VATICAN  (CNS): Archbishop Jose Luis Escobar Alas of San Salvador, El Salvador, asked Pope Francis to proclaim St. Oscar Romero the first Doctor of the Church from Latin America. 
 
“I wish to take this occasion to implore you, Holy Father, in the name of the shepherds and the people of God, in the most attentive, humble and respectful way, to authorise the opening of the process so that St. Oscar Arnulfo Romero be declared ‘Doctor of the Church,’” Archbishop Escobar said on October 15. 
 
The request was met with cheers and applause from an estimated 5,000 Salvadoran pilgrims during an audience with the pope the day after the martyred Archbishop Romero became El Salvador’s first saint. 
 
If St. Oscar Romero is declared a Doctor of the Church, it would indicate that the writings of the newly canonised saint are considered to offer key theological insights for the faith.