Michelle Gonzalez Maldonado

Human rights, the role of the Church, and politics aren’t the whole story.

Today, on the eve of the 31st anniversary of Oscar Romero’s assassination, President Barack Obama visited the Archbishop’s tomb. Romero was of one of the most beloved, misunderstood, and critiqued figures in the modern Latin American Catholic Church, and Obama’s visit has sparked some surprise and controversy—especially given Romero’s public critiques of the US government in the final years of his life and his association with Latin American liberation theology.

His advocacy for the indigenous made him a controversial figure among the wealthy Mexican landowners and led to strained relations with the Vatican.