He was kidnapped on March 16, 1978 by the Red Brigades (BR), a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organization. On May 9, 1978, the Red Brigades said that Moro would go free so they sent him to a car. As he began to enter the car, he was shot and killed after 55 days of captivity, aged 61. In fact, Pope Paul VI "offered himself in exchange … for Aldo Moro …".