El Salvador: Pope “Unblocks” Romero Sainthood Campaign

 
The possibility of granting sainthood to the late Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador became more of a reality over the weekend.

According to comments made by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, Pope Francis has reportedly given his approval for the beatification process for Romero to move forward.

“Today ... the beatification cause of Monsignor Romero has been unblocked; tomorrow I can resume saying that these martyrs help us to live,” said Paglia who is described as the “Italian prelate spearheading Romero's case.”

Paglia’s remarks came at a Mass to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of another candidate for sainthood: ex-president of the Pax Christi organization Bishop Tonino Bello.  Paglia’s words also came one day after he met with the Argentine-born pontiff to discuss the Bello and Romero cases.

Romero was assassinated in 1980 as he finished a mass where he criticized government repression and denounced human rights abuses.  His vocal defense of El Salvador’s poor and oppressed rankled the country’s political and economic elite, and it’s believed that right-wing death squad commander Roberto D’Aubuisson ordered Romero’s murder.

The assassination of Romero marked the start of a bloody twelve-year civil war that left nearly 90,000 people dead or missing.

Romero is viewed as a martyr among Salvadorans though the process for beatifying Romero was held up for years by the Vatican's opposition to liberation theology.  Nevertheless, the election last month of the first Latin American Pope provided hope for members of the Salvadoran clergy supporting the push for Romero’s sainthood:

Daily Headlines: March 21, 2013

* Venezuela: The odds of a possible improvement in diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Venezuela have apparently gone from slim to practically none.

* Argentina: Pope Francis was publicly opposed to same-sex marriage while he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires but was he privately in favor of gay civil unions?

* South America: Bolivia will replace Peru as one of the three South American host countries of the next edition of the Dakar Rally.

* Haiti: The U.N. Security Council called on Haiti’s political leaders to break as soon as possible a sixteen-month impasse and organize local elections.

Video Source – YouTube via euronews

Online Sources- UN News Centre, euronews, New York Times, MercoPress

British Media Focus on Bergoglio’s Falklands Remarks

During his time as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio did not see eye-to-eye with Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, on several issues like gay marriage and birth control.  Yet one of the topics where both Fernández and Pope Francis share the same opinion has apparently unnerved some in the British press.

Several media outlets across the Atlantic have republished remarks made by Bergoglio at a 2012 mass commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of the Falklands War.

"We come to pray for those who have fallen, sons of the homeland who set out to defend his mother, the homeland, to claim the country that is theirs and they were usurped," he said.

During the service, 649 red roses were placed on the altar in tribute to commemorate the hundreds of troops killed during the war that affirmed Britain’s control over the Falklands.

“The country cannot exclude from its memory any of those who were called; it has to take care of so many hearts with scars and say thank you, to those who remained on the islands or submerged in water, all of them,” Bergoglio added.

While Bergoglio’s comments may have raised some eyebrows some British analysts like Victor Bulmer-Thomas, an associate fellow at London-based think tank Chatham House, doubt that the new Pontiff will issue any strong opinions over Las Malvinas:

New Pope Preaches “Courage” to Catholic Cardinals

On Thursday, newly elected Pope Francis issued a message to his fellow cardinals over their role to the Roman Catholic Church.

“When the Church does not walk it falls apart like a sand castle,” said Jorge Mario Bergoglio at a mass held roughly twenty-four hours after he was elected as the next Pope.

“I would like all of us...to have the courage to walk in the presence of God,” added the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in his homily to 114 other cardinals gathered at the Sistine Chapel.

Prior to today’s mass, the Pope issued a letter to Rome’s Rabbi Yona Metzger expressing his desire to help improve “relations between Catholics and Jews.”

“I hope to contribute in the improvement of ties between Jews and Catholics…in a spirit of renewed collaboration,” read part of the missive issued by the Pope.

The international director of interreligious affairs at the American Jewish Committee praised Bergoglio’s ties to the Jewish community in Argentina including his remarks over the deadly bombing of a Buenos Aires AMIA Jewish center in 1994.

