In an interview on his way back to the Vatican from Korea,
Pope Francis spoke about Archbishop Oscar Romero:
The process was blocked in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith “for prudence,” it was said. Now it is unblocked and it is in the Congregation for Saints and follows the normal path of a process. It depends on how the postulators move, it’s very important to move in haste.
What I would like is to have clarified when there is martyrdom in "odium fidei" [out of hate for the faith], whether it is for confessing the credo or for performing the works that Jesus commands us to do for our neighbor. This is a work of theologians that is being studied. Because behind him [Romero], there is Rutillio Grande and there are others. There are other that were also killed but are not at the same height as Romero. This has to be distinguished theologically. For me, Romero is a man of God. He was a man of God but there has to be the process, and the Lord will have to give his sign [of approval]. But if He wishes, He will do so! The postulators must move now because there are no impediments.
Traditionally martyrs are those who have been killed because
of hatred for the faith (odium fidei).
This was clear in terms of the martyrs of the early church
and throughout the centuries in some mission lands.
But I am not so sure that this has always been the case.
Maria Goretti, the twelve year old who was killed because
she refused the advances of a neighbor, was more a martyr for chastity than for
hatred of the faith. She could be considered a martyr for the faith if we see
faith as including the moral teaching of the church.
The Capuchin priest Maximilian Kolbe who offered his life in
Auschwitz in place of another was a martyr for charity. It could be argued that
the Nazi hatred for the church would include his martyrdom, but he seems to
have been killed for his act of charity rather than fro being a Catholic
priest.
Thomas Beckett, killed in the Canterbury cathedral by King
Henry II’s soldiers, was a martyr for the rights of the church, though some
would say for the special privileges of the church.
King Wenceslaus was killed by his brother probably to
prevent Wenceslaus’ son from attaining the kingship that Boleslav coveted.
Edith Stein -
Carmelite Sister Maria Benedicta by the Cross, is considered a martyr. A Jewish
convert, she was deported to Auschwitz, where she was executed, after the Dutch
bishops protested the Nazi’s treatment of the Jews. Should she be considered a
martyr of the faith, or a martyr of the Church’s stance against Nazism?
There may have been cases of martyrdom where there was
hatred for the faith but combined with political themes. One might consider the
twentieth century Mexican martyrs, especially those who had any connection with
the Cristero movement.
And so, I ask: Why not a martyr for justice? Why not martyrs
for those who have spoken out boldly for the sake of the justice that is
written about in the church’s documents on social justice?
Why not beatify Romero now as a martyr of justice, not
waiting for a verification of a miracle – though there are many miracles
attributed to his intercession?
¡Santo súbito! ¡San Romero de las Américas!
NOTE: There are a number of articles on this issue in English and Spanish, but I don't have my files available.
