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Display case at the University of Central America

Jan Graffius writes:

This year is a very special one for the people of El Salvador. First, they have had an election in which a new FMLN government has been voted in, ousting the right wing Arena party which had governed for more than thirty years. During the Civil War in the 1980s the FMLN were a guerrilla organisation fighting the military backed Arena government. It is widely believed that the Arena government ordered the murder of Oscar Romero in 1980 and six Jesuit priests and two female staff at the University of Central America (the UCA) in 1989. Now the new President, Mauricio Funes, has announced that he wishes to uncover the truth behind the many deaths and atrocities of the Civil War and so achieve reconciliation and a healing of the country’s deep wounds.

This year is also the 20^th anniversary of the murder of the Jesuits, Ignacio Ellacuria, Ignacio Martin-Baro, Segundo Montes, Amando Lopez, Joaquin Lopez y Lopez, Juan Ramon Moreno and Celina and Elba Ramos, their housekeeper and her 15 year old daughter. Every year since 1989 their murder has been commemorated at the UCA, often in difficult and dangerous circumstances, and this year large celebrations were planned to mark the occasion. The Jesuits were all professors of Theology at the university, and played a crucial role in trying to mediate between the rebels and the military throughout the 1980s. They were murdered on government orders in 1989 when the rebels were advancing on the capital, San Salvador, and the government feared that they were going to lose the war. One of their colleagues, the theologian Fr Jon Sobrino sj, escaped death only because he was away from the UCA that night. It was Jon Sobrino who decided to set up the Sala de los Martires at the UCA as a permanent witness to the deaths of his Jesuit colleagues, but also as a focus of hope for the suffering people of El Salvador.

This was to be my third visit to El Salvador, at the invitation of the Romero Trust. Since 2007 I have been involved in devising a conservation programme for the relics of Monsenor Oscar Romero which are kept in the tiny house where he lives, close to the chapel where he was murdered, and also working with Jon Sobrino in conserving and redisplaying the relics of the Jesuit martyrs and their many companions in the Sala de los Martires at the UCA. The Sala had been open for many years and the contents were beginning to suffer from the effects of excessive heat, light and humidity. Working with the Jesuits and the staff at the UCA I drew up a list of recommendations for a completely renovated display which would incorporate an environmental control system, new museum grade glass cases with conservation lighting. This new display was opened on November 12^th following an emotional mass to commemorate the lives of the six Jesuits, Celina and Elba. It is both simple and beautiful and is a splendid testament to the sacrifices made by the Jesuits, Oscar Romero and so many Salvadoran people in the cause of peace and justice in that troubled country.

  

Cardinal O'Brien

San Vincente

Cardinal Keith O Brien from Edinburgh joined the celebrations and made many moving speeches of support for the people of El Salvador, particularly in the light of the devastating landslides and floods of Hurricane Ida which had killed many people in the region of San Vicente only a few days before. The Cardinal visited the worst affected areas and helped distribute aid sent by Cafod and SCIAF. His presence there was hugely appreciated, and was a strong gesture of solidarity with the people in their suffering. As always, the poor were the hardest hit. El Salvador is made up of chains of volcanoes, and the poor live on the highest slopes, with the worst and most unproductive land. When the torrential rain came, it washed away whole villages on these slopes and sent mud, trees and boulders cascading down into the valleys below. The final death toll has still not been verified, and the survivors face the desperately difficult task of trying to rebuild their homes and find a way to feed their families.

 

Jan Graffius at UCA

Display of relics

Santa Cecilia

The commemoration celebrations lasted five days in all, with a candlelit procession following the route taken by the death squads to the UCA in 1989. Students from the university closed the roads off and laid out huge sand pictures along the route picturing the Jesuits and other martyrs from the war. After dark a vigil mass was held, with more than seventy priests from all over the world, including many Jesuit Provincials. Fr Gero McLaughlin sj and Fr Michael Campbell-Johnstone sj represented the British Province. It is estimated that there were more than ten thousand people attending the mass, which was more like a rock concert with the huge stage and vast screens transmitting the celebration throughout the crowd. Mass in El Salvador is a very lengthy and enthusiastic affair- it rarely lasts for less than two hours and can go on for considerably longer. The singing is vigorous and no one remains static for long, and the homily (or homilies- there can be several!) is regularly interrupted by cheering and applause. The Cardinal was extremely popular and his messages of support for the canonisation of Oscar Romero were rapturously received. At one point he somewhat rashly declared that everyone in El Salvador was also a saint. This went down well. After mass, there was a vigil in which thousands stayed up all night praying and singing.

 

The Oscar Romero altar

Vigil Mass

The next day, Sunday 15^th, there was a mass in the crypt of the Cathedral where Oscar Romero is buried. The Crypt largely belongs to the poor, who have adopted it as their special place of pilgrimage. It is not a beautiful space, resembling a large underground car park, in sharp contrast to the florid decoration in the main Cathedral above it. Throughout the long mass people queued to pray at Romero’s tomb. After the mass I was invited to visit some community projects in the slums of Santa Cecilia, which are being funded by SCIAF, under the directorship of Paul Chitnis OS, who was also present for the celebrations. Carlos, our guide, is a mural artist and he showed us his work- including an impressive painting showing Oscar Romero with a slingshot aiming at a monster spitting dollars from its mouth! Carlos tries to include the many disaffected teenagers from his community and encourages them to paint Romero slogans on the walls in the hope that this will deter them from being sucked into the violent gang wars and drug trade in the city, which now kills more people per day than during the civil war.

Oscar Romero's tomb

Carlos' mural

On Monday we were invited to the Presidential Palace with the Jesuits from the UCA and many family members and supporters of the six Jesuit martyrs. There, President Funes awarded the priests with a posthumous honour- the highest in El Salvador- and publicly pledged to bring about reconciliation by uncovering the truth and bringing the guilty to justice. It will be a difficult task, but for the first time in nearly thirty years the government is trying to publish the truth and end the immunity from justice enjoyed by those who carried out atrocities. It is difficult to convey in words  the electric atmosphere in the Palace as these words were spoken- many wept openly and expressed their joy and amazement that they had lived to see this marvellous day.

Next March sees the 30^th anniversary of the murder of Oscar Romero. It is anticipated that this will be a huge celebration and there is feverish expectation and hope that some announcement will be made on the cause for his canonisation which is working its way through the Vatican. We shall be watching with interest.