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Salvadoran Martyrs: A Love That Does Justice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2014

Thomas L. Schubeck
Thomas L. Schubeck
Affiliation:
John Carroll University
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Abstract

Who are today's martyrs? Many Salvadorans call Archbishop Romero and the Jesuits and the two women killed at Central American University martyrs. Should they be numbered among the martyrs of the church? The author contends that it would be fitting for the Catholic Church to do so, based on the contemporary church teaching on martyrdom. Tracing the origin and development of the notion of Christian martyrdom from the New Testament to the present day, the author shows how Thomas Aquinas, the Second Vatican Council, Karl Rahner, and Pope John Paul II have contributed to the enlargement of the concept of the Christian martyr that fittingly describes the Salvadoran witnesses. Moved by love of God and neighbor, the martyr courageously endures death for bearing witness to the Christian faith that includes speaking the truth and doing justice.

Type
Articles
Information
Horizons , Volume 28 , Issue 1 , Spring 2001 , pp. 7 - 29
Copyright
Copyright © The College Theology Society 2001

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References

1 The four churchwomen assassinated were Maryknoll Sisters Maura Clarke and Ita Ford, Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel, and Jean Donovan. Even though this essay does not directly address their Christian testimony, this author has profound esteem for their witness of faith and would have included them, but could not because of the limitation of space.

2 The six Jesuits and two women assassinated on November 16, 1989 were Fathers Amando López, theology professor at the University; Segundo Montes, head of the sociology department and the Human Rights Institute, Ignacio Ellacuría, the rectorpresident and the primary target of the military assassins; Ignacio Martín-Baró, academic vice president and head of the psychology department; Juan Ramón Moreno, librarian and theology professor, Joaquin López y López, teacher in an education project called Fe y Alegría; Ms. Celina Ramos, a high school student; and finally Celina's mother, Mrs. Julia Elba Ramos, who cooked for the Jesuit theology students at UCA.

3 Code of Canon Law Annotated, Latin-English edition of the Code of Canon Law and English-language translation of the fifth Spanish-language edition of the commentary, prepared under the responsibility of the Instituto Martín de Azpilcueta, and edited by Caparros, E., Thériault, M., and Thorn, J. (Montreal: Wilson & Lafleur, 1993), Canon 1403 and pp. 1151–55.Google Scholar Beatification cases are also regulated by special pontifical law.

4 Woodward, Kenneth, “Slow up on saint-making,” The Tablet, 13 November 1999, pp. 1539–40.Google Scholar I agree with Woodward's observation on beatification that it should not be looked upon “as the final step towards something higher. Let it stand, rather for what it is: exceptional holiness recognized.” Hence, the essay focuses simply on beatifying these Salvadorans as martyrs.

5 See Bowersock, G. W., Martyrdom and Rome (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 14–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar What the author says about Antipas, John's “faithful witness” who was executed (Rev 2:13), applies to Stephen as well: “He was not a mártus because he was slain, but a witness who was slain.”

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16 Ibid.

17 Ibid., 122, 6. Adultery violates justice by breaking the trust between husband and wife.

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31 In proposing this comprehensive concept of martyrdom, I recognize the need to test and perhaps refine the criteria for determining the martyr. This might be done by posing test cases to see whether the criteria are adequate or whether they need to be qualified. Should a Christian, for example, be considered a martyr who speaks out against the Mafia's criminal activities in Sicily or against a drug cartel in Los Angeles and then is assassinated? Does a single loving act on behalf of justice that leads to assassination suffice for being judged a martyr? Or must the action be consistent with the person's life commitment? These kinds of questions point to another element that is implied but not discussed in this essay: the role of the church, which examines the entire life of the person and makes the final judgment in light of the person's holiness.

32 The following materials present many statements about the witnesses' convictions, commitments, theology, writings, sermons, and positions. Brockman, James R., Romero: A Life (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1989)Google Scholar; Mons. Oscar Arnulfo Romero: su muerte y reacciones (San Salvador: Publicaciones pastorales del Arzobispado, 1982); Romero, Archbishop, Voice of the Voiceless: The Four Pastoral Letters and Other Statements, Introductory essays by Martín-Baró, Ignacio and Sobrino, Jon, trans. Walsh, Michael J. (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1985)Google Scholar; Ellacuría, Ignacio, Conversion de la Iglesia al Reino de Dios: para anunciarlo y realizarlo en la historia (San Salvador: UCA/Editores, 1985)Google Scholar; Sobrino, Jon, Ellacuría, Ignacio et al. , Companions of Jesus: the Jesuit Martyrs of El Salvador (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1990)Google Scholar; Hassett, John and Lacey, Hugh, eds., Towards a Society That Serves Its People: The Intellectual Contribution of El Salvador's Murdered Jesuits, Foreword by O'Donovan, Leo J. (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1991)Google Scholar; Burke, Kevin F., The Ground Beneath the Cross: The Theology of Ignacio Ellacuría (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2000), ch. 1Google Scholar: “The Martyr as Theologian.”

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72 Vigil, Mária López, Primero Dios: siete años de esperanza, Relatos de “Carta a las Iglesias” (San Salvador: UCA Editores, 1988), 95.Google Scholar Quoted and translated by Peterson, Anna in Martyrdom and the Politics of Religion, 123.Google Scholar