On November 16th, 1989 six Jesuits, their housekeeper and her daugther were murdered at the University of Central America in El Salvador. These martyrs worked for negotiations to end the violent civil war while being a voice for the voiceless. To seek living out faith and service to promote justice for and with others is the legacy left by these Jesuit Martyrs.
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As It Happened In 1989
News from the days following the murders at the UCA
6 PRIESTS, 2 OTHERS SLAIN IN SAN SALVADOR
Washington Post
SAN SALVADOR, NOV 16, 1989
Six prominent Jesuit priests, including the rector and vice rector of El Salvador's most prestigious university, were killed today along with two other persons at the house were they slept in the capital.
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MARTYRDOM AND MERCY
Washington Post
By Leo J. O'Donovan, S.J.
GEORGETOWN, NOV 19, 1989
Before the end of darkness on the morning of Nov. 16, with unspeakable and barbaric cruelty, armed men burst into the Jesuit residence at the University of Central America in San Salvador and shot six Jesuit priests to death. At the same time, the community's cook and her daughter were murdered in their bed. According to reliable reports, several of the priests, my brothers, had their brains torn from their heads.
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6 JESUITS BURIED IN SALVADORAN CHAPEL
Washington Post
SAN SALVADOR, NOV 19, 1989
The remains of six Jesuit priests killed here last week were placed today in a chapel crypt underneath a portrait of slain archbishop Oscar Armulfo Romero amid mounting evidence of a campaign of intimidation against liberal members of the clergy.
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IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE SLAIN JESUITS OF EL SALVADOR
Joseph A. O’Hare, S.J.
Gave this homily at a memorial Mass for the slain Jesuits of El Salvador at St. Ignatius Church in New York City on November 22, 1989
The occasion for our liturgy is the tragedy of last Thursday, Nov. 16, when six Jesuits and two of their household family at the Central American University in San Salvador were brutally murdered and mutilated in the early morning hours. We mourn not only for them, but for all the victims of this wasteful war that for more than 10 years has bled a tiny, tortured country. We mourn for the 70,000 people of El Salvador who have died in this war and the hundreds of thousands who have been displaced by the fighting.
We remember the martyrs that preceded last Thursday’s victims, Rutillo Grande, a Jesuit assassinated in 1977, the same year that a right-wing paramilitary group ordered all Jesuits to leave the country or face a sentence of death. We remember Archbishop Oscar Romero, struck down by an assassin’s bullet in 1980 while celebrating Mass. We remember also the four American women missionaries who were kidnapped, assaulted and murdered by military forces in December of 1980....
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Lawyers Committee for Human Rights: The "Jesuit Case"
Center for Justice and Accountability
September 1991
A detailed narrative of the whole story of the martyrs explained during the "Jesuit Case" trial.
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Faculty and Staff Reflections
Faculty and Staff at Creighton reflect on what this Anniversary means to them.
Click to read reflections
Background of The El Salvador Civil War
The Lawyers Committee for Human Rights provides a detailed narrative of the whole story of the martyrs.
Information on the 6 Jesuit Martyrs, the housekeeper and her daughter.
A film by Nico Sandi, a Creighton University student, reflects on the impact the UCA Martyrs has on the the values and mission of Jesuit Universities.
Media on the El Salvador Martyrs.
Promotio Iustitae reflects on the Jesuits who gave their lives to the poor and marginalized.
William Bole writes two articles on the Martyrs
Twenty-Five Years After a Massacre, Jesuits Reflect on the Meaning and the Martyrdom
Legacy of the Martyrs: Lives Changed, Causes Embraced
Ambassador White, ex-ambassador to Latin America during the time of the El Salvador Martyrs, dies at 88.
Jesuits Commemorate 25th Anniversary of El Salvador Murders
Artist Mary Pimmel-Freeman brings Jesuit Martyrs to life in Humanizing Portraits
An article by Doris Yu on human rights activist Jesuit Father Ismael Moreno Coto bringing Honduran advocacy to the U.S.
AJCU President Michael J. Sheeran, S.J. reflects on the 25th Anniversary in a "Letter from the President"
The Creighton Center for Service and Justice presents the Jesuit/UCA Martyrs Catholic Comments Archives
Ken Reed-Bouley and Anna Fergusen speak about the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice on the Catholic Comments Podcast.
Creighton student Anna Fergusen reflects on the 25th Anniversary of the Jesuit Martyrs.
Exclusive Pax Christi USA interview with Jon Sobrino, S.J.
Kevin Quinn, S.J., president of Scranton University, remembers the inspiration of the UCA Martyrs.
Jesuit Heritage: Creighton commemorates the 25th Anniversary of the UCA Martyrs.
Author William Bole reflects on the meaning and martyrdom of the Jesuit Massacre.
Central America / Mexico Report
Archbishop Oscar Romero
Jesuits Midwest remembers the 25th Anniversary of the Salvadoran Jesuit Martyrs
AMERICA Magazine commemorates the 25th Anniversary with the following three articles :
On the Way to Healing
Jon Sobrino
Humanizing a 'gravely ill world'
Truth, Then Justice
Luke Hansen, S.J.
Memory and healing in El Salvador
Faith in Focus
In the Steps of Romero
Thomas P. Rausch
Evening Prayer in Memory of the UCA Martyrs
Prayer for the Jesuit Martyrs
Events happening at Jesuit Universities
The Jesuits were dragged out in the yard in front of their campus home and were shot in the head, on November 16, 1989.
This rose garden honors the spot where the Jesuits gave their lives as witnesses for the voiceless in El Salvador.