Was Archbishop Oscar Romero a martyr for the faith?The Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints is studying that question carefully, the prefect of the congregation has revealed.
During a February 18 conference with reporters in Rome, as he introduced new norms for diocesan investigations into candidates for beatification, Cardinal José Saraiva Martins was questioned about the progress of Archbishop Romero's cause.
The cardinal replied that the key question is whether the Salvadoran prelate died for the Catholic faith. If a killing is inspired by hatred for the faith, the victim can be classified as a martyr and qualified for beatification.
But in the case of Archbishop Romero and his assassin, the motives could be mixed.
"There can be political or social motives," Cardinal Saraiva observed. "If the motive is not clear it must be studied in depth."
Archbishop Romero was among the most prominent critics of human-rights abuses in El Salvador during his years (1977-1980) as Archbishop of San Salvador.
He was shot and killed by a right-wing "death squad" on March 23, 1980.
The killing shocked the world and loosed a torrent of emotion in El Salvador, where he was particularly beloved by the poor.
An estimated 250,000 people attended the archbishop's funeral-- which was itself disrupted by gunfire.
Soon after the archbishop's death, Catholics in El Salvador began to refer to him as a martyr.
Both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have used the term in reference to the slain Salvadoran prelate.
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