Bishops of El Salvador ask Pope Leo to proclaim Saint Óscar Romero a Doctor of the Church

The bishops of El Salvador asked Pope Leo XIV to proclaim St. Óscar Arnulfo Romero a doctor of the Church and to visit the Central American country to pray at the tomb of the martyred archbishop.

The requests were made during an audience on Sept. 11 as part of the ad limina visit the Salvadoran prelates made to Rome from Sept. 7–11.

The Episcopal Conference of El Salvador announced the request in a press release issued Oct. 4 that noted the meeting with the Holy Father “was marked by closeness, fraternity, and the paternal character of the Pontiff.”

In that setting, the bishops presented both petitions concerning St. Óscar Romero, who was assassinated on March 24, 1980, while celebrating Mass in the chapel of Divine Providence Hospital in San Salvador and who was canonized by Pope Francis on Oct. 14, 2018.

Salvadoran bishops meet with Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 11, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media

According to Archbishop José Luis Escobar Alas of San Salvador, president of the Episcopal Conference of El Salvador, the Holy Father received the proposals with “a very positive and welcoming attitude.” The prelate explained, however, that “both decisions require a process of…