FRIENDS OF GOD, PROPHETS OF THE PEOPLE by Clara María Temporelli

1. Introduction ...... 5 2. Mysticism, Prophecy, And Justice 2.1. … and the spring was glimpsed ...... 7 2.2. Martyrdom as a sign of love ...... 8 3. and Léonie Duquet: Committed to the Struggle for Human Rights 3.1. Caught in a world and a country in convulsion ...... 10 3.2. An existential itinerary of commitment and discipleship ...... 11 3.3. Sharing the “passion” of Jesus, seeking God in the midst of pain and anguish ...... 15 3.4. Disappearance, kidnapping, torture, and murder ...... 16 3.5. Two lives, two styles, one and the same Gospel ...... 17 4. , , , And : Women Of God, Incredibly Resistant 4.1. A long, bloody civil war (1980-92) ...... 19 4.2. Extraordinary ordinary lives ...... 20 4.3. Prayer and discernment before the prospect of death ...... 29 4.4. Women who gave their own lives ...... 31 5. Strong Friends of God and the Poor ...... 32 Notes ...... 33 Clara María Temporelli (), a religious sister of the Order of Maria Our Lady, is a professor of psychology with licentiate and doctorate degrees. She is currently giving classes in Mariology in the theology and philosophy faculty of the Universidad del Salvador in , Argentina. She was Provincial Superior of Argentina and the Southern Cone (2006-11) and has been a member of the Theological Area of Cris- tianisme i Justícia study center. Her main activity has been accompanying and training people’s movements and base Christian communities. Among other publications she has authored María, mujer de Dios y de los pobres [Mary, Woman of God and of the Poor] (2008), “Amigas fuertes de Dios”, ¿amenaza? ¿para quiénes? [“Strong Women Friends of God: A Threat? For Whom?] (2014) and María a la luz de la fe del pueblo latinoamericano [Mary in Light of the Faith of the Latin American People] (2014).

Publisher: CRISTIANISME I JUSTÍCIA - Roger de Llúria 13 - 08010 Barcelona +34 93 317 23 38 - [email protected] - www.cristianismeijusticia.net Printed by: Ediciones Rondas S.L. - Legal deposit: B 3798-2017 ISBN: 978-84-9730-389-7 - ISSN: 2014-6566 - ISSN (virtual edition): 2014-6574 Editor: Anna Pérez i Mir - Translated by Eric Southworth Cover drawing: Ignasi Flores - Layout: Pilar Rubio Tugas Printed on recycled paper - February 2017

Privacy Policy: The Fundació Lluís Espinal makes it known that your data are kept in a file under the name BDGACIJ, legal title of the Fundació Lluís Espinal. These are used only for providing the services we render you and for keeping you informed of our activities. You may exercise your rights of access, rectification, cancelation or disagreement by writing to the Fundació in Barcelona, c/Roger de Llúria, 13. 1. INTRODUCTION “Thought is born of events and of lived experience, and it should be kept closely linked to them since they are the only indicators of the right direction.”1 Hannah Arendt

God continues to act, speak, and reveal himself in history in many ways, but he does so especially through his friends such as the martyrs Léonie Duquet, Alice Domon, Ita Ford, Maura Clarke, Dorothy Kazel, and Jean Donovan.2 These women will be contemplated from the per- spective of being “friends of God” because by their lives they have be- come prophets and ecclesial cornerstones; they beacons lighting our way and fountains that refresh and renew our strength as we struggle on behalf of the faith.

From the very start I encourage read- managed to pose a grievous threat to ers not to remain indifferent to the facts the powerful of this world. These mar- presented on these pages but to realize tyrs, made doubly invisible as women that we all form part of a vital current, and as nuns, emerge from anonymity to one to which we are all heirs. Past and teach us that faith, confidence in God, present mingle together in a single and resistance are indispensable vir- flow so that, as the French historian tues in the pursuit of life. These women Marc Bloch puts it, “incomprehension are exemplars of sensitivity, courage, of the present is the deadly result of ig- and the refusal to yield before threats, norance of the past.”3 fear, and persecution. They displayed We present the lives of these six the gift of loving life and loving other faithful witnesses so that everyone will persons, especially the wretched of this “give them credit for the fruits of their world. They put us in touch also with efforts and praise them for their works other less positive experiences which in the city squares” (Prov 31,31), but are just as much a part of our world –the also so that we may understand how experiences of uncertainty, horror, and and why persons seemingly so fragile death that brought on their martyrdom.

5 Latin American and Caribbean Earth. The present system has come societies have been subjected to re- up against the limits imposed by na- pressive and authoritarian political ture. There is no solution that does not systems which have terrorized their require change; if we do not change, peoples and produced among them an we will destroy the planet. As long as attitude of “chronic fear.” Thousands economic interests continue to prevent upon thousands of persons have been the change that is needed, the present persecuted, deprived of freedom, tor- power structure will persist in its dev- tured, raped, murdered, or exiled. The astation both of persons and the Earth situation is made worse by the close itself. alliance of the military forces with Around the world, therefore, wom- economic power and the mass media. en committed to their beliefs and to the These secular powers have joined to- Earth are rising up to give irrefutable gether to lead globalization in the di- testimony, even at the cost of their rection that suits them. Added to this is lives. They are denouncing these po- the ecological question: the search for litical systems that deny people even alternative energy sources vs. main- their most basic human rights. taining the prevailing system. May these pages serve as a remind- We have to seek an alternative: er and an acclamation of these women another way of producing and con- who have given a testimony both val- suming, another way of treating the iant and valuable.

6 2. MYSTICISM, PROPHECY, AND JUSTICE “For you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its rays.” (Malachy 4,2)

Their experience of the consecrated life is the deep well from which the martyrs drank. Their social, historical, and spiritual context inspired them in their processes of insertion and inculturation, and it led them to commit themselves to the suffering and impoverished people with whom they lived, and to defend them to the death.

2.1. … and the spring was There was hope. The men and glimpsed women of God walked alongside the poor in the search for justice. Immers- With the Second Vatican Council and ing themselves in the culture of their the conferences of Medellín and Pueb- time, they did not condemn it but tried la,4 the Church in Latin America and to be considerate, compassionate, and the Caribbean had a glimpse of spring. courageous with one and all. John As the Church felt the gentle breeze XXXIII and Paul VI opened the hearts blowing, breathed in the perfume of of Catholics to the world, to other the orange blossoms, and beheld the Christian churches, to other religions, blossoming almond trees, she began to to all nations and races. They let loose let herself be guided by the Spirit that forces that nothing and nobody could dwells in all creation. Leading her by stop: liberation theology, the Latin the hand along paths of humanization, American Conference of Religious, the Spirit announced to her a dawn at the Christian base communities –all of midnight. As in the ancient prophecies, these embodied new options, displace- the splendor of life shone brightly in ments, insertions, methodologies, and the faces of humanity. critical analyses. People began to dis-

