more info

Sorry, this post is kind of long but it has a lot of info straight from El Salvador if you are interested. My CGE classmate and friend Nick posted this on our CGE blog. The second message is from Dean Brackley, who taught one of our sessions on lib theo at the UCA.

More killing and depression in Central America

Hey guys, I just received this message, thought you all might be interested. Greetings friends.

I just received the sad news from El Salvador that a Lutheran pastor and his family were killed on November 4. These are people who worked with the Centre for Global Education programs in El Salvador, hosting students during accompaniment projects. Francisco and his family opened their home freely and frequently to everyone. Their home often became a makeshift clinic for those who arrived sick or injured. Regardless of who arrived or how they arrived, I know that theyalways left nourished in body and in spirit. Beyond the deep sadness of their deaths lies a reminder of the ongoing violence that is suffered still in El Salvador. Please keep the people there in your prayers, and may we all work together to create communities, nations, a world infused by the love and faith reflected in the lives of Francisco and Jesus and their children. God’s peace be upon them. Alice

This message is from Father Dean Brackley, a teacher at the UCA in San Salvador and great friend of the Lutheran Church…

Dear friends,Last night (Sunday) I joined members of the Jayaque community to receive the bodies of Francisco Carillo and his wife, Jesus Calzada de Carillo, co-pastors of the Lutheran Church in Jayaque. Francisco and Jesusita were both shot in the Colonia Dos de Mayo, near Los Sí-tios on Saturday (Nov. 4) at 5:20PM as Francisco locked up the Lutheran chapel there following a religious service. His wife was shot and killed as she waited nearby in their vehicle parked and ready to takethem and a couple of passengers home. Francisco was not killed immediately but actually died along the road at Los Chorros on the way tothe hospital. (To compound the tragedy, by law the vehicle had to stop and call legal authorities –who do not work nights on weekends. The two bodies, along with the couple’s two adult children, Roxana and Wilber, had to spend the night on the roadside. The legal medical authorities didnot arrive until the next morning.) People present near the site of the killings saw the three men onbicycles who shot the couple. Although people heard the shots, they first thought they were firecrackers. According to one of the witnesses, the killers were from nearby communities, Tsu-chi and Llano Verde, which have been plagued by gang violence. Some believe that the killers were gang members, but nothing was robbed, and the motive remains unclear. Last night at the wake and vigil, one resident of Dos de Mayo expressed frustration, claiming that to his knowledge the police (PNC) still had not arrived to the scene of the murders more than 48 hours after they occurred. Furthermore, Paco (Francisco) told one of those present just before theservice that just before, while on the way to the service, a vehicle hadmade menacing movements, as if to run Paco and Jesus off the road. A mutual friend of the couple told me that several weeks ago, during a house visit by a Lutheran friend from the U.S., Paco had confided to him that he had been threatened (“Estoy amenazado”). Lutheran Bishop Medardo Gómez confirmed that fact last night at the wake and vigil in Jayaque. Last Tuesday, at the meeting of Lutheran ministers, talk was circulating about threats received by Paco.

Francisco told the bishop then, “Dicen que me quieren matar. Pero no tengo miedo. No he hecho nada malo. Y andocon el Señor.” Last night, after the bodies arrived in Jayaque at almost 10:00PM, Bishop Gómez expressed the profound pain, grief and indignation that everyonefelt. He pointed out the work done by Paco and his wife in founding theambulance service for the poor rural community of Jayaque. Paco had also helped form groups in defense of human rights. Bishop Gómez expressedexasperation that people would kill such people, ministers who went aboutdoing only good. He said, “No tengo duda de que Francisco Carillo, en particular, fue asesinado por su trabajo en favor de la justicia y lapaz, por su trabajo en favor de los derechos humanos.”Francisco and Jesus were also well-know members of the FMLN. Their death raises important questions about the motive, and the people, behind thekillings, when one takes into account the present tense political climatein the country and the presence of significant FMLN support in what is an area traditionally dominated by the right, even the extreme right. Jayaque has also been plagued for decades by widespread electoral fraud, as I can attest on the basis of testimony by trusted people. Paco and Jesus leave two grown childeren, Roxana and Wilber Roxana. While a student at the UCA (in law), Roxana was a member of the Martí-n Baró cooperative. We Jesuits and the cooperative have collaborated with the Luteran church in Jayaque in response inpost-earthquake re-construction. Paco y Jesus, ¡Presentes! Descansen en paz. We continue to offer prayers for the Lutheran Church, the family of Jesus and Paco and the community of Jayaque. We must demand a thorough andeffective investigation of these horrible murders. Dean

I don’t know what to say.

Today I learned that the two pastors killed in El Salvador (see entry below) were hosts to two of my friends, Emily and Rachel, when they went to Jayaque on their church accompaniments for our liberation theology class. Of course that makes it more personal, more real.

It is also hitting me that this could happen to any of our friends in El Salvador… any of those I know who are working for justice and therefore threatening the political and economic systems.

I don’t really have time to write, but I wanted to give this update.

I talked to Emily tonight and she raised many questions for me. What does it mean to be a Christian in this world and how do we deal with something like this? How are we supposed to respond? What does solidarity mean? And where is God?

This CAN’T Be Happening Again.

On Saturday, November 4, two Salvadoran pastors were murdered while locking up their church after a Saturday evening service. Francisco Carrillo and Jesus Maria Calzada (husband and wife) were co-pastors at Pan de Vida (Bread of Life) in Jayaque and Montes de Penzberg in the La Labor canton 15 km. away.

I learned this from a Lutheran Volunteer Corps recruiter who is visiting my school. He has been to El Salvador several times and has many friends there. He told me that the murders were most definitely politically motivated and that the government inspectors did not show up to check out the crime scene for nearly 24 hours. The attached article reports that the government forensics department was also very slow in releasing the bodies back to family members. (Click on the title of this blog entry for the link.)

In the country that birthed liberation theology, a country still grappling with the horrors of a civil war, which in the 1980s claimed the lives of Archbishop Oscar Romero and dozens of priests and lay church leaders, this event shakes to life the nightmare of violent oppression.

Sometimes I forget how threatened groups of power are by voices of justice.

Remember Francisco and Jesus Maria today. Remember Oscar Romero and the many martyrs in El Salvador who, inspired by Christ, dared to speak for justice to their tiny corner of the earth. They didn’t just pray, “Thy kingdom come, on earth…” They built it.

Peices of life laid on the table.
Here is the blood, poured out in love.
Fill this cup, raise it up
Here’s to the day, my friend.

Time draws a line down innocent faces.

Years mark the dreams that fail to come home.

So you say goodbye, say goodnight.
And here’s to the day, remember.

Can you say it for the ones whose voices are silenced?
Can you say it for the ones who’ve never been free?

Can you pray for peace, ache for peace?

Here’s to the day that’s coming.
God speed the day…

Gather in close now, cling to each other.
Sing to the night, you don’t sing alone.
And fill this cup, raise it up.
Here’s to the day, remember.

-”Here’s to the Day,”

Milton Brasher-Cunningham

and Billy Crockett