Pope Francis approved a decree stating that Archbishop Oscar Romero was killed in "hatred of the faith", paving the way for his beatification. The Salvadoran prelate was gunned down by a right-wing death squad linked to the Government of the day. Romero had spoken out against the regime and in favour of the poor. But does that make him a martyr? The question is whether he died as a political dissident or for championing gospel values.
This Tablet article, from 1993, points out that Pope John Paul II warned him to be wary of “what could result from a score-settling on the part of the popular left, which could also be bad for the Church”.