Remembering Ronald Reagan and The right wing incursion in Elsalvador

Long-ago murders serve as a reminder

Slaying of churchwomen in El Salvador in 1980 should prompt Jesus' followers to reach out to the poor

Saturday, December 02, 2006

By REV. TERRY TROIA

Today marks the 26th anniversary of the rape and murder of four American churchwomen -- Sister Ita Ford, Sister Maura Clarke, Sister Dorothy Kazel, and lay missioner Jean Donovan.

On Dec. 2, 1980, nine months after the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero, Sister Ford and Sister Clarke boarded a plane in Managua, Nicaragua, bound for San Salvador, El Salvador. Sisters Ford and Clarke were returning from a Maryknoll retreat heralding the beginning of the Advent season.

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On that long lonely road, 26 years ago today, the women were captured, raped, tortured, and brutally murdered by members of the U.S. trained and financially supported Salvadoran armed forces. Many years later, some of the soldiers who committed this crime did indeed admit their guilt. Last year, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the death of these slain American missionaries.

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