Episcopal Press and News
Salvadoran Churches Caught in the Crossfire
Episcopal News Service. November 22, 1989 [89236]
Nov. 17 -- Churches in El Salvador are caught in the escalation of violence sweeping through that strife-torn nation. The latest victims of the crossfire came in the midst of the fiercest fighting in the decade-old civil war, which has now claimed more than 70,000 lives.
As the clamor of gunfire and political accusations increases, Salvadoran churches and relief agencies are straining to continue their ministry, which now embraces the wounded and bereaved.
"If the fighting doesn't stop soon, the conflict will escalate," said the Rev. Ricardo Potter, partnership officer for Latin America and the Caribbean in the Episcopal Church. Potter has just returned from the capital of El Salvador on a flight that was delayed several times due to the increasing conflict. He had traveled to San Salvador to attend the annual diocesan convention of the Episcopal diocese there.
"When I arrived there the situation was very tense. Delegates to the convention were quiet and apprehensive," Potter said. "There were rumors circulating that there would be a major offensive by the guerrillas."
A major government attack responded to the guerrilla offensive in 25 different areas of the city, according to Potter. He reported that air raids on portions of San Salvador have been accompanied by a campaign of terror carried out by so-called government "death squads," who are attempting to dislodge opposition guerrillas from strongholds in the city. "When the soldiers don't find guerrillas, they begin to shoot indiscriminately," he said. "The situation is more and more desperate."
The sound of rapid machine gun fire and the explosion of aerial bombs interrupted not only the tenuous peace of San Salvador, but also the two-day diocesan convention of the Episcopal Church. A few of the 42 delegates to the convention "barely made it home," said Potter. "Most of them were forced to stay in hotels overnight because they were afraid to travel," he continued.
"When I left the country," Potter reported, "the clergy were really shaky and the church was anxious about the prospects of continued turmoil." The tiny Episcopal Diocese of El Salvador is administered by the Rt. Rev. James Ottley of Panama on behalf of the Presiding Bishop. Ironically, the theme of the interrupted convention was "Reconciliation: A Foundation for Peace."
"The Episcopal Church in El Salvador is experiencing a period of growth," Potter said. The diocese had planned to ordain two deacons on the second day of the convention, but with the interruption caused by gunfire, those ordinations are still "only on the computer," according to Potter.
"Churches in El Salvador are threatened daily because they are for life and reconciliation," said Potter. "The church is a target because it continues to speak out in its prophetic voice and expose oppression," he continued.
When Potter returned to New York, the news from El Salvador worsened. Pictures of the grisly murders of six Jesuit priests and two women filled television and newspapers accounts in the United States.
According to Diaconia, an ecumenical church organization in San Salvador, at approximately 3:00 A.M. on November 16, 40 intruders believed to be "death-squad" members entered the local university (Universidad Centro Americana) and murdered the priests along with a university worker and her daughter.
The Jesuit community responded to the murders with outrage. "They were assassinated with lavish barbarity," said the Rev. Jose Maria Trojeira, in a statement reported in the New York Times. Trojeira is the Jesuit provincial for Central America.
The government of El Salvador has denied any role in the murders, and has called for a full investigation into the matter. Yet suspicions run high that the government was behind the atrocities. "The Jesuits have been in the forefront of criticizing the atmosphere of repression and hatred that has developed in that country," Potter pointed out. "They [the Jesuits] have been a strong voice exposing the oppression and human-rights violations," he said.
Church leaders in the United States and around the world responded immediately to the murders and the mounting conflict.
The governing board of the National Council of Churches (NCC) meeting in Pittsburgh condemned the atrocity, expressing its "horror and outrage at the murders." In addition, the NCC has called upon the government of El Salvador and the opposition factions to agree to an immediate cease-fire and an end to all acts of violence, and to allow relief agencies to attend to the wounded and other casualties of the war.
In a letter addressed to the U.S. secretary of state, leaders of the U.S. Congress, and the Salvadoran Ambassador, Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning has urged "the government of El Salvador to avoid injury or reprisal to noncombatants and to move quickly toward a cease-fire and negotiations with insurgents."
General Secretary Emilio Castro of the World Council of Churches (WCC) sent a message to President Alfredo Cristiani of El Salvador demanding that the murderers be brought to justice. "The lethal bullets which pierced the body, but not the spirit, of Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romaro," said Castro, "have now struck down six priests of the Jesuit community and two Salvadoran women. . . [who were] deeply committed to justice, to the high standards of academic excellence, and above all to the people of God, especially the poor."
Castro called the situation "of deepest concern to the international ecumenical community." He urged both sides to ensure the immediate protection of civilian populations from indiscriminate attacks. "We are fully prepared," Castro wrote to Salvadoran churches, "to accompany you in this time of crisis and need, and to offer our assistance in concrete and practical ways -- please feel our solidarity and love, and do not hesitate to call on the resources of our common ecumenical family."
In El Salvador the level of anxiety deepens along with the military engagement. Josie Beecher, a volunteer for mission working for CREDHO, an Episcopal Church social-service agency in San Salvador, reported that civilians and church workers fear for their lives. "The aerial bombers have been flying high so that they can't be shot from the ground. This means that their aim isn't accurate and a lot of innocent civilians are going to be killed if the bombing continues," she said. "It is a very dangerous situation here."