St. Oscar Romero
St. Oscar Romero y Galdámez (15 August 1917 – 24 March 1980) was a
prelate of the
Catholic Church in
El Salvador. He served as auxiliary bishop of the
archdiocese of San Salvador, the titular bishop of Tambeae, as
bishop of Santiago de María, and finally as the fourth archbishop of San Salvador. As archbishop, Romero spoke out against social injustice and violence amid the escalating conflict between the
military government and
left-wing insurgents that led to the
Salvadoran Civil War.
[4] In 1980, Romero was shot by an assassin while celebrating
Mass. Though no one was ever convicted for the crime, investigations by the UN-created
Truth Commission for El Salvador concluded that Major
Roberto D'Aubuisson, founder of the right-wing
Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) political party, had ordered the killing.
[5]
In 1997,
Pope John Paul II bestowed upon Romero the title of
Servant of God, and a cause for his
beatification was opened by the church. The cause stalled, but was reopened by
Pope Benedict XVI in 2012. Romero was declared a
martyr by
Pope Francis on 3 February 2015, paving the way for his beatification on 23 May 2015. During Romero's beatification, Pope Francis declared that his "ministry was distinguished by his particular attention to the most poor and marginalized."
[6] Pope Francis
canonized Romero on 14 October 2018.
Source: Wikipedia