Salvador's Archbishop Romero set on road to sainthood

(Vatican Radio) Assassinated Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero has been declared a martyr, opening the way for his beatification.

Following a meeting with Cardinal Angelo Amato, head of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on Tuesday, Pope Francis officially approved a decree saying that Romero had been killed out of “hatred for his faith”, rather than just a political assassination.

The step means Romero can be beatified without a miracle being attributed to him. The archbishop of San Salvador was shot by a right-wing death squad on March 24, 1980, as he celebrated mass in a hospital chapel.

His beatification is expected to take place in San Salvador but no date has yet been announced.