Edit: Oh boy. With a Liberation Theology enthusiast in the CDF, it's a fast track!
International News Pope eyes fast beatification for Salvador's Romero August 18, 2014 18:20 GMT Eds: Adds comments about the definition of martyrdom. LPA please translate. By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) -- Pope Francis opened the way Monday to a quick beatification for Oscar Romero, saying there are no more doctrinal problems blocking the process for the slain Salvadoran archbishop who is one of the heroes of the liberation theology movement in Latin America. Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, was gunned down in 1980 while celebrating Mass.
He had spoken out against repression by the Salvadoran army at the beginning of the country's 1980-1992 civil war between the right-wing government and leftist rebels. Francis told journalists traveling home from South Korea that Romero's case had previously been "blocked out of prudence" by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith but has now been "unblocked."
He said the case had passed to the Vatican's saint-making office. The congregation launched a crackdown on liberation theology under then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, fearing what was deemed as Marxists excesses. The movement holds the view that Jesus' teachings imbue followers with a duty to fight for social and economic justice. Francis said of Romero's case that "it is important to do it quickly," but that the investigation must take its course.
He declared that Romero "was a man of God" and suggested that he wanted to expand the church's concept of martyrdom to include a broader field of candidates. [Like non-Catholics?]
Unlike regular candidates for beatification, martyrs can reach the first step to possible sainthood without a miracle attributed to their intercession. A miracle is needed for canonization, however.
Traditionally, the church has restricted the martyr designation to people who were killed out of hatred for the Catholic faith. Francis said he wanted theologians to study whether those who were killed because of their actions doing God's work could also be considered martyrs. "What I would like is that they clarify when there's a martyrdom for hatred of the faith -- for confessing the faith -- as well as for doing the work for the other that Jesus commands," Francis said. Questions over that distinction have been at the root of the theological debate over whether Romero was killed by El Salvador's right-wing death squads for professing the faith or because of his political activism in support of the poor. Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield
Read More at: http://www.cbs2iowa.com/template/inews_wire/wires.international/28fb6ffe-www.cbs2iowa.com.shtml#.U_KZJLxdVbw
This graceless dolt wants to canonize a brother Communist.
ReplyDeleteArchbishop Romero was not a communist how I know I was in the country when he was alive and I even went pass his coffin to pay my respects.
ReplyDeleteMany of you who talk against Archbishop Romero DON'T know what you are saying much less know anything about him. Romero was a man of God who converted from taking side with the rich and turn a more compassionate man to the plight of the poor who were being abuse, taken advantage and even being assessinated by the government for defending the little land they had to plant their food and provide for their families why because the rich were taking advantage by taking from the poor which is most of the country the little they had.
Many like AnonymousAugust 19, 2014 at 3:11 AM should just keep their mouth shut and instead should understand the problems behind the reason Romero took the side of the people who were fighting to defend their rights instead of just calling them socialist, communists etc.
Archbishop Romero did cared for his people and he did offered his life for the peace of his country all he did was to denounce those who were principally involved in the killing of the poor of his country.
Archbishop Romero was not a communist how I know I was in the country when he was alive and I even went pass his coffin to pay my respects.
ReplyDeleteMany of you who talk against Archbishop Romero DON'T know what you are saying much less know anything about him. Romero was a man of God who turn away from taking side with the rich and their favors and turned instead into a true Catholic shepherd who became more compassionate to the plight of the poor who were being abused, and taken advantaged and even being assassinated by the government and the authorities for defending the little land they had to plant their food and provide for their families why?? because the rich were taking advantage by taking from the poor (which is most of the country) the little they had.
The people in El Salvador were exploited and many here in the West don't understand the suffering of the poor because you have never understood neither have you a good understanding of the problems and suffering of poor countries.
Many like Anonymous August 19, 2014 at 3:11 AM should just keep their mouth shut and instead should understand the reason Archbishop Romero took the side of the people who were fighting to defend their rights instead of just calling them socialist, communists etc.
El Salvador like many Hispanoamerican countries have always been Catholic and even though the guerillas especially the leaders of the guerrillas had marxists ideas most of the people in the country were not renouncing neither were they rebelling against the Church but against a corrupt government who betrayed them by supporting the richest families in the country and who were exploiting the poor.
That must be why he backed Father Ellacuria's base communities and supported land reform.
DeleteAnd you don't know that the government killed him. No one really knows who pulled the trigger.
DeleteI think it's more likely he was killed by Reds.
Archbishop Romero was not politically impartial.
