Sir, - It seems that the Vatican is determined to speed up the process of the canonical canonisation of Mother Teresa. There is no doubt about Mother Teresa's saintliness, but when Cardinal Ratzinger, the hammer of heretics, is pushing her cause I begin to worry that there is a political statement being made by the Vatican on what constitutes an "offical saint".
Archbishop Romero of El Salvador was murdered over seven years ago and died as a martyr. He is venerated as an unofficial saint throughout Latin America as "St Romero of the Americas". However, the process of his "official" canonisation is stalled in the Vatican - unlike that of Mother Teresa. Why the disparity?
Archbishop Romero challenged the institutionalised injustices in his country. He was not only hated by the rich elite but was openly shunned by his fellow bishops. Unfortunately, there was no Princess Diana to photographed in his company and to promote what he stood for.
He was ordered to Rome on several occasions to receive an offical "slap on the hand" and it's believed that had he not been murdered at the hands of the Salvadoran rich he would have been removed from office by the Vatican. He received no state funeral and no volley of shots were fired by the state army over his coffin. A volley of shots was fired, but into the assembled crowds.
It seems that the Vatican only wishes to recognise saintly people who do not challenge the root causes of injustice. Maybe it fears that if such saintly subversives as Archbishop Romero were "canonised" it would upset many cosy church/state cartels throughout the world. - Yours, etc.,
From Brendan Butler
Swords, Co Dublin.