University of Central America Martyrs
Ideas Matter. They can cost you your life.
Martyrs for Peace Mural
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The 20th anniversary of the University of Central America Martyrs
| Events* | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Memorial Mass | 12:00pm | Madonna della Strada Chapel |
| Simple Meal and Fellowship Salvadoran folk music by Candy Garcia |
Following Mass | 4th Floor Information Commons |
| Ideas Matter: Reflections on the UCA Martyrs and How Their Story Impacts Loyola's Story Fr. Daniel Hartnett, S.J., Renny Golden, poet, and Andrea Ortez, Loyola student |
1:30pm | 4th Floor Information Commons |
| School of the Americas Vigil Send-off Prayer Service | 9:00pm | Madonna della Strada Chapel |
*All events are open to the public.
Their Story
On November 16, 1989, six prominent Jesuits at the Central America University (UCA) in San Salvador, and two women who had asked to stay on the campus that night for their own safety, were brutally assassinated by Salvadoran soldiers.
Their names are a litany in the martyrology of Latin America and of the church of El Salvador: Ignacio Ellacuria, Segundo Montes, Amando López, Joaquin López y López, Juan Ramón Moreno, Ignacio Martin-Baró, Elba Ramos, Celina Ramos.
For hundreds, even thousands of North Americans, these murders once again brought the Salvadoran reality close. Many people had visited these Jesuits at the UCA, had heard them speak in their communities, had read their books and reports, had learned to count on them for the truth about El Salvador.
Each of these martyrs witnessed to God's promise of the fullness of life and the content of that promise -- lives of dignity, peace and joy for every human being, created as they are in God's image. Each witnessed the cruel violence and injustice that destroys that promise for the majority of people in our world.
The vast wealth of the United States and its dominance in the global economy, its historic role in Central America supporting military dictators and economic elites, and the witness of these 8 martyrs come together to pose perhaps the most important moral challenge of our time.
“A Christian university must take into account the gospel preference for the poor. This does not mean that only the poor will study at the university; it does not mean that the university should abdicate its mission of academic excellence -- excellence which is needed in order to solve complex social issues of our time. What it does mean is that the universitv should be present intellectually where it is needed: to provide science for those without science, to provide skills for those without skills, to be a voice for those without voices, to give intellectual support for those who do not possess the academic qualifications to make their rights legitimate.”
From the June 1982 Commencement Address at Santa Clara Univ. by Ignacio Ellacuría, S.J.
Rev. Ignacio Ellacuria, S.J., received an LL.D. (Doctor of Laws, Honoris Cuasa) from Loyola University Chicago on May 24th, 1986.
More information
Visit Loyola University's Department of Sacramental Life.
Click here (pdf) to learn more about each of the martyrs or click here for a brief background on the martyrs.
Click here (pdf) to read the House of Representatives resolution remembering and commemorating the UCA Martyrs.
Watch a 2 minute video of Dr. Gillian Ahlgren from Xavier University, reflecting on how the death of the UCA Martyrs has impacted her approach to Ignatian pedagogy.
Sponsored by:
The Loyola Jesuit Community, Office of the President, Office of Mission and Identity, and the Division of Student Development