7 cover and admire the diverse cultures Before Vatican II, theologians held that give our world its richness. There that the main motive and the necessary arose a new spirituality, a new way of condition for martyrdom was odium following Jesus, a new understanding fidei [hatred of the faith], but our the- of his project and his cause. We could ological understanding of martyrdom see the Kingdom becoming visible in was broadened by the Council. The our history through dynamic re-organ- text of Lumen Gentium (42) does not ization of personal relations and social speak of profession of faith or odium structures. Solidarity incarnate became fidei, although it presupposes them. the byword of the Council. It prefers to speak of martyrdom as a In this context, the consecrated life sign of the love that opens a person up reached previously unthinkable realms, into a total donation of self. The word bringing life to the poor and suffering thus recovers something of its original masses as well as to itself. Consecrated meaning of “witness.” women inserted themselves with co- Jesus did not die because of his herence and boldness into this process enemies’ confusion or a judicial con- of “displacement,” “exodus,” and “rad- demnation. Neither the Jews nor the ical options.” Romans were confused: Jesus’ actions and his proclamation of the Kingdom presented a threat to the established political and religious system. Jesus 2.2. Martyrdom as a sign of love was killed because he announced the Kingdom, stood in solidarity with the From the earliest days of Christianity lowly, and defended the victims. His the faithful have suffered persecution death should not be considered apart for the sake of the Gospel. The mar- from the rest of his life. It was the tyrs and the witnesses5 are the supreme same with John the Baptist, Stephen, expression of the following of Christ: and so many other men and women by giving their lives they manifest the who were persecuted when they ques- power of love for others, which is at tioned or threatened the interests of the once vulnerable and overwhelming. powerful. A martyr, therefore, is ba- It is they who give credibility to the sically a person who is committed to Church and to Christian faith. following Jesus and is dedicated to his Since the Second Vatican Council cause to the point of being willing to scores of consecrated women and men die for it. Martyrs are persons who are have become part of the Latin Ameri- willing to pay for their commitment to can martyrology. The number of Chris- the following of Jesus by offering their tians martyred in recent decades has lives and accepting persecution, accu- been greater than the number martyred sations, and humiliations. in the time of the Roman Empire. The That was the definition of -mar difference is that now Christians are tyrs proposed by , supe- killed, not only for believing in Jesus rior general of the Society of Jesus: Christ, but for having committed them- “The religious life, the world, and the selves to the crucified peoples of today. Church need persons who are martyrs.

8 Impelled by love of Jesus, they identi- Jean, and so many others. In their lives fy with those who are suffering; they Jesus passed through Argentina, El live with them and are even willing Salvador, Colombia, Brazil, and other to give their lives to help them. They lands, and he did so during a period of are courageous women and men who horrific political violence. And Jesus defend human rights even to the point continues to pass through our lands of sacrificing their own lives if neces- today, amid all the greed and ambi- sary.”6 tion, because proclaiming his message It is this context of injustice and vi- unleashes personal histories of faith, olence that helps us to understand bet- hope, and commitment. The memory ter the death of innocent persons like of Jesus creates social history and ec- Alice, Léonie, Ita, Maura, Dorothy, clesial community.

9 3. ALICE DOMON AND LÉONIE DUQUET: COMMITTED TO THE STRUGGLE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Between the 8th and the 10th of December, 1977, the Argentine army carried out an operation in which thirteen persons were kidnapped and “disappeared.”7 Among them were Alice Domon and Léonie Duquet. At the end of that same December, several bodies appeared on the Atlantic coast. They were buried in the General Lavalle Cemetery, near the mouth of the La Plata River.

In 2005 the Argentine Team of Forensic 3.1. Caught in a world Anthropology exhumed seven bodies, and a country in convulsion of which five could be identified. They were the bodies of the religious sister, In order to understand what happened Léonie Duquet; a militant of the Com- to two French nuns named Alice and munist Party, Ángela Auad; and three of Léonie, we need to explain what was the mothers who had founded the Moth- happening in Argentina and in the ers of the : María Eugen- world during the decade of the Six- ia Ponce de Bianco, ties. These were critical moments of de Devincenti, and Esther Ballestrino the cold war being waged between the de Careaga. Eight other “disappeared” and the Soviet Union, persons have still not reappeared, a struggle for power that was causing among them Sister Alice Domon. conflicts both large and small - inal By decision of her family, Léonie most every corner of the planet. It was was buried in Santa Cruz parish in the also a time of anti-colonial wars in Al- San Cristóbal neighborhood of Buenos geria and Vietnam and of widespread Aires, since this was “the last spot of cultural revolution in China. Great free earth that her feet had touched.” leaders like Martin Luther King and

10 Nelson Mandela were appearing on of the oppressed; it was a distinction the world stage. Paradoxically, even as which the bishops accepted up to a cer- the destruction of everything seemed tain point. so close at hand, it was a time when On 17 November 1972, General everything also seemed possible: peo- Perón again became president, and ple were inspired by ideologies like so- soon after that he received represent- cialism and other utopian paths to try atives of the MSTM. Some of them to create a world that was more human found the meeting unforgettable; oth- and more just. ers thought the president treated them Argentina, immersed in a convulsed paternalistically. What is certain is historical process and characterized by that it was the beginning of the end great political instability, experienced of the priests’ movement. After five all this in its own special way. The Per- years of meetings, keen analyses of onism which had dominated Argentine national and ecclesial reality, and the- politics for many years was banned, ological-pastoral orientations for the and a harsh military dictatorship was people of God, the movement finally established in 1966. At the head of dissolved, unable to overcome its po- the military junta was Juan Carlos litical and theological differences. Onganía, a pre-conciliar Catholic to When Perón died on 1 July 1974, whom the hierarchy rendered hom- he was succeeded by his wife, María age by refusing to label him a dictator. Estela Martínez de Perón, beginning a The era of U.S. intervention began, new and tumultuous period which end- and the “doctrine of national security” ed on 24 March 1976 with her destitu- was adopted as the basic principle of tion and imprisonment by the military government, reaching its greatest force commanders. The military dictatorship from 1976 on. The Church began to then made General Videla the de fac- experience a great internal division, to president and began a campaign of one side identifying with the army and state terrorism, during which all po- the military government, and the other litical, social, and trade union organ- side becoming ever more committed izations were implacably repressed, politically with the poor. with the aim of imposing “order” on The Movement of Third-World the population and eliminating all dis- Priests (MSTM) was born in those sident voices. Thus commenced the years, formed mainly by priests who bloodiest and most authoritarian re- were serving in the working-class gime in the history of the country. neighborhoods and the impoverished slums (villas miseria).8 Some 1,300 priests from all over Latin American joined the organization. When the Lat- 3.2. An existential itinerary in American bishops met in Medellín of commitment and discipleship in 1968, the Movement sent them a letter, asking them to make a clear dis- The lives of Léonie and Alice were so tinction between the unjust violence closely woven together that it is diffi- of the oppressors and the just violence cult to talk about one without mention-

11 ing the other. Being members of the “Every morning and every after- same congregation, the Foreign Mis- noon, until 8 or 9 o’clock at night, sionaries of , they both left I am in the catechetical center. … to work in Argentina. Once there, they My work is in the parishes, and this lived and prayed together; they shared allows me to speak to the priests spiritual ideals and apostolic labors; and urge them to get involved in they forged a relationship of friend- liturgical and catechetical renewal. ship that united them until death. Since Many of the rural priests would be therei lives were ruled by the ideal of surprised if they saw what is hap- following Jesus Christ, they commit- pening here. ted themselves to helping others, espe- One sister is helping at a sum- cially the most deprived. mer camp for children with Down syndrome; it is her first experience in South America. Every month I Léonie Renée Duquet have meetings with the catechists Léonie was born in 1916 in the rural of the diocese. I’m enthusiastic village of La Chenalotte in the French about my work in the poor neigh- department of Doubs. In 1949 she borhoods with the children and the traveled to Argentina to found the young people.” first house of her congregation in that country. Residing in Hurlingham in the “You should see how much the diocese of Morón, she worked as a cat- young people here know about pol- echist of persons with special needs. itics and the problems of the Third She formed part of a group directed World caused by countries like by a priest named Cacagno, a cousin the United States and Europe. We of Videla, the general who was dicta- hopefully await 25 March [1973]. tor of Argentina precisely in the years … There is a great desire for peace when Léonie was kidnapped and and a determination to rebuild this murdered. Ironically, she knew Vide- country which has now sunk into la when he was younger since he had misery. Our sisters are collaborat- sought her help for his disabled son, ing with the workers of the tobacco Alejandro, whom Léonie cared for estates in the province of Corri- and taught in the Casa de la Caridad of entes; the workers are demanding Morón.9 work, a fair wage, and justice in Léonie’s commitment to the poor their lands. One of the sisters went kept growing, and when the military on a hunger strike for ten days, … coup took place in 1976, she decided a non-violent means for obtaining to become actively involved in the justice. … They are happy, and we defense of human rights. She would support them. … The country is explain her attitude by repeating the restless, always struggling. South phrase, “Keeping quiet would be cow- America will teach our old con- ardice.” tinent a few lessons! Open your A letter she wrote reveals to us own eyes and the eyes of your stu- what her life was like at that time:10 dents…”

12 “We were very disillusioned by the of Doubs, France. In 1957 she entered Synod [of 1971]. The Argentine Léonie’s congregation, attracted by the bishops are traditionalist. … The their charism of “becoming all things economy here is difficult: inflation to all people” (1Cor 9,22). Arriving in is at 30-40%, but wages increase Argentina between 1965 and 1967, she only 5%. … I have to play the role met Léonie Duquet and, like her, ded- of priest since the chapel is right icated herself to catechizing persons next to my house. I have to struggle with special needs. with the traditionalists since I’m Although Alice had not received any called a communist and a ‘third- political formation, she was living in a worlder.’ Keeping quiet now would place where politics was everything: be cowardice; it would be death. there were people’s organizations, ac- There is always the joy of giving tive political movements, denuncia- oneself and sacrificing for others.” tions of concentrated economic power, discontent with the succession of mili- “The elections were in the people’s tary governments… It was impossible favor, and we’re happy about that. to escape from the political commotion The regime of the last fifteen years of her situation. “For this I was born,” is responsible for kidnappings and she wrote in a letter to her family: is provoking rebellion. It is being supported by the United States, “Every night we make our medita- which has put its boots in South tion based on the reality around us, America. … on what we have seen during the I am well despite what’s day.” happening (surveillance, persecu- tions). When one is with God, what Alice’s prayer was a meditation on is there to fear?” the sufferings of those who felt forsak- en; it was a fervent plea before God, Léonie was a good friend of Al- an attempt to understand in the light of ice Domon. When Alice began to feel faith the injustices that she was com- threatened and experienced persecu- bating as a militant Christian. Let us tion, Léonie gladly offered her support listen to her directly through her letters: by taking her into her house. Alice continued to be threatened and often “Today the house is finally com- had to change her place of residence. plete: a single room of wooden She was experiencing what Jesus had boards, 2.7 by 3 meters in size, one stated two thousands years before: door, one window, a cement-fiber “The Son of Man has no place to rest roof. During the day the beds are his head” (Matt 8,20). stacked on top of one another so that we can open the door. We will try to live in the spirit of Jesus the Alice Domon Nazarene, without work programs Alice was born on 23 September 1937 or meetings. All we want to do is in Charquemont, also in the department share the people’s lives. Where we

13 live is what in France is called a bi- completely divested of oneself donville [slum]. Many people here and of everything. There is almost suffer poverty, injustices, contempt. no common topic of conversation. We have the good luck of working That’s why our work as domes- with a priest who has been living in tics is important: it unites with the this villa miseria for two years, and women. You can tell them: ‘It’s the he knows the place well.” same for me’.”

“I live here with Sister Montserrat Every day more and more people (Bertrán), and we get along well. from rural areas and the neighboring It’s not just friendship or mutu- countries were migrating to the villas. al sympathy. We hardly knew one Alice was wondering how it was possi- another before, but it was the work ble that there could be so much hunger that has united us and made us go in the rural areas. As the daughter of beyond the call of duty. I feel free French farmers, she was very familiar with her, and I trust her enough so with republican principles, so she had that I can tell her everything and a hard time understanding the feudal- confide in her about any topic. ism that still prevailed in many parts of This simplifies our relationship and Latin America. makes the community aspect more At the beginning of 1971, the bish- visible. The people tell us, ‘You re- ops in the provinces of Chaco and ally seem to love one another,’ or Corrientes supported the formation of ‘It must be nice living the way you the Agrarian Leagues and helped the two do.’” peasants to organize. They spoke of justice and the right to life, and they “This life in community presuppos- sent priests to help the rural popula- es true friendship and deep esteem tion. Encouraged by the Church, the of the other person. If it were not peasants became newly aware of their so, one could get very bored and dignity and united together to demand end up with a case of nerves. A their rights. They became ever more house with so few comforts lends opposed to the regime that had kept itself to intimacy; everything has a them enslaved for countless years. special value. For example, take the With the collaboration of priests and candle when it’s dark: if you argue nuns, they kept moving ahead with with your companion, you have no- their organizations. Alice realized that, where else to go to find quiet; you if she worked with the rural folk, she have to fix things up right then and could help them avoid having to mi- there.” grate to the city, where escaping from poverty was nearly impossible. But be- “We will have to earn the people’s fore leaving for Corrientes to join the friendship. … For that we need Agrarian Leagues, she asked the peo- time and availability; we need to ple of her villa for their opinion. The be poor like them in order to un- people were saddened by the thought derstand them. That means being of her leaving, but they generously

14 accepted her decision to move to the 3.3. Sharing the “passion” country and to help others who were of Jesus, seeking God even poorer than they. in the midst of pain and anguish In 1976 a military officer was named governor of the province, and When the rural situation became in- he issued a warning regarding the tolerable, Alice knew that she had to sisters: “We have a mission, and that leave. She returned to the capital, Bue- mission consists in keeping an eye on nos Aires, where she met with a num- those women.” The military consid- ber of persons who were looking for ered Alice an undesirable presence, their disappeared family members. She and they told the peasants: “If you as- joined with them, and together they sociate with the sister, we will arrest tried to find a way to break the silence. all of you.” In view of this opposition, About that time the bishop of Quilmes, Alice felt obliged to leave the village, Jorge Novak, cofounded the Ecumeni- where she had been living with a fam- cal Human Rights Movement (MEDH) ily; she returned to live with the sisters and set up a Justice and Peace Office. It in the city. was there that Alice heard and recorded Then came the raids. Truckloads the testimony of the many people with of soldiers invaded the little house of disappeared sons and daughters. To- the sisters. They seized some slides, gether with Léonie, she provided them the text of a declaration of the Brazil- support, both spiritual and material. ian bishops, some notes from a spiri- She also went to the courts and the tual retreat, and a Sunday liturgical ministries, where she met the “Moth- poster. Raids were also carried out in ers of the Plaza de Mayo.” She joined the houses of active members of the up with them. Every week she took Agrarian Leagues. Since they lacked part in the “Thursday protest” in front electricity, telephones, and paved of the Casa de Gobierno –until one day roads, the people in the countryside the police decided to intervene. Since were highly vulnerable. A little later there were more than 400 protestors at the governor “prohibited” Alice from the demonstration, the police requisi- working in the rural areas. Again she tioned all the buses circulating in the decided to leave the work so that none area, emptied them of passengers, and of the people would be harmed. She filled them with the arrested - demon sought work as one of the harvesters strators. Alice was among them; they –or “swallows” as they were called. questioned her but this time they let About that time she wrote: “I’m look- her go free. ing for something else before deciding The only journalist who was able to return to France.” to interview Alice in those days was During her absence, the soldiers Jean Pierre Bousquet; he met her when returned to the sisters’ house and vio- she was representing the MEDH in a lently assaulted it, as if it were fortress. march led by the Mothers of the Plaza Once inside, they bound two Bibles to- de Mayo. In his book, Las locas de la gether with tape to form a cross. The Plaza de Mayo11 [The Crazy Ladies of message was clear. the Plaza de Mayo], he writes: “There

15 was nothing remarkable about her at right to remain silent. Whatever first sight. Rather, she seemed a little the kidnapped persons may have coarse, but when she was speaking to done –and I don’t even try to find someone she loved, a very sweet light out about that– there is no right to emanated from her face.” Alice spoke torture anybody the way they are to Bousquet about her work in Perugor- torturing these women.”12 ría and her efforts with the Paraguayan community in Buenos Aires, but what she stressed most was her commitment to the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo: 3.4. Disappearance, kidnapping, torture and murder “I learned that the Ecumenical Movement assisting them needed In December 1977 Sisters Alice and help, and I didn’t hesitate.” Léonie, along with the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo and other human She also told the journalist: rights activists, prepared a manifes- to containing the names of the disap- “I don’t play any special role. I am peared persons and demanding that the simply a sister who has made a vow government reveal their whereabouts. to bring help to the neediest mem- The manifesto was published in the bers of the parish. I don’t do poli- newspaper La Nación on 10 Decem- tics. That’s not my function. I make ber 1977. Among the signatories was absolutely no pretence of changing “Gustavo Niño,” the false name used society, but I believe that we can- by the army captain to not be absent wherever there are infiltrate the group that was meeting in people who are suffering. It’s not Santa Cruz parish.13 a matter of dispensing kind words Most of that group were kidnapped or expressing consolation and then on 8 December at the parish. Alice being indifferent to their fate. It’s a was among them. On 10 December matter of being there with them and they kidnapped 71-year-old Léonie. helping them materially and spirit- The soldiers tricked Léonie when they ually. All I need to do is live my life went looking for her, telling her that at their side so that they can see that Alice was in the hospital and wanted I as a religious sister am one with to see her. them and also in perfect conformity Alice was taken to the clandestine with my vocation. detention center located at the Army There is no way to be indiffer- Graduate Academy of Mechanics ent to what those mothers are expe- (ESMA), controlled by the Argentine riencing, to their suffering and their military. She remained there approx- courage. That is the only reason imately ten days, during which time why I agreed to this interview. You she was constantly tortured. Léonie journalists must also do your duty: suffered the same fate. you must make known what these When the French nationality of women are suffering. We have no the nuns gave rise to an international

16 scandal, the military reported that the 3.5. Two lives, two styles, two of them had been kidnapped by the one and the same Gospel guerrilla group called the “Montoner- os.” On 15 December 1977 the news- From the time Léonie and Alice ar- paper La Nación, under the headline, rived in Argentina until the time they “Alive and in Good Health,” reported were murdered, they underwent a that the superior of their religious order notable transformation. They moved in France had announced that Léonie from a very traditional conception of and Alice had been detained by a guer- the Church and religious life, which rilla organization and that they were they shared with many other nuns, “alive and in good health.” The article toward a vision of Church in which stated that the information came from pastoral work with the poor played a the apostolic nuncio in Argentina.14 major part. Between the 14th and 18th of December, The spirit of renewal and the new the two sisters and other detained per- sense of justice inspired by the Coun- sons were transferred in a sedated state cil led the sisters to side with the most to the military airport of Buenos Aires. vulnerable people, and they did so at a They were then taken in planes and time when major sectors of Argentine thrown alive into the sea off the coast and Latin American Catholicism were of Santa Teresita; they died upon hit- engaging with socialism and declaring ting the water. With a perverted sense that the Church could not remain apart of humor, the marines referred to them from the liberation projects being pro- as the “flying nuns.”15 moted by many political organizations Many years later, on 27 October and various social groups. Alice’s am- 2011, a tribunal in Buenos Aires con- bivalence in defining her work, which demned ex-captain Astiz to life in she always claimed was non-political, prison for committing crimes against gives evidence of how difficult it was humanity in the ESMA, the principal for her to break with the traditional detention center during the years 1976- conception of consecrated life, which 83. When Astiz heard his sentence, he was different from the kind of option put an Argentine badge in the lapel of she had made and the work she was his jacket and flashed a mocking grin. actually doing. Léonie showed excep- The lawyer for the victims, Sophie tional acuity in her political analyses Tonon, stated: “Alice’s and Léonie’s of the 1973 electoral process and the families and I, as their lawyer, are massive popular support for , happy that Argentine justice has made to which she felt drawn. Her experi- the same decision, 35 years after the ence of living in a very poor district event, that France made more than 20 naturally committed her to social poli- years ago.” Her allusion was to the cies that were aimed at the transforma- decision of the Appeals Court in Paris tion of society, without much need for condemning Astiz to life in prison in grand theoretical definitions. 1990, even though the laws of impu- Alice and Léonie were certainly nity in Argentina prevented him from two very different persons, but their being judged there. lives flowed together into a shared final

17 destiny. Their crime consisted in tak- possessed privileged knowledge of ing on the cause of the impoverished; what was going on in the country since their stance provoked the reaction of a it was the institution to which most cruel, unjust system which destroyed of the relatives of the victims went in them. By eliminating the witnesses, search of assistance. The Church knew their adversaries were attacking the what was happening, but many of its Gospel itself. members kept quiet out of fear –it was The sisters would certainly not per- a complicit silence. Others, taking a mit us to speak of their holiness. They stand for justice, suffered persecution would say simply that they tried to car- and were victims of the dictatorship; ry the Gospel to the inner depths of the some were murdered. people’s misery. They experienced the Such was the case of Alice and passion of the victims; they announced Léonie and of so many other martyrs. and bore witness to the resurrection in Their acts of solidarity become suffer- the light of Jesus Christ. ing; their words became silence; their Very few social or political activists silence became witness; and their wit- dared to raise their voices against the ness revealed the greatness their hu- dictatorship. The hierarchical Church manity.

18 4. ITA FORD, MAURA CLARKE, DOROTHY KAZEL, AND JEAN DONOVAN: WOMEN OF GOD, INCREDIBLY RESISTANT

In 1980 the long war began in , pitching the government security forces against the forces struggling for social reform.

On 2 , four women 4.1. A long, bloody civil war from the United States –three religious (1980-92) sisters and one lay missionary– were kidnapped, raped, and murdered. Mau- During the 1960s and 1970s El Sal- ra Clarke and Ita Ford were Maryk- vador experienced serious social and noll sisters, Dorothy Kazel was a Ur- political disturbances, the result of suline sister, and Jean Donovan was a oppression, lack of freedom, econom- lay missionary. By their life and their ic inequality, and widespread poverty. death these women united their fate The situation kept getting worse, until to that of thousands of other victims, finally the people’s movements began mostly poor people unknown to the to organize into guerrilla forces and larger world. But the victims also in- engage in armed conflict with govern- cluded priests and even the archbishop ment troops. of San Salvador, Oscar Romero, who The conflict between the army and had been murdered a few months be- the guerrilla forces became a civil war fore, on 24 March of that same year. that lasted twelve years. The Salva- Around one million Salvadorans were doran soldiers were trained, financed, displaced by the conflict, more than armed, and advised by the United 75,000 lost their lives, and another States, which at every moment provid- 9,000 “disappeared” and nothing more ed security and support to the Salva- was ever known of them. doran government. Every unit of the

19 army and the national police was in voice heard was to use the publications charge of a “” that carried of the .17 out violent actions (murders, kidnap- As the years went on, international pings, extortions, threats, and other press correspondents began to arrive, crimes) against persons identified as especially from the United States. At guerrillas or suspected of supporting the risk of losing their lives, they made the struggle against the government.16 know to the world what was happening On 24 March 1980, Archbishop in El Salvador. During the war, more Óscar Romero of San Salvador was than thirty journalists died by violence. assassinated during a Mass he was celebrating in the chapel of the Divine Providence Hospital. This murder took place right after Romero had urged the 4.2. Extraordinary ordinary lives United States to withdraw its support for the Salvadoran military regime and Let us now with these few lines de- had commanded the soldiers of the scribe the existential itinerary of these military junta to stop the repression. women in order to learn more about In December 1990 the guerrilla their lives, their motives, and their group, Farabundo Martí National Lib- option to remain faithful to the very eration Front (FMLN), launched what end. would be its last offensive on a - na tional scale. During the offensive they Ita Ford used for the first time earth-to-air mis- siles, with which they downed several Ita was born in Brooklyn, New York, planes. Once a balance of forces was on 23 April 1940. From her youth she achieved, the Salvadoran government desired to join the congre- agreed to a negotiation process be- gation and be a missionary. When she tween the warring parties. The process finished her university studies, she concluded with the signing on 16 Jan- worked for a while as an editor in a uary 1992 of a peace accord by which publishing firm but then in 1971 joined the guerrillas demobilized and incor- the Maryknoll Sisters. porated themselves into the country’s While studying Spanish at Cocha- political life. bamba, Bolivia, she got to know the During the years of armed conflict, tremendous social inequalities that ex- any communications media that openly isted in Latin America: “I am experi- denounced the repression and the mur- encing things that I cannot understand. ders committed by the military govern- There is such a great incongruence that ment were subject to persecution and it’s difficult to believe. … One would violent assaults. Caution was therefore have to spend a lot of time here to un- essential. Moreover, most Salvadoran derstand it.” newspapers functioned as businesses In 1973 she went to Chile, just be- and not as channels for defending po- fore the September 11 military coup litical causes. As a result, the only way that overthrew President Allende. The for the political opposition to make its years of the Pinochet dictatorship were

20 bitter and harsh: thousands of persons The sisters began their work with were tortured, kidnapped, imprisoned, the refugees in June of that same year, murdered. Ita lived with Sister Carla and they soon came to realize the mag- Piette in a poor neighborhood in the nitude of the violence the Salvadoran outskirts of Santiago. During this time military dictatorship was using in its of repression, fear, and increasing pov- attempt to destroy every possible in- erty, the sisters accompanied the peo- stance of opposition. In Chalatenango ple and helped them in any way they the sisters accompanied and helped the could. rural folk who were victims of perse- In the midst of this reality, Ita cution. In those days Ita wrote: wrote: “I don’t know whether it’s in spite “Is it my desire to suffer the -peo of or because of the horror, the ter- ple’s impotence along with them? ror, the wickedness, the confusion, What can I tell them? I have no and the complete lack of justice, but solutions. I don’t know the an- I do know that it is good to be here. swers, but I will walk with them, I We use our talents in the belief that will be with them. Can I let myself we have gifts that are needed today be evangelized by this opportunity? in El Salvador. I know that the an- Can I accept my poverty as I learn swers to the questions will come it from the poor?” when they are needed. We have to walk with faith, one day at a time, In 1980 Ita and Carla responded to along a road full of obstacles and the call of Archbishop Romero and to detours. It seems that this is what that of their congregation, which was it means for us to be in El Salva- very concerned about the repression dor.”18 that Salvadorans were suffering. In El Salvador Ita and Carla would join On 23 August 1980, the sisters with several other sisters who had been drove out in a jeep to collect a man working in Nicaragua, where the civil experiencing political persecution; war had ended after the dictator Somo- to protect him they planned to him to za fled the country. While they were their own house. On their way back, on their way to their new mission, they were surprised by a fierce storm, they learned of the assassination of which carried their jeep downstream Archbishop Romero. This event gave when they tried to cross a river. Carla rise to a profound ecclesial crisis; the pushed Ita out the window of the vehi- archdiocese appeared to be rudderless. cle so that Ita was able to grab hold of a Carla and Ita evaluated the situation, branch and survive. The next morning, consulting with the vicar general of the lifeless body of Carla was found, San Salvador, the new apostolic ad- leaving Ita deeply distressed. ministrator, the Jesuit province, and Meanwhile the Maryknoll sisters some of the pastoral workers. Finally relocated, and Maura Clarke, who had they decided to work with the refugees arrived in El Salvador shortly before, in Chalatenango. joined up with Ita in Chalatenango.

21 Maura’s sisters, friends, and relatives their services. Maura went to the Mi- remember her as a woman full of life ralagos neighborhood on the outskirts and faith, possessing a free and search- of Managua, where thousands of peo- ing spirit, which is what gave her a ple, forced off their lands by agro-in- strong sense of commitment. dustrial projects, lived in ramshackle hovels. The sisters worked in the par- ish and did what they could to provide Maura Clarke shelter, food, and medical services to Maura was born in Queens, New York, these displaced persons. They were on 13 January 1931; at the age of 19 living on the third floor of the parish she entered the Maryknoll Congrega- center when the powerful earthquake tion. Several years later, in 1959, she of 1972 struck, devastating large parts went to Nicaragua, where she taught of Managua. They managed to escape and did pastoral work in Siuna, a small from their residence through a window diocese of 5000 inhabitants in the east- and immediately began to attend to the ern part of the country. injured; they also worked with others Maura was shocked at the contrast to remove the bodies of the dead from between the wealth of the Canadians the ruins. who owned the gold mines and the People said of Maura: poverty of the miners who worked there. The wife of the mining company “She was very generous. … She manager offered the sisters an unoccu- was used to living in poverty. … pied house for their retreats and meet- She always saw the good side of ings. Maura used it a couple of times, people. She was very gentle, and but she felt uncomfortable there and people felt loved by her.” decided to stop using it. She preferred to be simply a neighbor and friend of Maura was so compassionate and the poor families. conciliatory that she almost seemed The country at that time was under timid, but she made up her mind to the dictatorship of the Somoza family, support the resistance movement. who had been in power since 1937 and When agents of the National Guard who ran the country as if it were their were trying to capture some youths, own personal property. Although Siu- she stood in front of the military vehi- na was far from Managua, the people cle and shouted: “You can’t take those there heard the many rumors about young people with you! Let them go!” the tortures, the murders, and the kid- The soldiers let the young men go, and nappings carried out by the National the people who witnessed the scene al- Guard. As the regime became more ways remembered it as a historic mo- repressive, the people began to organ- ment. “If a person as peaceful as Mau- ize and fight for their democratic rights ra can prevail over the National Guard, and for social and economic transfor- then what are we capable of doing our- mation in the country. selves?” In 1968 the sisters decided to move Maura and some other sisters ac- to places that were in greater need of companied a rural woman, Amanda

22 Pineda, when she testified at a trial of to free his people, here and every- fifteen members of the National Guard where, will grow in strength. We who had raped her repeatedly dur- must not fear. Whatever happens, ing four days. Maura also joined her we are united with God and united neighbors in a protest against the ex- with one another.” cessive charges of the water company. In 1977 she returned to the U.S. to Maura kept thinking about Arch- work in the “World Conscience” pro- bishop Romero’s insistent call for gram, giving talks about the situation help; she began to discern whether this in Nicaragua. On one occasion she was to be the new way for her to serve. stated: She went to El Salvador to study the possibilities. Taking on such a great “I see this work as a way to rouse pastoral and human challenge in times concern for the victims of injustice of persecution was a difficult decision. in the world. It’s a means for bring- After Carla’s death, she decided to take ing about change and for alleviat- her place and work together with Ita. ing the suffering of the poor and the While dedicating herself to pastoral marginalized, the non-persons of work with the victims of repression, our human family.” she wrote:

Maura was not in Nicaragua on 19 “We have refugees, women, and July 1979, the day the Somoza dicta- children at our door, and some of torship fell, but she rejoiced when she their stories are incredible. What is heard the news. Having living there happening seems impossible, but twenty years, she knew that system it’s happening. The patience and well. She saw with her own eyes how the faith of the poor in the face of a large part of the international aid this terrible pain summon me to that reached the country after the 1972 respond and to live from what is earthquake had ended up in the pock- deepest within me.” ets of the dictator, his family, and his friends. She was not at all surprised by The Maryknoll head office sent a the spirit of joy, hope, and relief that sister to inform the community that she found in the people when she re- they had no obligation to remain in El turned to Nicaragua one year later, in Salvador and that they should assess 1980. She said that she herself expe- the risk that staying entailed. In the end rienced a “bubbling of the spirit.” She all the sisters expressed their desire to wrote the following to her parents: remain for they believed that such was the will of God. “I would like to stay in Nicara- The first warning arrived at the be- gua, but I know that I have to go ginning of November, tacked to the to El Salvador to see whether it’s door of the parish house where Mau- the right place for me. Don’t wor- ra and Ita lived. The message consist- ry about me. The Lord takes care ed of a drawing of a knife thrust into of all of us. Pray that God’s work a human head and a written message:

23 “This is what is going to happen to for Maura and Ita to arrive at the air- anyone who comes to this house be- port. They had something planned. cause priests and nuns are commu- nists.” Dorothy Kazel The Maryknoll Sisters in El Sal- vador traveled to Nicaragua to attend Dorothy was born in , Ohio, a meeting of all the sisters who were on 30 June 1939. At the age of 21 she working in Central America. The main joined the order of Ursuline Sisters in emphasis of the program was on the Cleveland, where she received a good situation in El Salvador. All the sisters part of her formation. In 1967, express- supported the presence of Maryknoll ing her desire to serve the Hispanic and in that country, and they committed indigenous peoples, she offered to go themselves to inviting other sisters to as a volunteer to El Salvador. Her re- join the ones already there. quest was not granted at that time, so On the night of 1 December, the she began to work with the poor and eve of their deaths, the Cleveland sis- marginalized people where she was ters were having dinner with the U.S. living. In 1974 she again offered her- ambassador when a second threatening self for service in El Salvador, and this message was left at their house in Cha- time her request was granted. latenango. Just a few hours before, Ita In El Salvador she joined a group had read these words of Romero at the of missionaries from the diocese of meeting in Nicaragua: Cleveland; it was made up of nine per- sons working in three parishes. Her “Christ urges us not to fear perse- main job consisted in visiting fami- cution because those who commit lies and preparing the faithful to re- themselves to the poor have to run ceive the sacraments. At the end of the the same risks as the poor: being 1970s, just before the sharp increase disappeared, being tortured, being in violence in the country, the mission arrested, reappearing as a corpse.” team took on some new challenges. They were described in this way by Ita and Maura left Nicaragua to re- Fr. Stephen de Mott: turn to El Salvador. That same day, in Chalatenango, a death-squad list ap- “Dorothy spent more and more of peared, with the names of the sisters her time taking people, especially and all the parish staff. It was accom- women and children, to the refugee panied by this message: “This is a list centers. She wrote about the bod- of the people we are going to kill, and ies that she saw day after day along we will begin tonight.” A politician in- the road, revealing the reality of the formed the U.S. embassy that he had unhinged, diabolical violence.” heard a radio transmission in which someone said: “No, they didn’t arrive During those years the people’s or- on that flight. We’ll have to wait for ganizations were being repressed by the next one.”19 This message suggest- both army and paramilitary forces, and ed that the National Guard was waiting tension kept growing. Dorothy record-

24 ed on tape her impression of how these of the Salvadoran army raided sev- forces perceived the work she was do- eral houses in San José Villanueva. ing in the parish: This military contingent, equipped with powerful trucks and commu- “They always call us communists. nications equipment, advanced The Guard is the group that com- steadily along the highway toward mits all the murders. They are sta- the rural villages. tioned right in front of the church Around 6:00 or 6:30 in the so that whenever we have activi- morning, they killed ten or more ties they hear what we are saying. persons in one village; they then But we don’t say anything ‘bad’ or continued further on and killed ten communist, as they claim we do.” or more additional persons. One of the murdered persons was an old This harsh reality made Dorothy man walking with his three cows. question her own faith. Her efforts to Another was a young man who was comprehend the reality and the suf- going down to a spring to bathe fering of the people gradually trans- himself. A 12-year-old girl was formed her. Meanwhile, death con- holding in her hands the words of tinued to hang over the mission, and a song written in honor of one of they all prayed and reflected on what the martyred priests. The soldiers steps to take. In those months the team called her a subversive and killed had expanded their ministry to include her. What is most frightful is that I transporting refugees and distributing am an American and that my gov- food; in this way they were able to re- ernment has supplied the money spond to the needs of the victims of the for the ‘heavy equipment’ which violence. Dorothy and Jean transport- allows the army to reach even the ed the people fleeing from the repres- remotest villages easily and to kill sion in Chalatenango. In September innocent people because of false 1980, feeling indignant about the role information about them. I would her own country was playing in the like to know what you think of this repression, Dorothy wrote a letter to situation, Mr. President, and wheth- President Carter: er you know how many innocent persons we are helping the army to “I am Sister Dorothy Kazel, an kill. How can you justify all this?” American missionary working in the country of El Salvador. I am Even as she witnessed so much writing to you as the result of an death and suffering, Dorothy radiated experience I had yesterday after- profound faith in God’s active pres- noon, which horrified me all the ence among the poor, faithful peo- more as an American because of ple. Before her death she wrote to the the aid our country gives the Sal- Cleveland diocese: vadoran government for ‘vehicles and communication.’ Early on the “If we look at El Salvador as a morning of 22 September, soldiers whole, we discover that it is a coun-

25 try writhing with pain, suffering dai- looking for something more in her life. ly the loss of a great many people. As a result, in 1979 she became a lay At the same time, it hopes and longs missionary for the diocese of Cleve- for peace. Our church leaders dis- land with this express intention: play indestructible faith and courage in ceaselessly proclaiming the word “I want to draw close to God, and of God, even when this means, in I don’t know any other way to do a real sense, ‘giving one’s life’ for so.” others. Such faith is astonishing, and it shows clearly that Jesus is When she visited Ireland, Jean here with us. Yes, we have that spirit got to know the world of the poor for of hoping and longing for his King- the first time. There she met Brother dom, but we also are certain that it Crowley, who had been a missionary will come because we can celebrate in . He introduced her to a new it right now with Jesus.” way of understanding the world, one that made her question her own life She also wrote: and initiated her in the following of Jesus. This experience led her to opt “December is coming. What will it for different values and a new way of bring us? First, it will bring Advent, life. She spent four months training to a time of expectation and hope. be a lay missionary at Maryknoll. The Even though we see how this coun- director of the training program de- try with all its suffering is every scribed Jean this way: day losing more of its people, still it hopes and it struggles for peace. I “Intelligent, affectionate, and - ap believe that two traits in this people ostolic. Despite her playful spirit, are important for us: 1) they hope or maybe because of it, I think she for peace and bear their suffering will be a good missionary.” with much patience, and 2) they struggle and shed their blood for From Maryknoll she traveled to this peace. The faith and the cour- Guatemala to study Spanish. She ar- age with which these people cease- rived in El Salvador in August 1979, lessly preach the word of the Lord when the repression was intensifying mean risking one’s life for others in and the Church was being viewed a realistic sense.”20 with suspicion by government forces. She worked as an administrator of the Caritas office and helped Dorothy -Ka Jean Donovan zel distribute food to the poor and the Jean was born in Westport, Connecti- refugees. Her mother commented: cut, on 10 April 1953. After gaining a Master’s in Business Administration, “Jean took her commitment to the she worked as the manager of a com- poor very seriously. She was mo- pany. Though she was on her way to a tivated by Saint Francis of Assisi successful professional career, she was and by Archbishop Romero. She

