This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-31115837
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero 'a martyr' - Pope Francis | Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero 'a martyr' - Pope Francis |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Pope Francis has ruled that Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero died as a martyr, paving the way for his beatification. | Pope Francis has ruled that Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero died as a martyr, paving the way for his beatification. |
| Beatification is the step before sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church. | Beatification is the step before sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church. |
| An outspoken critic of the military regime at the outset of El Salvador's civil war, Archbishop Romero was shot dead while celebrating Mass in 1980. | |
| For years, the Church blocked the process because of concerns that he had Marxist ideas. | For years, the Church blocked the process because of concerns that he had Marxist ideas. |
| The bishop was one of the main proponents of Liberation Theology - an interpretation of Christian faith through the perspective of the poor. | |
| Unlike other candidates for beatification, martyrs can move to the beatification stage without a miracle attributed to them. A miracle is needed for canonisation, however. | Unlike other candidates for beatification, martyrs can move to the beatification stage without a miracle attributed to them. A miracle is needed for canonisation, however. |
| He denounced the right-wing death squads that operated in Guatemala and the oppression of the poor, calling for an end to all political violence. | |
| After his election in 2013, Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, unblocked Romero's sainthood process. | After his election in 2013, Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, unblocked Romero's sainthood process. |
| The Church restricts the martyr designation to people who were killed out of hatred for the Catholic faith. Doubt over whether Romero was killed for his politics in support of the poor or for his faith was one of the reasons his case was stalled. | |
| Unlike other candidates for beatification, martyrs can move to the beatification stage without a miracle attributed to them. A miracle is needed for canonisation, however. | |
| No date for the beatification has been set. | No date for the beatification has been set. |
| Archbishop Romero was killed on 24 March 1980, aged 62, after ending his sermon in the capital, San Salvador. | |
| No-one has ever been convicted in connection with his murder. | |
| Some 75,000 people were killed in the civil war, which began in 1980 and ended in 1992 with a UN-brokered peace agreement. |