An alleged miracle obtained through the intercession of Blessed Salvadorian Bishop Oscar Romero (1917-1980) will soon be studied by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. It has to do with the inexplicable recovery of a woman, whose life and that of her infant in uterus were threatened by a pregnancy complication. The recognition of this miracle, by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, would open the way to the martyr’s canonization.
The Salvadorian Church concluded its diocesan investigation of this event at the end of February 2017. The postulator of the cause of canonization, Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, confirmed at the beginning of March that the documentation arrived in Rome, in words quoted by the Italian Catholic daily Avvenire.
“It has to do with a woman of Salvador, who was in her seventh month of pregnancy and who, because of a very serious complication, risked losing the infant and she herself dying. Her friends prayed to Blessed Romero and after a few weeks, not only did the woman not die but she gave birth to the infant. The clinical dossiers (. . .) refer to an extraordinary event,” he explained.
The alleged miracle will be studied at Rome by a Commission of seven experts in medicine, six theologians and 14 Cardinals of the Congregation. If the issue is positive, a new “Positio” treating of the miracle will be submitted to Pope Francis for the final approval of the canonization.
Monsignor Romero’s witness, said Monsignor Paglia, “becomes ever more important, exemplary, when conflicts are arising again in the country’s numerous parties, as the violence of the ‘Maras’ — the criminal gangs, is troubling Salvador and a spirit of closure is growing.”
“His witness was radically evangelical and calls for being understood in all its force,” he added: “it’s no accident that the Pope, on receiving the Salvadorian Bishops after the beatification, spoke of a post mortem martyr, because of the opposition to his recognition.”
Monsignor Oscar Romero was murdered during a Mass, while he was Archbishop of San Salvador, capital of El Salvador. Saint Pope John Paul II discerned for him the title “Servant of God.” His beatification was celebrated on May 23, 2015 in San Salvador.
