VATICAN CITY
— Pope Francis will declare Blesseds Oscar Romero, Paul VI and four
others saints Oct. 14 at the Vatican during the meeting of the world Synod of
Bishops, an institution Blessed Paul revived.
The date was
announced May 19 during an "ordinary public consistory," a meeting of
the pope, cardinals and promoters of sainthood causes that formally ends the
sainthood process.
During the
consistory, Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints'
Causes, formally petitioned the pope "to enroll in due course among the
saints" six candidates for canonization "for the glory of God and the
good of the whole church."
Each of the
candidates, the cardinal told the pope, gave "a convinced and coherent
witness to the Lord Jesus. Their example continues to enlighten the church and
the world in accordance with the perspective of mercy that your Holiness never
ceases to indicate and propose."
Briefly giving a
biographical sketch of the candidates, Cardinal Amato said that during El
Salvador's civil war, Archbishop Romero, "outraged at seeing the violence
against the weak and the killing of priests and catechists, felt the need to
assume an attitude of fortitude. On March 24, 1980, he was killed while
celebrating the Mass."
Reviewing the
facts of Blessed Paul's life, Cardinal Amato highlighted how, as a high-level
official in the Vatican Secretariat of State during World War II, the future
pope "organized charitable assistance and hospitality for those persecuted
by Nazism and Fascism, particularly the Jews."
Pope Francis then
certified that he had solicited the opinion of the cardinals, who agreed that
"these same blesseds should be proposed to the whole church as examples of
Christian life and holiness."
Blessed Romero,
the archbishop of San Salvador, was assassinated one day after calling on the
government to end its violation of the human rights of El Salvador's people.
While Catholics
inside and outside El Salvador recognized him as a martyr immediately, his
sainthood cause was stalled for years as some church leaders debated whether he
was killed for his faith or for his politics.
As Pope Francis
told a group of Salvadoran pilgrims in 2015, even after his death Blessed
Romero "was defamed, slandered, his memory tarnished, and his martyrdom
continued, including by his brothers in the priesthood and in the episcopate."
In February 2015
Pope Francis signed the formal decree recognizing Blessed Romero's martyrdom;
the Salvadoran archbishop was beatified three months later in San Salvador.
The Salvadoran
bishops' conference and many Salvadorans had hoped Pope Francis would preside
over the canonization in San Salvador, particularly because of the difficulty
and expense of traveling to Rome. Others, however, argued that holding the
ceremony at the Vatican makes it clear that Blessed Romero is a saint for the
entire church, not just for the church in El Salvador.
Salvadoran
Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chavez told TV2000, the Italian bishops' television
station, that he hoped Pope Francis would make a brief trip to San Salvador in
January to pray at the tomb of by-then St. Oscar Romero. The pope will be in
Central America for World Youth Day in Panama.
Blessed Paul VI,
who was born Giovanni Battista Montini, was pope from 1963 to 1978. He presided
over the final sessions of the Second Vatican Council and its initial implementation.
He also wrote "Humanae Vitae," a 1968 encyclical on married love, the
1975 apostolic exhortation "Evangelii Nuntiandi" on evangelization
and "Populorum Progressio," a 1967 encyclical on social development
and the economy.
Speaking in 2013
to a group of pilgrims from Brescia, Italy, Pope Paul's home diocese, Pope
Francis said his predecessor had "experienced to the full the church's
travail after the Second Vatican Council: the lights, the hopes, the tensions.
He loved the church and expended himself for her, holding nothing back."
And, beatifying
Pope Paul in 2014, Pope Francis noted that even in the face of "a
secularized and hostile society," Pope Paul "could hold fast, with
farsightedness and wisdom — and at times alone — to the helm of the barque of
Peter while never losing his joy and his trust in the Lord."
Pope Francis
referred to him as "this great pope, this courageous Christian, this
tireless apostle," who demonstrated a "humble and prophetic witness
of love for Christ and his church."
The other men and
women to be canonized include: Father Francesco Spinelli of Italy, founder of
the Sisters Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament; Father Vincenzo Romano, who
worked with the poor of Naples, Italy, until his death in 1831; Mother
Catherine Kasper, the German founder of the religious congregation, the Poor
Handmaids of Jesus Christ; and Nazaria Ignacia March Mesa, the Spanish founder
of the Congregation of the Missionary Crusaders of the Church.