Archbishop Óscar Romero (Raul Julia) is reluctant to get involved in a war that rages on between the military elite and guerrilla Marxists in his country of El Salvador. As conditions worsen and more churches are desecrated, however, he finds he cannot remain an observer. So Romero resorts to what he knows best: making speeches. The tenets he preaches are simply freedom and justice, but even so, he is seen as dangerous by the government and they are ready to retaliate.