St. Óscar Romero was assassinated on March 24, 1980, while celebrating mass in the chapel of the Divine Providence Hospital in San Salvador, El Salvador. A truth commission later concluded that his death had been carried out by a right-wing death squad. Romero had been a vocal critic of the violent activities of government armed forces, right-wing groups, and leftist guerrillas involved in El Salvador’s civil conflict during the 1970s. After becoming archbishop of San Salvador in 1977, Romero denounced the regime of dictator Gen. Carlos Humberto Romero (no relation) and refused to support the right-wing military-civilian junta. He also defended the poor and broadcast his sermons on the radio to inform people about the civil conflict. Romero was declared a martyr by Pope Francis in 2015, beatified later that year, and canonized as a saint in October 2018.
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