Martyrs of the University

The MaRtyRs of the UniveRsity A Virtual Pilgrim Walk

Š 2016 by The Center for Mission and Identity, Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH. All Rights Reserved.

Text by George Traub, S.J. in consultation with Dan Hartnett, S.J., Bellarmine Chapel.

Cover artwork: Karen Heyl. Memorial to the Martyrs at Xavier University. 2015. Design and limestone sculpture.

Cincinnati, Ohio.

Cover photo: Greg Rust.

Drawings of the Martyrs by Stephen D. Kroeger used with permission of the artist.

Remembering Dean Brackely, SJ, (1946-2011) who went to El Salvador to help replace the Martyrs of the University.

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Foreword This booklet is a tribute to the Martyrs of the Universidad Centroamericana in San Salvador as well as a challenge from them.

It offers a virtual walk to the pilgrim who turns its pages and ponders the meaning for us today of the lives and work and deaths of the eight “Martyrs of the University.�

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The MaRtyRs’ stoRy Sons of St. Ignatius, all but one came on mission to El Salvador, a tiny Central American country where a few powerful families held most of the wealth and power.

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They heard the call in the Church to turn to the poor. They worked at the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA). They taught. They wrote. They uncovered the structures of exploitation, the systemic violence.

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They defended the oppressed who had no voice. They raised peoples’ consciousness of their own inherent dignity. They fed on the faith of the poor with whom they mixed their blood.

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They had a vision of a new world of justice and peace, of the University as a social force that could enlighten and transform the society in which it lives, a vision of God’s reign coming to be.

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They were accused by the military of being Communists, supporting the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) rebels and hiding weapons at the University—accusations never substantiated.

They were threatened with death if they did not leave the country. They stayed.

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On Nov. 16, 1989, in the middle of the night, U.S.-trained forces shot them in the back of the head at close range, killing them all, including the mother and daughter who had sought refuge with them. The powerful, who feared the martyrs and their university work and who ordered their deaths, were not brought to justice.

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The martyrs’ commitment to social justice continues to inspire people around the world, each in their own particular situation.

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Therefore, let all those with an Ignatian spirit take note of the tradition to which we belong–and strive to live up to it.

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The Individual Martyrs 20

Ignacio Ellacuria, SJ “Ellacu” Nov. 9, 1930–Nov. 16, 1989 Native of Spain

As rector-president of the UCA and a distinguished philosopher-theologian, “Ellacu” led the University’s turn toward the poor, its study of the national "historical reality” with “sentient intelligence” and its work to transform that reality into a more just society. He spoke and acted for a negotiated peace in the civil war that claimed so many innocent lives.

Ignacio Martin-Baro, SJ “Nacho” Nov. 7, 1942–Nov. 16, 1989 Native of Spain

“Nacho” was the vice-rector of the UCA and a creative social psychologist. In his voluminous publications, he questioned the adequacy of the theoretical models of mainstream psychology to address the effects of the violence in El Salvador. He identified the country’s “lie”: Our “institutions are precisely the opposite of what they are supposed to be.”

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Segundo Montes Mozo, SJ “Zeus” May 15, 1933–Nov. 16, 1989 Native of Spain

Early on, “Zeus” taught physics, but later moved into the social sciences as part of the commitment to deal with the “social reality” of El Salvador. He was a prolific contributor to scholarly journals. He founded the UCA’s Human Rights Institute and headed the research project on Salvadoran refugees in the United States. He was recognized internationally as a scholar of human rights, refugees and displaced people.

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Juan Ramon Moreno Pardo, SJ “Pardito” Aug. 29, 1933–Nov. 16, 1989 Native of Spain

“Pardito” was a professor of theology. He guided young Jesuits in their first two years of formation. He helped Ellacuria establish the UCA’s Center for Theological Reflection and set up its superb library. Usually a shy and gentle man, he became filled with excitement when he preached about Christian liberation theology.

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Julia Elba Ramos Mar. 5, 1947–Nov. 16, 1989

Elba was the cook and housekeeper at the Jesuit theology school near the UCA. She and her husband, who worked at the University, lived on the edge of the campus. But because of increased violence in the area, she and their daughter Celina decided, a few days before Nov. 16, to stay in the Jesuit house at night for safety.

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Celina Maricet Ramos Feb. 27, 1973–Nov. 16, 1989

Celina had just finished her first year of high school.

She and her mother were killed so there would be no witnesses to the murders. After their deaths, they came to represent the more than 70,000 innocent civilians who were murdered or who “disappeared� in the 12-yearlong civil war.

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Joaquin Lopez y Lopez, SJ “Lolo” Aug. 16, 1918–Nov. 16, 1989 Native of El Salvador

A co-founder of the UCA (1965) and later involved in its administration, “Lolo” helped establish and then direct the local Fe y Alegria (“Faith & Joy”) network of schools to empower the poor. He battled cancer in the midst of all the upheaval around him.

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Amando Lopez Quintana, SJ Feb. 6, 1936–Nov. 16, 1989 Native of Spain

Amando was a professor of theology. He had earlier been rector-president of the UCA in Managua, Nicaragua. A contributor to UCA publications, he also served as pastor in a poor rural neighborhood where his happiness and evangelical preaching captivated the people. Jon Sobrino spoke about Amando’s “contagious goodness.”

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bibliography (listed in order of publication) John Sobrino, SJ. Companions of Jesus: The Jesuit Martyrs of El Salvador.

Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1990.

Martha Doggett. Death Foretold: The Jesuit Martyrs in El Salvador. Lawyers Committee for Human Rights. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1993.

Teresa Whitfield. Paying the Price: Ignacio Ellacuria and the Murdered Jesuits of El Salvador. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994.

William M. Leogrande. Our Own Backyard: The United States in Central America, 1977-1992. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998.

Kevin F. Burke, SJ. The Ground Beneath the Cross: The Theology of Ignacio Ellacuria. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2000.

John Sobrino, SJ. The Latin American Martyrs: Summons and Grace for the Church. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2007.

Robert Lassalle-Klein. Blood and Ink: Ignacio Ellacuria, John Sobrino, and the Jesuit Martyrs of the University of Central America. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2014.

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jesuitresource.org For more information on the UCA Martyrs visit: xavier.edu/UCAMartyrs

102016GV2500 Š2016 Xavier University