On Saturday, the Vatican announced that slain El Salvadorian Archbishop Oscar Romero and former Pope Paul VI, as well as two priests and two nuns, will be made saint in a special ceremony at the Vatican on October 14, 2018.
The announcement follows the votes made by Pope Francis and a special council of cardinals in favor for the canonization of the noted individuals.
Romero was known as the champion of the poor and a known human rights icon in Latin America. He was slained in 1980 by a right-wing death squad while he was conducting mass. Several attempts were made in the past to make him a saint, but it was stalled under two popes because some claim he was too connected to the political environment of El Salvador. However, Pope Francis revived his candidacy for sainthood and he made a strong defense of the throughout his papacy.
In 2015, Romero was declared a "blessed" of the Church during a special mass in San Salvador.
Several calls were made by the Salvadorian people, including Cardinal Jose Gregorio Rosa Chavez and other bishops of the country, to have the canonization done in El Salvador. In one interview with TV2000, Chavez said, "We asked this to allow the poor to be close to their pastor. But if this is not possible, we asked the Pope to visit Romero's tomb during his trip to Panama."
Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Panama in January for a youth festival.
Meanwhile, Pope Francis had personally announced that he will be making his predecessor Paul VI a saint in February during a private meeting with Roman priests.
Pope Paul VI, who reigned from 1963 to 1978, guided the Church throughout the end of the Second Vatican Council which his predecessor John XXIII initiated. He also launched several modernizing reforms that is still in practice today.
He is; however, quite controversial for his encyclical 'Humane Vitae (On Human Life)', which included the Church's stance on artificial birth control.
Paul VI will also be the third pope declared a priest under Pope Francis, who earlier declared John XXIII and John Paul II as saints.
