Slain Archbishop also beatified in El Salvador

As the beatification for Sister Irene Stefani Nyaatha was going on in Nyeri, a similar event was taking place in El Salvador.

The ceremony in the Central American country was to beatify Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, a move that takes him a step closer to sainthood.

In a ceremony at the capital San Salvador, the decree to beatify the late archbishop was to be delivered by Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints‘ Causes at the Vatican.

Cardinal Amato was initially to lead Sister Stefani‘s ceremony on behalf of Pope Francis, but was later re-assigned to El Salvador.

The late Archbishop Romero was killed on March 24, 1980, aged 62, after ending his sermon in San Salvador. No one has ever been convicted for the murder.

Unlike Sr Stefani, whose journey to beatification has been smooth, Archbishop Romero‘s cause has been dogged with controversy after claims emerged that he was killed for political and not religious reasons.

Press reports indicate Romero‘s sainthood case had been held for years by the Vatican, primarily due to opposition from conservative Latin American churchmen, who feared his perceived association with liberation theology would embolden the movement that holds that Jesus‘ teachings require followers to fight for social and economic justice.

It was also delayed over related questions about whether Romero was killed out of hatred for his faith or his politics. If killed for his politics, it was argued, he could not be declared a martyr of the faith.

Pope Francis lifted a ban on his beatification last year allowing the process to go on. According to Catholicnews.com the ceremony will be held in Plaza Divino Salvador del Mundo. The website says Pope Francis had formally recognised that the slain Salvadoran archbishop was killed „in hatred of the faith“ and not for purely political reasons.

While Archbishop Romero‘s sainthood cause began in 1993, it continued for years as church officials combed through thousands of documents related to his life. The effort began moving forward under Pope Benedict XVI.