A speedy canonization for Oscar Romero

In May, there were conflicting reports from the Vatican as to whether or not the beatification of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero was entering its final stages. Those rumors came two months after we had heard that there was a good possibility that Romero would be recognized a saint within three years.

Now we hear that Pope Francis had lifted the ban on Romero's beatification which had been holding up the process. Beatification would move Romero once step closer to sainthood. The Pope made the encouraging comments on his way home from South Korea.

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.

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.

I'm not sure there'll be an announcement before the 35th anniversary of Romero's death which will occur in March. However, it does sound that Francis is hoping to speed up the process. Perhaps an announcement will come before Francis makes a trip to the east coast next September.

While there has been no official announcement, it appears that Francis is interested in giving speeches at the United Nations in NYC, Family Day in Philadelphia, and Congress in Washington, D.C.