BY Daniel Harkins | August 19 | 
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Oscar Romero’s Beatification in hands of theologians, says Pope
Speaking to journalists while flying home from South Korea, Pope Francis said the murdered Salvadorian archbishop was ‘a man of God’ and reflected on a number of issues affecting the world today
Pope Francis has indicated that murdered Salvadorian Archbishop Oscar Romero may be Beatified as a martyr if theologians agree.
Speaking to journalists (above) travelling with him after his visit to South Korea, the Pope confirmed that the process of Beatification had been put on hold ‘for reasons of prudence’ but said it could now go forward.
“For me Romero is a man of God,” the Holy Father said in response to questions from reporters. “But the process must go ahead, and God must give his sign. If he wants to do so, he will.”
Archbishop Romero was killed in 1980 while saying Mass. No one was ever prosecuted for the crime, but it is believed he was killed by a right-wing death squad lead by a major in the Salvadorian Army. The archbishop had spent his life campaigning on behalf of the poor and speaking out against human rights violations by a government involved in murder and torture.
Pope Francis revealed the developments during the now traditional press conferences held aboard the Papal plane. The Pope spoke on a range of topics, including armed conflicts and the situation in Iraq.
“In these cases where there is unjust aggression, I can only say that it is licit to stop the unjust aggressor,” the Pope said when questioned about US air strikes in the country. “I underscore the verb ‘stop;’ I don’t say bomb, make war—stop him. The means by which he may be stopped should be evaluated. To stop the unjust aggressor is licit, but we nevertheless need to remember how many times, using this excuse of stopping an unjust aggressor, the powerful nations have dominated other peoples, made a real war of conquest. A single nation cannot judge how to stop this, how to stop an unjust aggressor.”
The Pope also reflected on the cruelty of modern warfare and said that ‘torture is one of the most, I’d say ordinary, methods of behaviour of the intelligence services, of judicial process, and torture is a sin against humanity; it is a crime against humanity.’
The press conference came after the Pope’s five-day visit to Korea in which he attended Asian Youth Day and beatified 124 Koreans who died during persecution in the late 18th and 19th centuries.
Pic: PA Photos
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