26 was especially dedicated to the While the country was being de- children.” voured by violence, Jean felt person- ally challenged to try to understand Jean was an eager follower of Arch- what was happening and to change the bishop Romero and regularly went to situation. This task represented a test the cathedral to hear his homilies. After of her faith: Romero was murdered, Jean and Doro- thy spent the night in vigil by his coffin. “I am 26 years old. I should be mar- On 30 March 1980 they were present ried. I shouldn’t be running about at his funeral Mass, which was inter- doing this. But then I start to think: rupted by gunfire and bombs that pro- I have so many things I want to do. voked a stampede. The massacre left It’s difficult when I see my friends 44 persons dead and hundreds wound- already married and having chil- ed. Thinking that the day of her own dren. It’s something I have thought death had arrived, Jean joined the peo- about … Will I have children some ple who were desperately fleeing into day? I wonder if I am denying my- the cathedral in search of safe refuge. self that. I don’t mean to, but per- Though surrounded by violence, haps that’s what I’m doing. Later the sisters continued their work. They on, when I sit down and converse used their little white truck to pick with God, I ask him: ‘Why are you up people who were displaced from doing this to me? Why can’t I be their homes by the repression. They a suburban housewife?’ He still distributed medicines to the sick and hasn’t answered me!” the wounded, and they carried them to clinics. They could not take them Jean came from an upper-mid- to the public hospitals for fear that dle-class family. Her father was an they would be killed. As they traveled engineer, the chief designer in a com- around the communities and the rural pany that made helicopters for the Vi- parishes, they performed many works etnam war. Her family’s patriotism and of mercy: accompanying people in her own patriotic inclinations clashed danger, delivering food to inaccessible with what she was seeing in El Salva- places, hearing testimonies of killings, dor and the role the United States was and making sure that mutilated bodies playing there. With Reagan’s 1980 found on the roadside were properly election victory and his anti-commu- buried. Dorothy and Jean also helped nist platform, U.S. policy became even Ita Ford and Maura Clarke in Chalat- more destructive. Jean’s mother re- enango. The four of them were chris- called: tened the “rescue team.” In the autumn Jean went to Ireland “The situation was getting progres- on vacation. When her friends tried to sively worse in El Salvador after persuade her not to return to El Salva- the elections in the United States. dor, she laughed and told them: “They … Military officials thought they don’t kill blonde, blue-eyed Ameri- had been given a blank check, with cans!” no restrictions. Who would say that

27 such was not the case? Jean told us they beat them, raped them, and shot that she feared that there was going them to death. to be widespread slaughter in El Several local people saw the sisters’ Salvador.” white truck driving toward a solitary location, they heard assault-rifle and On 26 November 1980, Jean, handgun shots, and they saw five men Dorothy, and other members of the flee from the scene in the same truck. Cleveland team attended an ecumeni- The next morning the bodies of the cal service with the U.S. ambassador, four women were found on the road, Robert White, and his wife. There Jean and the local authorities ordered them informed the ambassador that she had burned. The local folk told the priest of seen Huey-type U.S. helicopters fly- the town what had happened, and the ing over El Salvador. White told her: news reached the bishop and the U.S. “We don’t have any of those here.” ambassador. She insisted that the helicopters were The U.S. government handled the American; she recognized them be- case very badly. Officials of the Reagan cause her father had helped manufac- administration claimed that “investiga- ture them years before. The helicopters tions” indicated that “the women had had been entering El Salvador from failed to stop at a checkpoint” and that Honduras, a country that was being “there was an exchange of gunfire.” used by the United States as a base for Other voices suggested that the wom- its numerous military advisors. At the en “were not simply nuns; they were end of the service Ambassador White political activists.” told Jean: “We have to talk about this As U.S. military aid to El Salvador more. Those helicopters should not be increased, Jean’s mother wrote: in this country.” He then invited the missionaries to have supper at his res- “At the very least, Jean deserves idence on 1 December. They ended up that her murderers not be rewarded talking with the ambassador until late by her native country.” in the night, and the missionaries re- mained in his residence until the next Despite this, one of the officials day. responsible for the murders, General On 2 December, Maura Clarke and Casanova, was named minister of de- Ita Ford returned to El Salvador from fense in Duarte’s “democratic” gov- Managua. When they were seen get- ernment. ting off the plane, members of the Na- Those who want impunity for war tional Guard phoned their commander crimes have used the law of amnesty to get instructions. Five guards in plain to ensnare El Salvador and its histo- clothes were keeping watch outside ry. The deeds that must be judged are the airport when Maura and Ita were complex, and they have national and picked up by Jean and Dorothy. As international repercussions, but leav- the four women left the airport, the ing things as they are is a betrayal of guards stopped the vehicle; they took the victims, the country’s history, and the woman to an isolated area, where the rest of the Americas. At the nation-

28 al level, the problem lies in the lack of The decision of Ita and Maura to go political will and of juridical means to to El Salvador was the result of years put an end to impunity; the govern- of prayer, in which they learned to read ment hopes to conceal its past crimi- the signs of the times as part of their nal acts by erasing them from people’s mission. Their education had prepared memory. them to be teachers, but the needs of There is an urgent need for El Sal- a church caught in the midst of a civil vador to lay claim to dignity, truth, and war summoned them to take a step fur- justice, values that are indispensable ther on the road to the Cross. if there is to be peace in the country. Ita described how she was sudden- Healing the wounds of the past is a ly inundated with a joy and a love that pledge for the present and the future. come only as gifts: “I began to expe- Genuine reconciliation can arise only rience true contemplative prayer, ac- from a national commitment to make companied by peace, love, and joy.” just reparation to the victims of the In the midst of the violence and conflict. the lack of rule of law, she could say: “It is a privilege to be part of a church of martyrs and of people with strong, dedicated faith.” 4.3. Prayer and discernment Maura secluded herself in order to before the prospect of death dedicate a couple of days to prayer and silence. When she went to the United In presenting the lives of these wom- States, she carried with her the situa- en, we have shown that all of them tion in Nicaragua: knew the reality of El Salvador and were aware of the danger they were “I entered into a period of sadness facing. They had witnessed the murder and profound loneliness, and I wept of Archbishop Romero, and they felt at being separated from the people I death encircling them. Nonetheless, love: the Sisters, the Fathers, all of they never stopped helping the victims them. I have seen people tortured of violence; they stayed with them, because they fought for justice, as they prayed for them, and they met to- Christ did, and I imagined the gov- gether constantly to discern what their ernment officials and soldiers as the next steps should be. high priests. I saw the poor –Ricar- In varying ways they expressed do, Asunción, Dionisio– as the tor- their dilemma: should they return to tured Jesus.” the United States or remain in El Sal- vador and so be ready to lose their Maura and Ita were convinced that lives? It was a decision determined by they were where they should be, and love, which was ready to sacrifice life that brought them peace: in necessary. From the depths of their being arose the exclamation, “Here I “We keep giving what we can, be- am, Lord!”, and it was expressed in di- cause life here is threatened by evils verse manners. much worse than death, such as ha-

29 tred, manipulation, vengeance, and to help the poor with their missionary selfishness.” presence. Dorothy wrote:

