Saints for our time

Richard A. Sokerka

In the midst of the current Synod of Bishops on the topic of “Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment,” Pope Francis will canonize Blessed Pope Paul VI and Blessed Archbishop Oscar Romero on Oct. 14.

The future Pope Paul VI served as archbishop of Milan before his election as Bishop of Rome in 1963. Pope Paul VI oversaw much of the Second Vatican Council, which had been opened by Pope St. John XXIII, and in 1969, he promulgated a new Roman Missal. He was beatified by Pope Francis Oct. 19, 2014.

Apart from his role in the Council, Paul VI is most widely known for his landmark encyclical, “Humanae Vitae,” which was published in 1968 and reaffirmed the Church’s teaching against contraception in wake of the sexual revolution. This year marks the 50th anniversary of this historic encyclical and many events hailing the importance of this encyclical have been held in the past few months.

Commenting on the 50th anniversary of the encyclical, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), said, “Fifty years ago, Blessed Paul VI reaffirmed the beautiful truth that a husband and wife are called to give themselves completely to each other. Marriage reflects the love of God, which is faithful, generous, and life-giving. Through their vocation, spouses cooperate with God by being open to new human life. Blessed Paul VI, who bore the criticism of Humanae Vitae with charity and patience, courageously affirmed that when we love as God designed, we experience true freedom and joy. He has also been proven correct in his warnings about the consequences of ignoring the true meaning of married love.”

Interestingly, the miracle attributed to Paul VI to finalize his case for sainthood involved the healing of an unborn child in the womb.

Blessed Romero, who was beatified by Pope Francis May 23, 2015 in El Salvador, was the archbishop of the nation’s capital city of San Salvador. On March 24, 1980, while celebrating the Eucharist, Archbishop Romero was shot and killed at the altar by a death squad assassin. An outspoken critic of the violence and injustices being committed at the time, Archbishop Romero was declared a martyr who was killed in hatred of the faith for his vocal defense of human rights.

Saints for our times, they both had in common the defense of human life. Both are courageous examples to all in the Church to live out the Gospel as a pro-life people committed to justice for all.