The Jesuits of the Missouri Province have a close relationship with the Jesuits of Central America and have been sharing manpower and resources for the last quarter century. Missouri Jesuits working as missionaries in Honduras became part of the Central American province; this year two Jesuits from Central America are working in Denver at Arrupe Jesuit High School. This long thread of relationships makes the commemoration of the brutal 1989 murder in San Salvador of six Jesuits, their housekeeper and her daughter all the more poignant. Institutions throughout the province are sponsoring special activities to mark the activities.

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The BBC (above) has posted images from the Nov. 16 celebration in El Salvador of the deaths of the martyrs 20 years ago. Go to the BBC web site.

Murdered Jesuits honored 20 years after their deaths in El Salvador
Nancy Frazier O'Brien of the Catholic News Service has a thorough article on the U.S Catholic web site that reviews the celebrations planned for the twentieth anniversary of the murder of six Jesuits, their housekeeper and her daughter on Nov. 16, 1989 on the campus of the Jesuit university in San Salvador. She notes that Salvador President Mauricio Funes has announced that "the priests would receive the National Order of Jose Matias Delgado awards, the country's highest honor, on Nov. 16, the 20th anniversary of the killings. Funes said the awards would be presented as a "public act of atonement" for mistakes by past governments. The U.S. Congress has also approved a resolution honoring the eight victims of government violence. Jesuit universities and institutions are planning a wide range of commemorative ceremonies, lectures and events.
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Jesuit Martyrs of El Salvador: A Research Guide
Jon Sobrino SJ was a member of the community where the murdered Jesuits lived and would have died himself were he not away for a conference. He provided a research guide on the Saint Peter's College web site.
He writes: "The Jesuits were labeled subversives by the Salvadoran Government for speaking out against the oppressive socioeconomic structure of Salvadoran society. Their assassinations were ordered for their unwavering defense of the poor.
The Jesuits were six of over 70,000 victims who died in El Salvador’s civil war which raged in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. The vast majority of these victims were civilians killed by El Salvador’s armed forces and paramilitary death squads. The death of the Jesuits brought international outrage and condemnation upon the Salvadoran Government and pressured them to negotiate an end to their country’s civil war.
These martyrs do not want revenge, nor are they interested that justice be brought about for them. What they want is peace and justice for El Salvador through the best means left to acheive them"
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Remembering the Jesuit Martyrs
John Dear SJ has an article on the National Catholic Reporter site. He visited the Saint louis University campus earlier this fall as part of a series of events commemorating the anniversary, and he spoke about 10 lessons that we can learn from their deaths. The list is both comprehensive and challenging and offers a substantive reflection on how their deaths spotlight issues that we still need to face 20 years later.
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What I learned from El Salvador's Jesuit Martyrs
A memoir from an Australian Jesuit halfway around the world who was touched by the murders and later visited El Salvador
From the Australian Jesuits' magazine, Eureka Street

Images That Disturb, Challenge and Discomfort
In 1991 Joan Chittister wrote about her reaction to the murders from a personal point of view from someone from the Benedictine tradition of spirituality. The article appeared in Compass, a journal published by the Jesuits of English Canada.
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