25th Anniversary: Remembering the Four Churchwomen

See schedule of events in El Salvador and the U.S.

From the Maryknoll Sisters website:

The American Churchwomen
On December 2, 1980, members of the National Guard of El Salvador intercepted the van carrying four American churchwomen as they were leaving the international airport in San Salvador. Maryknoll Sisters Ita Ford and Maura Clark, Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel, and lay missioner Jean Donovan were taken to an isolated spot where they were shot dead at close range.

Ita Ford and Maura Clark worked in Chalatenango and were returning from a Maryknoll Sisters meeting in Nicaragua. Dorothy Kazel and Jean Donovan had come from La Libertad to pick up their missioner friends at the airport. All were working in the country on behalf of the Archdiocese of San Salvador, helping refugees flee the violence of the erupting war.

The U.N.-sponsored report of the Commission on the Truth for El Salvador concluded that the abductions were planned in advance and the men responsible had carried out the murders on orders from above. It further stated that the head of the National Guard and two officers assigned to investigate the case had concealed the facts to harm the judicial process. The murder of the women, along with attempts by the Salvadoran military and some American officials to cover it up, generated a grass-roots opposition in the U.S., as well as ignited intense debate over the Administration’s policy in El Salvador.

In 1984, the defendants were found guilty and sentenced to 30 years in prison. The Truth Commission noted that this was the first time in Salvadoran history that a judge had found a member of the military guilty of assassination. In 1998, three of the soldiers were released for good behavior. Two of the men remain in prison and have petitioned the Salvadoran government for pardons.

The families of the four churchwomen continue to pursue a lawsuit in U.S. federal court against the former Salvadoran generals retired in Florida, who were senior government officials in El Salvador at the time of the killings.

The deaths of these women intensified a movement for social justice in Central America that continues today.

Schedule of Commemoration Events

El Salvador

Friday, December 2

10:00 a.m. - Divina Providencia Hospital (where Romero was killed)
3:00 p.m.   - Visit to El Paisnal, en route to Chaletenango
5:00 p.m.   - Memorial in the cemetary and procession commemorating the martyrs of El Salvador
7:00 p.m.   - Mass in the Chaletenango Cathedral

Saturday, December 3

Morning before Mass - Visit to the Wall of Truth and Memory in Cuscatlán Park
9:30 a.m. - Eucharist in the Cathedral, presided by Mons. Saenz Lacalle
3:00 p.m. - Reception for all participating groups at Colegio Asunción w/ Solidarity Reflection

Sunday, December 4

10:00 a.m. - Mass in Santiago Nonualco, celebrated by Mons. Bolaños
4:00  p.m. - Visit to La Libertad parish where Dorothy and Jean worked, testimonies from community

Baltimore, Maryland--Loyola College

Tuesday, November 29

7-8:30 p.m. - Following a brief student presentation on El Salvador, our guest speaker, Rev. Kevin F. Burke, S.J., will deliver a talk entitled “Remembering the Future: El Salvador’s Martyrs and the Challenge of Being Human”. Fr. Burke is an Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Director of Doctoral Studies at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, MA. He is also a CRISPAZ board member. Event is located in the Fourth Floor Programming Room of the Andrew White Student Center at Loyola College. Light refreshments will be served. Contact Emily Rauer at erauer@loyola.edu.

Boston, Massachusettes--Boston College

Sunday, December 4

2:00 p.m. - Boston College is holding a commemorative liturgy hosted by the Jesuit and Maryknoll Societies at St. Ignatious Church on Sunday, December 4, 2005 at 2 p.m. A special choir from Boston College is preparing the music. After Mass, there will be an an informal reception in the basement of the church. Parking is available in the vicinity of the church and at the two large garages at Boston College.

Representatives of the two Sisters’ congregations will speak at the mass:
Maryknoll Sister Pat Murray, who has worked in Central America, and knew all four women, will enable us to meet again the four “ordinary” women called to extraordinary witness.

Ursuline Sister Bridget Hasse, who works with the poor and handicapped in Boston, will reflect on how these women’s martyrdom has inspired her community, affirming its commitment to God’s faithful service in the world.

Cincinnati, OH - Xavier University

Thursday, December 1

7:30 - A prayer service remembering the four US Churchwomen will be held at 7:30 PM in Bellarmine Chapel at Xavier University. Jeanne Rikkers, El salvador Coordinator of CRISPAZ, will share reflections. For more information, contact: Sr. Alice Gerdeman (513) 579-8547, alice@ijpc-cincinnati.org.

Marymount Manhattan College

Marymount Manhattan College held the Ita Ford Commemorative Lecture, titled "The Legacy of Ita Ford: Seeking Social Justice for the Poor," on Nov 14 to mark the 25th anniversary of her assassination. Ita Ford, MM graduated from Marymount Manhattan College in 1961.

The event featured a keynote address by Maryknoll priest and liberation theologian Curt Cadorette, MM, and 3 responses: William Ford (Ita's brother and an attorney who has worked tirelessly these past 25 years to bring to justice the perpetrators and intellectual authors of the crimes against the 4 churchwomen and others); Jeanne Evans, PhD (Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Marymount Manhattan College, and the author of the just published book: Here I Am, Lord: the Letters and Writings of Ita Ford, Orbis, 2005); and David Gandolfo, PhD (Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Marymount Manhattan College, whose doctoral work and recent articles have focused on the liberation philosophy of Ignacio Ellacuria, SJ). The event was very well attended by an overflow crowd of some 150 people, including classmates and teachers of Ita, as well as current students of MMC, thus witnessing to the enduring legacy of those martyred in the service of a faith that demands justice.

Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA

Saturday, December 2

4:00 p.m. - Commemorative event at Santa Clara University on Friday, December 2 at 4:00 p.m. Meet on the steps of the Mission Church. Contact person: Laurie Laird, LALaird@scu.edu.

Salem, Oregon

Sunday, November 27

4:00 p.m. - The Oregon Fellowship of Reconciliation will remember the four religious women who were martyred in El Salvador on December 2, 1980 at the Quaker Friends Meeting, 490 19th St. N.E., in Salem, Oregon. Also part of the event will be a report from local people attending the vigil at the School of Americas/ WHINSEC at Fort Benning, Georgia, November 18-20.

To advertise an event in your area, send an email to salvanet@crispaz.org. Please include the event's date, time, location, sponsor and a brief description.