Culture

Here’s How to Watch the Canonization of Óscar Romero

Lead Photo: Photo of mural by Giovani Ascencio Ardón y Raul Lemus is licensed under GNU Free Documentation License.
Photo of mural by Giovani Ascencio Ardón y Raul Lemus is licensed under GNU Free Documentation License.

On Sunday, 38 years after his assassination and three years after his beatification, Salvadoran Archbishop Óscar Romero will be canonized as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. Romero was a follower of liberation theology, which advocates for liberation from economic, political, and social oppression. He vocally opposed how the right-wing government – one the United States funded and supported – suppressed its opponents. On March 24, 1980 –at the beginning of El Salvador’s civil war – a right-wing death squad murdered him during a mass in a hospital chapel. During his funeral, the military opened fire on mourners and killed dozens more.

For decades, conservatives within the church impeded his canonization because they didn’t approve of his politics. But in 2014, a year or so after Pope Francis came into power, the Argentine pontiff “unlocked” his case for sainthood, according to NPR. Because the church already declared him a martyr, he only needed one miracle, instead of the regular two, attributed to him.

Despite the resistance to his canonization, for the people of El Salvador and those of Salvadoran descent, Romero is a symbol of hope. And the news comes at a time when both groups continue to face oppression.

With this important ceremony taking place on October 14, Salvadorans across the world will likely tune in. Here’s how they can tune in: