The Francis and Ann Curran Center for American Catholic Studies

The Four Martyred Churchwomen: Allies In Today’s Struggle for Social Justice Courtesy of the Mission Archives Archives the Maryknoll Mission of Courtesy

Wednesday, December 2, 2020 | 6 p.m. Donna Whitson Bret served as an Free and open to the public. This lecture will be virtual, academic advisor for 22 years at the and a Zoom link will be sent upon registration. University of Pitsburgh. Registration is required. Edward T. Bret, Ph.D., For more information or to RSVP, email [email protected]. is a history professor emeritus at La Roche University in Pitsburgh. A presentation by Edward T. Bret, Ph.D., and Donna Whitson Bret, M.A. Along with their individual publications, they have co-authored On December 2, 1980, Sisters , , and Maura two books: Martyrs of Hope: Seven U.S. Clarke, along with lay missionary , were raped and Missioners in Central America (Orbis brutally murdered by National Guardsmen in because Books, 2018), which received Honorable they had dared to side with the marginalized in their struggle for Mention in the biography category human dignity. Forty years afer their deaths, their stories still from the Catholic Press Association; serve as an inspiration for all who struggle nonviolently against and Murdered in Central America: The racism, economic injustice, and the mistreatment of immigrants Stories of Eleven U.S. Missionaries and refugees. At a time when the is rocked by (Orbis Books, 1988), which earned a scandals and seen as no longer relevant by an ever-growing Christopher Award. number of young people, their lives of faith-based service to those who sufered injustice also provides a much-needed blueprint for a church in need of reform.