DeletePriests are required to be politically neutral and when they depart from that requirement may become legitimate targets for warring factions in any conflict.
Taking political sides undermines the universal message of Christs message and this is why liberation theology is such a truly dangerous poison.
Sadly this pestilence has erupted again under this current ignorant pontificate.
Tancred you have NO IDEA of what you are saying.
ReplyDeleteSo I suggest that you don't go around telling those of us who do know and who have better knowledged of how things are in respect to the problems in countries like El Salvador how things were.
I hate Commnunism with all my might but many of you Americans are still going through the paranoid of the era of McCarthyism.
Archbishop Romero was killed by the death squads form by the military ordered by the corrupt government.
Archbishop Romero NEVER renounce his Catholic Faith and he NEVER rebelled against the Church he like many Catholic saints and blessed and other Catholics we don't know about we reach heaven )if we reached heaven) was on the side of the poor and the abused and the ones in need.
In a country where most of the people are poor he finally was serving those who better resemble the suffering Christ.
Archbishop Romero in his last homily before he was shot by the military he offered his life for the peace and the stop of violence against his country men.
You should stop being so arrogant to be telling those of us who know more than you and who have studied the situation and also have seen it personally difficult problems of countries like El Salvador.
I hope you are mature enough to let my comment stand since it is only fair that I answer to you comments and again you have NO IDEA WHAT YOUR ARE SAYIING.
Show some humility and admit that you thinking something doesn't make it so.
Joseph McCarthy was right and I've never heard anyone who wasn't at least a useful idiot disparage him.
DeleteThis is heretical rubbish from anonymous aug 20th at 12:53am.
DeleteTo imply that the poor [qua poor] better resemble the suffering Christ is gibberish of the lowest order.
It is the type of poisonous tripe beloved of politcial activists screaming about what they see as "gospel values" whilst happily stealing goods by way of excessive mandatory state taxation from the wealthy.
Priests who side with socialist thieves will be punished and rightly so.
Such priests subvert and distort Christs message either for personal popularity or out of a complete misunderstanding of what Christ stood for.
I have little sympathy at all for the late Archbishop who was warned to stay out of the civil war but ignored the warnings and decided to play politics.
wealthy people
Romero was very much for land redistribution.
DeleteAnonymous August 20, 2014 at 7:44 AM ALLOW ME TO REPLY :
ReplyDeleteYour type of Catholicism makes me want to puke,
You have no Catholicism in you many of the Saints did set up hospitals for the poor and helped them exactly because they the needy and the poor are the ones that better resemble Christ.
Didn't Christ himself said to the rich young man to give all he had to the poor, and what about this passage:
Our Lord said this:
The Poor Widow's Offering
…43Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; 44for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on."
Didn't some of the fathers of the Church like St. Ambrose also gave their wealth away and gave it to the poor??
What about John Chrysostom:
This what is says in his biography:
" Notable are his insightful expositions of Bible passages and moral teaching. The most valuable of his works are his Homilies on various books of the Bible. He particularly emphasized almsgiving. He was also most concerned with the spiritual and temporal needs of the poor. He spoke out against abuse of wealth and personal property. In many respects, the following he amassed was no surprise. His straightforward understanding of the Scriptures (in contrast to the Alexandrian tendency towards allegorical interpretation) meant that the themes of his talks were eminently social, explaining the Christian's conduct in life." AND THIS "During his time as bishop he adamantly refused to host lavish entertainments. This meant he was popular with the common people, but unpopular with the wealthy and the clergy."
JPII was a geopolitian as father Malachi Martin rightly points out JPII was not paying he was against communism because of the evil it cause but he took anyone who sympathized with the poor as sign of a marxist invasion.
Archbishop Romero was ONLY asking the government and the military to STOP killing their own brothers and sisters, tell me what is the crime in that??
You are a sick individual who is willing to excuse the assassination of a Catholic Archbishop whom God granted the ability of seeing his error of allowing himself be seduced by the adulation and favors of the rich and powerful INSTEAD of paying attention to the ones in need. There is no charity in you.
Also if you want to talk about disobeying and only about disobeying (without going too deep into a theological debate) as you accused Romero then we can also talk about Lefebvre but I guess that doesn't count as disobeying right?
Also take a note of this:
To people like you who probably obsessed with only focusing on the Sin of Sodom don't forget that:
Oppression of the poor
Defrauding laborers of their wages
and Willful Murder are Part of the 4 SINS CRYING OUT TO HEAVEN.
You say you are a Catholic? I doubt it neither do you have any understanding of scriptures, theology and politics.
