better going forward. (Guest posts are also welcome).