Thursday in London, Archbishop Oscar Romero, the assassinated archbishop of San Salvador, will be honored at the Southwark Cathedral.
Though a beatification cause for Archbishop Romero is still ongoing, the prelate is widely hailed as someone who was a “voice for the voiceless.’
Vatican Radio reported that a new cross and reliquary will be dedicated to his name at the Thursday ceremony.
Archbishop Peter Smith will preside at an ecumenical prayer service recalling the life and legacy of Archbishop Romero, who was shot dead while celebrating Mass on March 24, 1980.
A four-meter (13-foot) Salvadoran Cross will contain a skull cap and a fragment of the alb that Romeo was wearing on the day of his assassination.
Canon John O’Toole, dean of St George’s Cathedral in Southwark, explained to Vatican Radio that the honor paid to Archbishop Romero reflects the ethnic richness of the Southwark community.
“We have a large Latin American community and chaplaincy in this area…..we have a multi-ethnic community, also Ghanaian, Nigerian, Filipino communities. In the past it was largely an Irish community when the cathedral was built but it now reflects the great variety (of ethnicities) that you find in London,” he said. “Hopefully, if he is beatified and canonized, that will raise his profile, but I think the message he gives of trying to live our faith in action and be a voice for the voiceless …. especially in the spirit of Pope Francis, a love for the poor and a man who didn’t seek suffering but was prepared to accept it in the cause of right….”
