A consistory of cardinals took place here in the Vatican on Saturday during which the canonization of six new saints was officially announced. Of those six names, the two best-known figures are Pope Paul VI and the assassinated Archbishop of San Salvador, Oscar Romero. The two men will be proclaimed saints on 14 October during the Synod of Bishops on young people. Julian Filochowski, chair of the Archbishop Romero Trust, looks ahead to the canonization of the saint from El Salvador, alongside the pope who gave him unconditional support.
As reported by Vatican news, As a personal friend of Romero, Filochowski says “He has kept me strong in my faith at moments of difficulty and doubt”. He concludes: “I never believed I’d live to see his canonization, it’s beyond my dreams and I’m just very happy”.
Romero was shot dead on March 24th, 1980 as he was saying Mass in the cancer hospital in El Salvador where he had chosen to live. In his three years as archbishop, he had become an outspoken voice for the poorest people of his country, caught up in a conflict between the military government and guerrilla groups that claimed tens of thousands of civilian lives. Today, Romero is widely acclaimed as a saint and martyr across the Christian world and beyond.