You only spit hate and unjust comments against a Archbishop who stood for what is right and against me for daring to defend him.
Nobody least of all myself objects to voluntary charity from the rich to the poor.
DeleteWhen this charity is enforced under state sanction as per Archbishop Romero
or priestly robbers then it loses any spiritual value it might have.
You seem like some class of confused catholic blinded by the stupid statements of the current pontiff concerning a risible church for the “poor”.
This idiotic sentiment is propounded by a pontiff who is busily alienating any catholic with even moderate wealth.
Christ did not found a church exclusively for “poor people” and those who blather on as if he did are talking rubbish.
It is truly idiotic to infer that poverty automatically confers sanctity.
It does not.
You ask: “Archbishop Romero was ONLY asking the government and the military to STOP killing their own brothers and sisters, tell me what is the crime in that? “
It was a little more complex than your simplistic analysis.
Archbishop Romero ltook political action and reportedly abused the sacrifice of the mass by temporarily stopping its national celebration after one of his communist priests was executed and then holding one mass in his cathederal.
Romero took overt sides in a civil war.
This is against all church canon law and he paid the price,
To repeat I have little sympathy for him.
He ws deeply misguided and led others into spiritual and physical danger
I don’t care about Lefebre nor am I not obsessed by any particular sin.
You on the other hand appear utterly indifferent to the mortal sin of massive land theft.
Something Romero and his gang were apparantly rather lukewarm about.
Liberation theology is theft and there is no way around that.
Romero was wrong to get involved. He did not die because he was a catholic he died becuase he was a foolish prelate who took sides in a civil war that had nothing at all to do with catholicism.
[The liars in the liberation theology movement deceived him and thousands of others and they continue to deceive even the current Roman pontiff who has a personal propensity to be deceived based on his false adulation of "the poor".]
I do not hate anybody but I am not going to sit around and listen to people be they popes or bishops fail to condemn priests who promote thievery via the putrid poison of liberation theology.
Gods 7th commandment “Thou shalt not steal”.
Have you ever heard of it ?
What you are only spitting venom and you are using calumny against Archbishop Romero.
DeletePope John Paul II and Benedict XVI in particular (who was actually the one who gave the all clear for Romero's cause to be advance at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) said :
"That Romero as a person merits beatification, I have no doubt ... Archbishop Romero was certainly an important witness of the faith, a man of great Christian virtue who worked for peace and against the dictatorship, and was assassinated while celebrating Mass. Consequently, his death was truly 'credible', a witness of faith.”
And I believe Pope Benedict really did believed what he said because I know he prayed very reverently at one of the altars of the Basilica of St. Bartholomew where they have the prayer book of Archbishop Romero.
Like I told you and Tancred, you have NO idea of what your are saying.
But those who know better know that your mouth is full of lies and that your understanding of a situation at least in regards to Archbishop Romero and El Salvador is wrong.
And it is YOU ARE WHO IS FULL OF RUBBISH and your to top that your understanding of politics and religion is very deficient.
CONTINUE..
CONTINUE...
DeleteOne thing you said caught my attention and it's this
You say :
"Christ did not found a church exclusively for “poor people” and those who blather on as if he did are talking rubbish."
NO of course Christ didn't found a church exclusively for the poor, but it is the poor NOT only the sinners who seemed VERY important to Our Lord since he mentions them very often.
The poor are sinners like the rich there is NO doubt about that and Our Lord Jesus Christ knows it, but they poor tend to be more humble and in most cases their needs are what offer us the opportunity of helping and serving them just like Christ asked us to do.
The way I see it we are all sinners rich and poor haves and have nots, but it is the poor who need the help and the care they also deserve to have a chance in life without feeling that their efforts are in vain no matter how much they labor. Governments are NOT machines they are run by people, by human beings who in many cases call themselves Christians why is so hard for people like you to understand that helping the poorer nations and the poor is but an obligation of all of us including those people who form the governments and also since they already have expert economists among other experts in the field of finances where they can come up with some ideas to help the poor and the poorer nations as Pope Francis is asking of richer nations and governments to do.
Your thinking and paranoia are taking the best of you and completedly blinding you because helping others through the government doesn't necessarily is or has to be "socialism" but instead it can be Christian.
Take for example how St. Louis IX governed his people: "Saint Louis IX never tolerated cursing or sinful conversation either among the servants or among the courtiers; and never was he heard to utter an unkind or impatient word. he wished to avoid all unnecessary pomp and luxury at court, so that more help could be rendered to the poor, of whom he personally fed and served several hundred."
