LOS ANGELES (CNS) — El Salvador’s Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chavez called the upcoming canonization of Blessed Oscar Romero a “gift from God” and is optimistic it can bring hope to his troubled homeland and to the Catholic Church.
At a meeting with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, Pope Francis formally signed the decree recognizing the miracle needed to advance the sainthood cause of the slain archbishop of San Salvador, who was martyred for the faith.
No date or place has been announced yet for canonization ceremony, but Cardinal Rosa Chavez said the bishops of El Salvador had sent a letter to the pope asking if the canonization could take place in El Salvador “so that the poor could participate.”
The prelate was invited to this year’s Religious Education Congress in Anaheim, The March 16-18 congress is sponsored by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Office of Religious Education.
During a wide-ranging interview the cardinal talked about the Romero canonization and the second miracle confirmed by the Vatican to move the cause forward; shared his thoughts on immigration and U.S. President Donald Trump’s push for a border wall; and described a “hurricane named Francis,” meaning the pope and all he has done during his five years as pontiff.
Asked how people should prepare for Blessed Romero’s canonization, he said, “This question is so important that we (the bishops of El Salvador) discussed it with the pope when we met with him last March because there was an attitude that his canonization was like having won the lottery. But this is a gift from God, and now this gift has to be merited.”
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