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    Pope Clears Way to Make El Salvador’s Oscar Romero a Saint

    The archbishop, an advocate for the poor, was killed during civil war in 1980

    Archbishop Romero was shot while celebrating Mass in 1980. In this 2011 file photo, protesters carry portraits of the slain archbishop on the 31st anniversary of his death.
    Archbishop Romero was shot while celebrating Mass in 1980. In this 2011 file photo, protesters carry portraits of the slain archbishop on the 31st anniversary of his death. Photo: Luis Romero/Associated Press
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    ROME— Pope Francis  on Wednesday took the last major step toward sainthood for the late Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, an outspoken advocate for the poor who was killed during his country’s civil war.

    The pope recognized a miracle attributed to the intercession of Archbishop Romero, who was shot while celebrating Mass in 1980, at the beginning of El Salvador’s civil war that lasted until 1992. He has since become an icon for progressive Catholics around the world.

    A U.N.-sponsored truth commission found in 1993 that the murder had been ordered by former army major Roberto D’Aubuisson, founder of the right-wing Arena party.

    The archbishop was declared “blessed,” the Catholic Church’s highest honor before sainthood, in 2015, after years of delay while church theologians debated whether his death qualified as martyrdom—traditionally defined as a killing out of “hatred for the faith.” Pope Francis concluded that it did.

    A miracle occurring after beatification, usually a medically inexplicable healing following prayers to the blessed, is ordinarily required for canonization as a saint. The Vatican announcement didn’t provide details of the miracle in question, but last year the official advocate for Archbishop Romero’s canonization said the Vatican was considering the case of a gravely ill pregnant woman.

    The pope must still formally declare Archbishop Romero a saint at a canonization ceremony; Wednesday’s announcement didn’t indicate when that would take place.

    Archbishop Romero offers the host wafer during communion during a mass in El Salvador on Jan. 13, 1980.
    Archbishop Romero offers the host wafer during communion during a mass in El Salvador on Jan. 13, 1980. Photo: COTERA/Associated Press

    Also on Wednesday, the pope recognized a miracle credited to the intercession of Pope Paul VI, who led the church from 1963 to 1978, opening the way for his canonization.

    Pope Paul, whom Pope Francis beatified in 2014, oversaw most of the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965, which opened the door for a variety of modernizing changes, including Mass in local languages instead of Latin. He also wrote the controversial 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, which reaffirmed the church’s traditional prohibition of artificial birth control.

    Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, told reporters Tuesday that Pope Francis was likely canonize Pope Paul this October.

    Write to Francis X. Rocca at francis.rocca@wsj.com