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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA ADVISORY
Catholic PRWire

Commemoration of 20th Anniversary of the Murders of 6 Jesuit Priests to be Held in Newark

Contact: Kathy O’Leary, Pax Christi NJ, 973-610-1684.

Newark, NJ (November 12, 2009) - On Sunday, November 15 from 2 pm to 5 pm on the 8th floor at 89 Market St in Newark, Pax Christi NJ will join Los Amates and the Garden State, US-El Salvador Sister Cities, CEUS, NJ Immigration Policy Network, American Friends Service Committee, Wind of the Spirit and PeaceWorks to honor the memory of 6 Jesuit priests, their cook and her daughter. All eight were killed at the Jesuit residence at the University of Central America (UCA) in San Salvador by US trained gunmen on November 16, 1989. The program will include speakers, Central American food and music. Among those scheduled to speak are Vanessa Cardinale of US-El Salvador Sister Cities and Fr. Terry Moran, a former School of the Americas prisoner of conscience. All are welcome to the commemoration of the lives of the Jesuit martyrs and to hear about the state of El Salvador today and the continuation of the Jesuits’ efforts to reduce poverty, improve educational opportunity, and promote human rights, the rule of law and social equity for the people of El Salvador. A $10 donation to benefit the US – El Salvador Sister Cities will be accepted at the door.

The eight killed in the early morning hours of Nov. 16, 1989, were:
Father Ignacio Ellacuria, 59, rector of Central American University.
Father Ignacio Martin-Baro, 44, vice rector and director of the university's Public Opinion Institute.
Father Segundo Montes, 56, dean of the department of social sciences and a sociology professor.
Father Amando Lopez, 53, a philosophy and theology professor.
Father Juan Ramon Moreno, 56, a professor of theology.
Father Joaquin Lopez y Lopez, 71, founder and director of Fe y Alegria (Faith and Joy), which opened 30 educational centers in marginalized communities throughout El Salvador.
Julia Elba Ramos, 42, cook and housekeeper for the Jesuit seminarians at the university.
Celina Mariset, 16, Ramos' daughter.

The killings took place during El Salvador’s civil war where more than 75,000 people, mostly civilians, and a disproportionate number of indigenous people, were killed by Salvadoran armed forces and right-wing death squads. Thousands more were kidnapped and tortured. The murders at the UCA sparked an international outcry, particularly after it was learned that the gunmen were trained at the School of the Americas at Fort Benning in Georgia. Some believe this helped lead to the peace process that brought the civil war to an end three years later.

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