It has been seven years since the canonization
of St. Oscar Romero and since his successor, Archbishop Jose Luis Escobar Alas,
asked Pope Francis to open a process to make Romero a Doctor of the Church.
The sabbath year of Romero’s sainthood is our occasion to
review developments in the movement to declare Romero a doctor. To be sure, no
official cause has been opened in the Vatican to study the question: Vatican
authorities deem the time premature to institute a formal process. There have
been, however, signs that the idea is still percolating.
First, there have been explicit calls for a Romero
doctor process from church officials. In addition to Archbishop Escobar, two
other church leaders prominently advocated for the recognition.
- · The most prominent was Archbishop Leon Kalenga, the Congolese nuncio to El Salvador and later (importantly) Argentina, who promoted the cause in a speech to the Latin American Bishops’ Conference (CELAM).
- · Less high-ranking, but no less persevering, Fr. Bob Pelton convened seminars at Notre Dame University urging the study of Romero and promoting his doctor cause.
Both Kalenga and Pelton have since
passed away, but the Romero conferences – and the calls for the doctor
recognition – continue. There is even a petition on Change.org to promote the cause.
Second, several theologians have also called for
Romero to be declared a doctor.
- · Edgardo Colón-Emeric argued for Romero as a "pastoral doctor" in his Oscar Romero’s Theological Vision: Liberation and Transfiguration of the Poor. Notre Dame University Press, 2018.
- · Michael Lee has written a chapter, “Oscar Romero: A Modern Pastoral Doctor.” New introduction to the 25th anniversary edition of Saint Óscar Romero: Voice of the Voiceless, The Four Pastoral Letters and Other Statements, with reflections by Jon Sobrino and Ignacio Martín-Baró. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2020.
- · John Thiede has a book coming out called Doctor of the Crucified People: The Theological Roots of Óscar Romero's Holy Witness, Fortress Press, 2026.
Third – and, perhaps, most tantalizing (though, also
most speculative) – Romero keeps turning up in the papal magisterium (or
magisterium-adjacent pronouncements).
- · Pope Francis, who quoted Romero throughout his pontificate, presented him as a resource for reference. As he informally told a group of young leaders from the Americas, “In Latin America we have a saint who knew these things well.” More formally, he told a gathering of Central American bishops that Romero’s “life and his teachings remain a source of inspiration for our Churches and, in a special way, for us as bishops” (emphasis added). He then analyzed several of the important concepts from Romero’s ministry he thought useful.
- · Pope Leo referenced Romero in his first magisterial document, the Apostolic Exhortation «Dilexi Te», released October 9, 2025. The Pontiff highlighted Romero’s martyrdom as one of the milestones in the development of the Latin American church’s social doctrine, noting that it was “an inspiration for the Church” that Romero made the poor “the center of his pastoral vision.” Notably, Romero was the only non-pope mentioned in the section of the document discussing the development of the social doctrine over the last 200 years. (This was Leo’s second reference to Romero in his five-month-old papacy, having also quoted him at a ceremony honoring21st century martyrs.)
- · Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI had also discussed Romero in similar terms as Leo’s framework. John Paul had repeatedly called Romero a “zealous pastor” (here, here and here), consistent with Leo’s characterization that he “made his own the plight of the vast majority of his flock” and put them at the center of his ministry. Benedict had called Romero a pastor “full of love for God,” consistent with Leo’s letter on how love of God goes hand in hand with love of the poor.
The synthesis that quickly emerges from all these voices
posits Romero as a pastoral doctor. Fr. Bob Pelton coined that term, having
proposed Romero as “a Pastoral Doctor of the Universal Church.” Some of the
theologians who have addressed the issue, like Edgardo Colón-Emeric and Michael
Lee, have used the same terminology.
Interestingly, the popes may have been thinking along the
same lines: From John Paul’s “zealous pastor,” to Benedict’s “pastors full of
love,” to Francis formulation of a teacher of bishops, to Leo’s focus on
Romero’s “pastoral vision,” these four successive popes all focus on Romero’s pastoral
action as a point of convergence.
In sum, it is clear that, seven years after his
canonization, St. Oscar Romero continues to be considered an important
reference in the development of the social doctrine and in the pastoral praxis
that accompanies it. Like Pope Francis before him, Pope Leo considers Romero a
beacon of enlightenment for Latin American ecclesiology which he, in turn, considers
“a true prophetic vision for the church today and tomorrow.”
