This morning in the Holy See Press Office Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family and postulator of the cause for the beatification of Oscar Arnulfo Romero, presented the figure of the Salvadoran archbishop assassinated in 1980 while celebrating Mass and whose martyrdom was acknowledged yesterday with the signing of the necessary decree by Pope Francis. Historian Roberto Morozzo della Rocca, professor of modern history at the University of Rome III and author of a biography of Oscar Romero, also participated in the conference. Extensive extracts of Archbishop Paglia’s presentation are published below.

“It is an extraordinary gift for all of the Church at the beginning of this millennium to see rise to the altar a pastor who gave his life for his people; and this is true for all Christians. This can be seen in the attention of the Anglican Church, which has placed a statue of Romero in the facade of Westminster Abbey alongside those of Martin Luther King and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and for all of society that regards him as a defender of the poor and of peace. Gratitude is also due to Benedict XVI, who followed the cause from the very beginning and on 20 December 2012 – just over a month before his resignation – decided to unblock the process to enable it to follow the regular itinerary”.

“The work of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, with Cardinal Angelo Amato, S.D.B., has been careful and attentive. The unanimity of both the commission of cardinals and the commission of theologians confirmed his martyrdom in odium fidei. … The martyrdom of Romero has given meaning and strength to many Salvadoran families who lost relatives and friends during the civil war. His memory immediately became the memory of other victims, perhaps less illustrious, of the violence”.
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On the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday, Pope Francis celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving for two new Canadian saints: St. François de Laval and St. Marie de l’Incarnation. The two were made saints in April when Pope Francis set aside the normal process. The two were significant in spreading Catholicism in New France, both among the French settlers and the indigenous peoples. Laval (1623-1708) was the first bishop of Québec. Marie de l’Incarnation (1599-1672), an Ursuline sister, was responsible for establishing the first schools in the fledgling colony at Québec and for extending education to girls and natives. Pope Francis has described the new saints as models of spreading the faith. “Missionaries have gone out to call everyone, in the highways and byways of the world,” Francis said in his homily. “In this way they have done immense good for the Church, for once the Church stops moving, once she becomes closed in on herself, she falls ill, she can be corrupted, whether by sins or by that false knowledge cut off from God which is worldly secularism.”
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The diocesan phase of the process leading to the canonization the Jesuit priest who proclaimed the Christian message in China, is complete. Ricci’s beatification cause moved to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints yesterday.

The dossiers on Matteo Ricci’s beatification cause were received by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome yesterday. The news was announced by Claudio Giuliodori, the Apostolic Administrator of the Italian Diocese of Macerata at a public meeting yesterday. The diocesan phase of the process leading to the canonization of this great Jesuit who brought the Gospel to China, has concluded in Macerata, where the priest was born in 1552. Once all relevant documentation has been studied, the Roman phase of the canonization process will begin: a Relator will be appointed to organise the material collected to certify that the candidate for sainthood has lived their human and theological virtues to a heroic level.
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Saints et martyrs: symposium œcuménique international

[COE News] Les saints et les martyrs – ou tout simplement, les chrétiens et chrétiennes qui ont mené une vie exemplaire – peuvent-ils contribuer à unifier les Eglises dans lesquelles ils sont nés? Un groupe d’experts internationaux va se pencher sur cette question et tout ce qu’elle implique lors d’un symposium organisé dans un monastère italien.
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Saints and martyrs: international ecumenical symposium

[WCC News] Can saints and martyrs – or for that matter, Christians who lived exemplary lives – help unite the churches into which they were born? An international group of experts will discuss this and other related questions at a symposium in an Italian monastery.
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