Romero Beatification: It was Benedict XVI, not Francis

The cause of Archbishop Oscar Romero took a rather interesting twist.  Not the cause itself, but who really worked to fast-track the cause of the murdered Salvadoran archbishop.

Here is what he said in 2013.

"Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family and the official promoter of the Cause of the Archbishop Romero of San Salvador, made the announcement in a homily on 20 April, just a few hours after a meeting with Pope Francis.

The archbishop, who was preaching at a Mass in the town of Molfetta, to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of the diocese’s Bishop Antonio Bello, said: “Today, the anniversary of the death of Don Tonino, the cause for the beatification of Archbishop Romero was unblocked.”

Fast-track to 2015, the same archbishop said:

The monsignor who spearheaded the saint-making process for El Salvador's slain Archbishop Oscar Romero said Wednesday it was Pope Benedict XVI — and not Pope Francis — who removed the final hurdle in the tortured, 35-year process.

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia told reporters Benedict "gave the green light." Speaking a day after Francis declared that Romero died as a martyr for the faith, Paglia said Romero's beatification would likely be within a few months in San Salvador.

Better we clear this up or we'll have the rabid media ganging up on the pope emeritus again.

Wasn't he described as God's rottweiler?

Yeah. Right.