"(Bergoglio) was forthright not only in his condemnation of the act but in his solidarity with the Jewish community," said Rabbi David Rosen to the Religion News Service.

Among the many messages of congratulations sent to the new Pope were statements from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, (OIC) and Al-Aznar.

OIC chief Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu wished that “the relationship between Islam and Christianity will regain its cordiality and sincere friendship” under Bergoglio while Al-Azhar called for the resumption of “dialogue with the Vatican which was suspended in early 2011”.

Argentines including several thousands of Buenos Aires residents celebrated the election of Cardinal Bergoglio as the next Pope. Among those overjoyed at the news was Bergoglio’s sister, María Elena, who alleged that her brother “didn’t want to become Pope.”

The new Pope will have plenty of problems to tackle including financial problems, corruption and a litany of sexual abuse scandals.  (On the first day of the Papal conclave the Los Angeles Archdiocese reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with abuse victims).  But he will also have to face the challenge from evangelical churches in a traditionally Catholic Latin America:

Argentine Cardinal Bergoglio Named as Next Pope (UPDATED)

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina will become the next supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Archbishop of Buenos Aires will take on the name of Pope Francis I after he was elected elected by at least 77 of the cardinals attending the Papal conclave this week at the Vatican.  

The 76-year-old Bergolio will become the first Latin American, non-European and Jesuit to become Pope.

According to CNN:

Bergoglio is considered a straight-shooter who calls things as he sees them, and a follower of the church's most conservative wing. He has clashed with the government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner over his opposition to gay marriage and free distribution of contraceptives.

Bergoglio has not shied from defending Argentina's poor and youth and once said that the South American country's "social debt is immoral, unjust and illegitimate".  

The son of Italian immigrants, Bergoglio speaks Italian and German aside from his native Spanish and was named as cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II.

Bergoglio allegedly received the second-most votes after Joseph Ratzinger in the 2005 papal election.

The new pontiff, who takes over for Benedict XVI, was chosen on either the fourth or fifth ballot taken on Wednesday.

Tens of thousands of Catholics gathered in St. Peter's Square and welcomed the new Pope with a great cheer and celebration.

One of the new Pope's first major trips will be when he travels this July to the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day.

Update (4:10 PM): The newly elected Pope Francis I called on "all men and women of good will" to help him guide the Catholic Church.

"As you know the duty of the conclave is to give Rome a bishop. It seems that my brother cardinals went almost to the end of the world," joked the former Cardinal Bergoglio in front of a massive crowd at St. Peter's Square.

Update (4:40 PM): Moments ago Argentine President Cristina Kirchner issued a public comment over the bestowed upon Bergoglio.

Kirchner, who did not meet eye-to-eye with Bergoglio over issues like birth control and gay marriage, issued a congratulatory message via her Twitter account.

"It is our wish that you have, upon assuming the leadership of the Church, a fruitful task carrying out great responsibilities related to justice, equality, peace and friendship of humanity," read part of the message. 

Prior to Kirchner's letter, the new pontiff has received messages of congratulations from the European Union, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, interim Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina and Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.

Update (5:50 PM): Bergoglio may have finished as runner up in the 2005 conclave that chose Joseph Ratzinger as pontiff.  Yet the selection of the Argentine as the next Pope was a surprise for bookmakers such as William Hill, which gave Bergoglio odds of 25-1.

Though Bergoglio has yet to go through his first twenty-four hours as Pope, Irish-based firm Paddy Power placed odds on who his replacement could be.  Italian Archbishop Angelo Scola is the frontrunner at 5-1, followed by Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana at 6-1 and an 8-1 tie between Cardinals Sean O'Malley of the U.S. and Marc Ouellet of Canada.

The top Latin American picks to succeed Francis I according to Paddy Power are Cardinals Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga of Honduras and Brazil's Odilo Scherer and Joao Braz de Aviz.

(More updates after the page break)