Also Romero didn't blather as you said but his homilies did serve to comfort the people that were under his care a shepherd. While he was alived I read that the rich and poor and even members of the military and politicians and rebels went to seek his counsel.
I personally LIKE capitalism BUT the capitalism in which we live today is a capitalism with NO conscience where many think if they are making money it doesn't matter if I am ripping people off or not, so long as I make money. This type of thinking is wrong.
Pope Francis is right in asking Catholics to abandoned the materialistic life and think of the ones who have nothing that is Catholic thinking NOT socialism.
Finally getting back to Romero, let me tell you this...go ahead and spit your hate for him and myself, and keep on bagging your head against the wall it won't make a difference, Romero is probably already a saint in heaven and he will be I pray to the Almighty he will soon be beatified and one day he will also be a Saint of the Catholic Church and there is nothing you can do about it.
To repeat: I am all in favour of helping the poor. Indeed the rich have a Christian duty in that regard and will be judged on how they handled the gifts that God gave to them.
DeleteAll catholics know this.
I have no hate for the late Archbishop Romero as you allege.
I have pity for him since I consider him to have been deceived by a false spirit connected to the errors of so called "liberation theology" .
By the way he was not killed for his faith but for the politically divisive views he expressed supporting one side during a vicious civil war.
It is not up to any cleric or bishop to try subvert the military structures of contending factions in a civil war.
That is playing politics.
Romero was killed saying mass because that was the message his assassins wished to spread concerning the political doctrines espoused by him.
IMO he was not killed simply because he was saying mass.
That would have been a religious assassination and the likelyhood is that his unknown killers were in all probability catholics anyway.
The issue you fail to comprehend is that catholicism is not and never can be a "political" doctrine.
Catholics have different political views and historically have gone to war with each other over such views.
It is not up to the local clergy to be using their spiritual authority in taking sides in such conflicts.
If they do then they will be seen as legitimate targets.
That is the mistake that Romero made.
He also physically endangered his flock.
These are uncomfortable truths concerning the bishop whom many admire.
I do not admire him and think he was rash and unthinking concerning the consequences to his diocese that arose in connection with some of the overtly political stances that he articulated.
You also seem to think that I am trying to stop the canonization process of Romero.
No. I am indifferent as to whether he or anybody else is canonized since such actions of the catholic church are not and never have been strictly a matter of essential catholic faith.
I am not indifferent though as to the public actions and statements of bishops and popes and when they, in my opinion, act or speak unwisely I shall speak out.
Romero was no liberation theologian. "To the accusations that he supported liberation theology, Archbishop Paglia said, Archbishop Romero responded, "Yes, certainly. But there are two theologies of liberation: one sees liberation only as material liberation; the other is that of Paul VI. I'm with Paul VI" in seeking the material and spiritual liberation of all people, including from the sins of injustice and oppression.
DeleteRomero criticized the left as well and their killing. I suspect you read about him before you criticize more. As for land redistribution. Once again I suspect you learn about a political situation. Many of us cannot comprehend the vast inequalities in some third world nations. The Church including Pope Benedict, JPII do not regard Laissez faire capitalism as God's system on earth. I also suggest you read the Hebrew Scriptures and read up on the Year of Jubilee. The system God himself set up for the Israelites included a fair and equitable distribution of land. And no I am not a Communist neither was Romero.
In the United States folks have access to education, minimum wages etc. There are areas of opportunities. This was not the case for people in some third world nations where you have a small minority brutally oppressing a significant majority. We should not be so careful to read our First World issues into the Third World.
DeleteJoseph McCarthy created unnecessary fear and paranoia among the American people.
ReplyDeleteAmericans are so gullible that is why the government no matter if they are George Washington and any of your deists founders or if it was Ford, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama will always lie and give you half truths and invent stories to distract you from what they are truly doing to destabilized other countries so they can suck the life out them examples: take their oil and their various goods so they can bring it back the U.S. and sell it to you but they won't tell you that they are supporting the enslavement and death of many in third world countries.
What am I talking about foods many of the fruits you enjoy from the supermarkets, are taken from tropical countries, also blue jeans and other clothing items are made in poor countries in sweat shops while the corporations in agreement with the government exploit the poor people in in third world countries.
Why?? because of greed.
You know why you guys are so gullible because as long all is beautiful in your country and you are comfortable and nobody is bothering you it doesn't matter what is happening in third world countries according to you they are like that because they like it like that or because they have no education etc.
The reality is much different than what many of think,
All of you live with your EYES WIDE SHUT, beacause that is much easier.
Sorry Pedro, but you don't know what you're talking about.
Delete