Archbishop Romero beatified by church
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – Archbishop Oscar Romero was beatified by Roman Catholic officials Saturday in an emotional ceremony elevating the once-controversial cleric to the ranks of the blessed 35 years after his assassination.
Underneath a rainbow halo ringing the sun, Cardinal Angelo Amato, the prefect of the Vatican’s saint-making office, called on the crowd of some 260,000-plus to rejoice in a “feast of peace, fraternity and forgiveness.”
“Romero’s spirit remains alive and gives comfort to the marginalized people of the world,” Cardinal Amato said. “His preference for the poor was not ideological but evangelical. His charity extended to his persecutors.”
Beatification is the first step toward possible canonization, although many of those who packed the Salvadoran capital’s Savior of the World Plaza and the surrounding streets already credit Romero with miracles and refer to him as “Saint Romero of the Americas.”
Investigators sort out Mexico’s gun battle
ECUANDUREO, Mexico – The call for backup went out to local police just after 8 a.m. There was a shootout underway at a ranch in the western reaches of Michoacan state, and the federal authorities needed help.
One patrolman said he sped with his colleagues from a town 20 minutes away and arrived at the scene Friday to see bullets flying and military and police helicopters hovering overhead in what would become the deadliest confrontation with suspected cartel members in recent memory.
“It looked like a battlefield,” the officer said Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity like everyone at the scene.
The bloodshed at the private ranch left 42 suspected criminals dead, and one federal police officer who, according to government officials, died while trying to aid a wounded comrade.
Investigators and human rights officials continued to work Saturday at the scene, where patrol cars of many agencies could be seen parked, and police guarded all entrances to the property, even dirt paths to the 112-hectare (277-acre) ranch known as Rancho de Sol.
Associated Press
