Reflection on the 25th anniversary of Ita,
Maura, Dorothy and Jean
By Carol Fleitz
I am very grateful for the opportunity to have
gone to El Salvador to commemorate the 25th
anniversary of the deaths of Maryknoll Sisters
Ita Ford and Maura Clarke, Ursuline Sister Dorothy
Kazel and Jean Donovan. The SHARE Foundation
organized this excellent pilgrimage to celebrate
the faith of the Salvadoran people and their
martyrs.
On our first full day we walked to the Monument
to Memory and Truth, a wall inscribed with the
names of the Civil War victims who were killed
or who disappeared during the armed conflict
in El Salvador (1980-1991). On the left of the
wall was a newly painted mural of the history
of the long struggle of the Salvadoran people.
We continued our pilgrimage by bus to the home
of Monsignor Romero and the scene of his assassination
which had set off a full-scale civil war that
lasted for twelve years, destroying the country
and taking 80,000 lives. After this moving experience,
we drove on to the University of Central America
to visit the residence of the six Jesuit brothers
who were also murdered by the Salvadoran army.
The gardener’s wife and daughter who had
come to spend the night were also killed. Our
tour ended at the Romero Pastoral Center which
displays the personal effects and memorabilia
of that horrible event.
The next day, Dec 2nd was the most moving experience
for me. Our group journeyed to the site of the
four American churchwomen’s murder. As
our yellow American school bus left the old
San Salvador-airport road, we were asked to
travel in silence, for it was probably at this
point that the women realized they were facing
their last moments. The reflection was lead
by Diane Clyne RSM (Burlingame), Kit Hamilton,
OP, and Sharon Becker, CSJ (Orange). It included
stories of the local people, other Sisters,
and refugees who had been helped by the women.
Sister Margaret Hoffman, SND, spoke of Sister
Dorothy Stang, SND, who was murdered in Brazil
this year. Margaret placed her picture with
those of the other four women.
Over the next few days, our delegation of some
110 people was divided into smaller groups so
we could visit various sites of the projects
that SHARE supports. I visited the cattle women,
a parish of 25,000 that has a school and clinic,
and a woman’s coop where they grow sugar
cane, mangos, papayas, and bananas. They also
have a school, a little store, and a corn grinder
donated by SHARE. At the end of the day we attended
Mass at the Crypt of the Cathedral and had many
informative talks about the current situation
in El Salvador.
I would like to end with a quote from Ita Ford
who wrote on August 18, 1980, to her niece Jennifer
on her 16th birthday: "I hope you come
to find that which gives life a deep meaning
for you. Something worth living for - maybe
even worth dying for, something that energizes
you, enthuses you, enables you to keep moving
ahead."
©
|