Often the days were difficult, and “Today we talked a lot about what Maura was troubled by her interior might happen. Most of us are plan- struggle: ning to stay. I thought I should tell you but nobody else, because I “My fear of death is challenging don’t think the others can under- me because young children, en- stand it. I want you to know what chanting boys and girls, adults, I think and to keep it in your heart. and old people are being shot to If the day comes when others need death and slaughtered with machet- to understand it, please explain it to es. Their bodies are thrown on the them.” roadways, and burying them is pro- hibited. Our God must have a new Bound together as friends by the life of unimaginable peace and joy mission, Jean and Dorothy were aware prepared for these precious ones, of the constant surveillance of the mil- these unrecognized martyrs. I cry itary. Jean used to say in her prayers: out, ‘Until when, Lord?’ and then fear seizes me. When death comes “I believe that the suffering one near me, I ask, ‘Will I be faithful?’” undergoes is God’s way of leading us to the desert and preparing us to But Maura reaffirmed her commit- meet him and love him complete- ment with the other sisters of Central ly.” America. She said that she would stay in El Salvador to search for the dis- Before her death she wrote: appeared, to pray with the families of prisoners, to bury the dead, and to “I have decided more than once to work to undo the bonds of oppression, leave El Salvador, and I could leave poverty, and violence: “The days will if it were not for the children and be difficult and dangerous, but I have the poor victims who are being hurt confidence in God. I want to stay.” by this madness. Who is going to Later she wrote: “I believe that I am help them? What heart can opt for doing what is right. I am beginning, ‘reasonableness’ in the midst of this and the Lord is teaching me. I am at sea of tears and impotence?” peace even though I know that I will have difficulties, failures, and frustra- All these women decided that re- tions, especially because of the terror maining in El Salvador meant being that surrounds us. God is present in his in the right place, the best place for seeming absence.” them to express their fidelity to the The renewed decision of Jean and Gospel. They made God’s love visible Dorothy to continue in their mission by leaving everything, to the point of was also the result of their long periods giving their lives among the people of prayerful reflection and their desire whom they loved. The four missionar-

30 ies found it easy to enter simply and life, her sensitivity to different situ- lovingly into the world and the lives of ations, her need to understand, her the victims, by accompanying them, reluctance to pass judgment, and talking with them, and sustaining their her ability to accept people as they lives. were and to respect what they were saying.”

It was Carla who saved Ita’s life by 4.4. Women who gave their own sacrificing her own. For Carla’s funer- lives al Ita chose the text which speaks of there being no greater love than giving The lives of these women were at once your life for your friends. ordinary and extraordinary. Their ex- Through their friendship and their perience had taught them to be open to experience of community, they were new situations where the needs were able to survive the countless conflicts greatest. with government authorities and the Friendship played an important constant surveillance of the military. role. Ita Ford and Carla Piette had What allowed them to accompany this lived and worked together in Chile be- persecuted, intimidated people was fore going to El Salvador. People who their sense of mission, which was built were close to them describe them as on a foundation of prayer, affection, opposites, one extroverted and the oth- and shared effort. er more reserved, but they were also Dorothy, Ita, Maura, and Jean re- in many ways alike. They shared what veal to us the situation of women in was fundamental: Latin America and the Caribbean: women who are beaten, raped, and “What they shared most deeply murdered. The crucified Christ is per- was a seriousness about life, which sonified in these four women who included humor as well as pain. It were closely united to the people they was a seriousness that was impa- loved. Despite the risks they ran, they tient with all that was false or an- drew from their creative, courageous ything contrary to the Kingdom of hearts the strength they needed to re- God. Some say that their friendship main true to those who were suffering. was like that of David and Jona- In this way they kept their promise to than. Ita’s gift of friendship was bestow on others the love that beat in the fruit of her attentive listening to strongly their hearts.

31 5. STRONG FRIENDS OF GOD AND THE POOR

The biographies of these four sisters highlight the role played by women in the Church and in the struggle to have justice done for the people. They show clearly the great value of their feminine qualities: their bound- less care and commitment, their simplicity and poverty, their sense of equality, their sense of compassion, their closeness to others, their abil- ity to accompany people who are suffering, their fortitude in conflict, their capacity for discernment and for making decisions, their lucid analysis of the social reality, and their undeniable leadership and popularity.

These women are concrete symbols of our people. El Salvador gave them the ways in which Latin American and new hands, with which they cured Caribbean religious life attempts to Christ’s wounds in the people of our reach places where no one else dares to land. The United States of Amer- go. Jon Sobrino expresses this reality ica gave us women who left their very clearly when he writes of Maura, own land to give of themselves, Ita, Dorothy, and Jean: and with great simplicity they gave everything. They gave life itself.”21 “These four women have given us the best that the United States has to In our world today there are still offer: faith in Jesus instead of faith situations which require us to “give in the almighty dollar; love for per- all for love.” Alice, Léonie, Maura, sons instead of love for an imperi- Ita, Dorothy, and Jean spent their lives alist plan; thirst for justice instead doing good. Who was threatened by of lust for exploitation. Thanks to that good? Who feared them and why? these four American women, the People are killed when they disturb churches of El Salvador and the others or when they are feared. These United states became sister church- women were killed out of “hatred for es. El Salvador gave them new love,” but it is a love that keeps spread- eyes, with which they contemplat- ing and shining as it seeks to protect ed the crucified body of Christ in the powerless.

32 NOTES

1. Arendt, Hannah (1988). Entre la historia y la 10. Welty-Domon, Arlettee (1984). Soleil de Jus- acción. Barcelona: Paidós, p. 87. [Understan- tice. París: Les Éditions ouvrières. Translated ding and politics, Parisan Review, 1953] from the French by María Soledad Seoane and 2. There are also other martyrs such as Teresa Ra- María Laura Duhalde (1987): Sor Alicia, un mírez Vargas and Dorothy Stang. For a more sol de justicia. Buenos Aires: Editorial Contra- exhaustive treatment of these lives of com- punto SRL. All quotations are taken from her mitment, cf. Temporelli, Clara María (2014). letters to her family, pp. 81-89. Amigas fuertes de Dios, ¿amenaza? ¿para 11. Bousquet, Jean Pierre (1983). Las locas de la quiénes? Medellín: Orden de la Compañía de Plaza de Mayo. Buenos Aires: Cid Editor. María. 12. Ibidem, pp. 102-103. 3. Quoted in Rosanvallon, Pierre (2003). His- 13. “In memoriam de Léonie Duquet”, La Vaca, toire conceptuelle du politique. París: Editions Buenos Aires, 27 September 2005. du Seuil, p. 28. 14. “Vivas y con buena salud”, La Nación, Buenos 4. The conferences of the Latin American Bishops Aires, 15 December 1977. held in Medellín (Colombia) in 1968 and in 15. “Tecnología, tenacidad y una muestra de san- Puebla (Mexico) in 1979 applied the teachings gre traída de Francia en secreto”, Clarín, 30 of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) to the August 2005. Latin American Church. The conferences mar- 16. Cf. “Realidad nacional”, Carta a las Iglesias, ked an important turning point for that Church. El Salvador, 4 February 2009. 5. The word “martyr” derives from the Greek 17. Cf. Herrera, Antonio, Influencia de la gue- word martys, which means “witness.” rra civil en El Salvador (1980-1992) en el 6. Cf. Pedro Arrupe, 19 March 1977. desarrollo de la prensa nacional. Facultad de 7. In Latin America the verb “disappear” (desa- Humanidades y Ciencias del hombre. Univer- parecer) has a transitive as well as an intran- sidad Tecnológica de El Salvador. sitive meaning. Death squads “disappear” 18. Brackley, Dean, s.j. (ed.) (2010). Cinco testi- people, that is, “make them disappear.” gas solidarias. El Salvador: Centro Monseñor 8. The so-called villas miseria or villas de emer- Romero-UCA, Booklet No. 26, p. 42. gencia were the unplanned urban settlements 19. Cf. Warburg Ph. and Zorn, J. (1982), Justi- on marginal lands; they lacked basic services ce in El Salvador, a Case Study: A Report on such as electricity, running water, sewers, the Investigation into the Killing of Four U.S. and gas. Their inhabitants came mostly from Churchwomen in El Salvador, New York: The the interior provinces of Argentina and from Committee, p. 22. neighboring countries, attracted by the possi- 20. Carta a las Iglesias, El Salvador, December bility of finding work in the large cities. 1988, p. 7. 9. Seoane, María (2001). El Dictador. Buenos 21. Carta a las Iglesias, El Salvador, December Aires: Editorial Sudamericana. 1995, p. 10.

33

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