 |
Thousands of Catholic faithful participate in a ceremony celebrating the beatification
of martyr archbishop Oscar Romero at Las Americas square in San Salvador,
on May 23, 2015 |
San
Salvador (AFP) - Cheers rang from a crowd of hundreds of thousands Saturday as
former archbishop Oscar Romero, whose defense of the poor and repressed divided
both his nation and the Church, was beatified.
Officials
estimated some 300,000 worshipers attended the massive ceremony on San
Salvador's main square, where Pope Francis's envoy, Angelo Amato, conferred the
title of "blessed" on Romero, putting him one step from sainthood.
Waving
flags and decked out in t-shirts printed with Romero's face, jubilant crowds
carrying placards and photos of the archbishop came out for the event.
Amato read
a letter from the Pope proclaiming to the crowd that Romero "henceforth is
called blessed."
"By
virtue of our apostolic authority, we empower the venerable servant of God,
Oscar Arnulfo Romero Galdamez," with the honor, Amato said.
The huge
crowd applauded following the declaration, a choir sang, and a giant portrait
of Romero was unveiled to audience cheers.
Four
presidents and delegations from 57 countries paid tribute to the man nicknamed
the "Voice of the Voiceless," who was shot through the heart by a
sniper on March 24, 1980 while delivering mass in a hospital chapel.
Amato said
the date would be celebrated as Romero's feast, part of a Catholic tradition
that associates each day with one or more saint.
The late
archbishop's younger brother Gaspar Romero represented his family on stage, with
some 100 members attending the event.
"As a
family, we are honored by this gift given to us by our Lord through the Pope,
we now have a saint in the family that everyone already calls Saint Romero of
America," said 85-year-old Gaspar.
For some,
Romero's beatification secures his place in history.
"We
all feel indescribable joy for his beatification. We never met Monsignor Romero
in life, but our parents have told us about him and his legacy," said
21-year-old Carmen Ayala.
Others were
there to celebrate his core principle of defending the needy.
"Today
we glorify the bishop who championed the poor and whose truth prevailed over
lies," said Juan Flores, wearing a Romero shirt.
An
inspiration and a martyr
US
President Barack Obama welcomed Romero's beatification, calling him an
inspiration and a martyr.
"He
was a wise pastor and a courageous man who persevered in the face of opposition
from extremes on both sides," Obama said in a statement.
"He
fearlessly confronted the evils he saw, guided by the needs of his beloved
pueblo, the poor and oppressed people of El Salvador."
US
Secretary of State John Kerry called Romero "a courageous defender of
human rights," congratulating the people of El Salvador for the
beatification of a man who guided them at "a time of deep division and
sorrow."
Security
was tight at Saturday's gathering, with helicopters and military airplanes
hovering over the proceeding.
On Friday,
thousands joined a rain-soaked procession, walking two kilometers (1.2 miles)
to the crypt in San Salvador's cathedral where Romero's remains lie.
The
movement to make Romero a saint was long resisted by conservative Catholics and
the Salvadoran right, who saw veiled Marxism in his sermons eulogizing the poor
and radio broadcasts condemning government repression.
The
petition languished for years at the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of
Saints, finally moving forward in February when Pope Francis named Romero a
martyr for the Church, one of the paths to sainthood.
Though
Romero remains controversial in El Salvador, criticism is more muted than in
the past.
Even El
Salvador's right-wing Arena party showed its support for the archbishop in a
Saturday newspaper advertisement.
"We
join the celebration of the Catholic Church in the beatification of Archbishop
Romero and share his message of reconciliation," the ad read.
But not
everyone at Saturday's gathering joined the praise.
"Outside
of El Salvador, he has the image of a saint, but here he is known as a figure
who sowed division among Salvadorans," said 28-year-old businessman
Alberto Mojica.
Romero's
assassination occurred at the outset of El Salvador's civil war, and propelled
the country deeper into a brutal conflict that raged until 1992, when the
right-wing government signed a peace deal with the leftist guerrillas of the
Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN).
No one was
ever convicted of Romero's killing, but a UN-sponsored truth commission
concluded it was carried out by a right-wing death squad under the orders of
Roberto D'Aubuisson, a former army officer who died the year the war ended.
