Archbishop Romero was born in 1917 and died on the 24th of March 1980 as a result of a mortal gunshot wound inflicted by a sniper while he was celebrating Mass in the chapel of the Divine Providence Hospital in Salvador. He was beatified in May of 2015.

The military government of El Salvador considered Romero to be an enemy of the people because he spoke openly in his homilies about the violence and the abuses committed by the Army and the National Guard of his country.

At the same time, Romero opposed the guerrillas that kidnapped and assassinated both soldiers and police officers. Romero wanted to be no ones enemy yet openly stated that those who were against the people were also against him.

According to many, it was his last homily, delivered before the day of his assassination, that sealed his fate. In his sermon, he asked soldiers to ignore the orders of their commanding officers when instructed to fire into the crowd. His homily was a response to a letter written to him by soldiers asking him to stop the army killing demonstrators. They explained that many of them had relatives and friends among the demonstrators.