Bishops Remember Slain El Salvador Jesuits On Anniversary Of Murders, Thank Congress For Resolutions In Their Honor

WASHINGTON—November 16 marks the 20th anniversary of the murder of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter in El Salvador. On this day, Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany, New York, Chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) affirmed that USCCB joins many others in “commemorating the lives and work of the six Jesuits and their collaborators.”

Some days earlier, Bishop Hubbard sent letters to Congress, thanking the sponsors and cosponsors of House and Senate resolutions (H.R. 761 and S. 321) remembering the murder and commemorating the lives of the six Jesuits and their collaborators.

In his letters, Bishop Hubbard quoted Pope Benedict XVI, in his most recent encyclical, Charity in Truth:  “Charity is at the heart of the Church's social doctrine. … [Charity] gives real substance to the personal relationship with God and with neighbor; it is the principle not only of micro-relationships (with friends, with family members or within small groups) but also of macro-relationships (social, economic and political ones).” He went on to say:  “It is precisely this kind of charity that was exemplified by the Jesuits in El Salvador—a commitment to a more just and peaceful society where the human needs and rights of people are acknowledged and respected.”  He noted that their “legacy continues to be embodied in the many women and men who still seek a more just, peaceful and secure world where the life and dignity of all persons is defended.”

The letters from Bishop Hubbard can be found online at http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/elsalvador.shtml.