Letter to Congress on Resolution Commemorating Murdered Jesuit Priests in El Salvador, October 28, 2009

October 28, 2009

Dear Representative,

On behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, I write to commend you for cosponsoring the House of Representatives’ Resolution 761 on October 21, 2009, remembering the murder and commemorating the lives and work of the six Jesuit Priests, their housekeeper and her daughter in El Salvador. Your support and acknowledgment of the important education work of Catholic religious communities and institutions like the University of Central America José Simeón Cañas in El Salvador as well as the 28 Jesuit Colleges and Universities in the United States, is especially fitting.

As you know, the Catholic Church carries on the work of education with the goal of forming leaders that have great concern for the social and moral needs of the people. H. Res 761 rightly acknowledges “the legacy of the murdered Jesuits to reduce poverty and hunger and promote education opportunity, human rights, the rule of law, and social equity for the people of El Salvador.” This legacy continues to be embodied in the many women and men who continue to seek a more just, peaceful and secure world in charity and solidarity.

Pope Benedict XVI, in his most recent encyclical, Charity in Truth, states that “Charity is at the heart of the Church's social doctrine. … [Charity] gives real substance to the personal relationship with God and with neighbour; it is the principle not only of micro-relationships (with friends, with family members or within small groups) but also of macro-relationships (social, economic and political ones).” It is precisely this kind of charity that was exemplified by the Jesuits in El Salvador—a commitment to a more just and peaceful society where the human needs and rights of people are acknowledged and respected. The martyred Jesuits sought the common good, as many other Church members continue to do today. “To desire the common good and strive towards it is a requirement of justice and charity,” Pope Benedict XVI states in his encyclical.

USCCB joins you in commemorating the lives and work of the six Jesuits and their collaborators, and in continuing to seek ways to build the common good, not only in El Salvador but throughout our world.

Sincerely yours,

Most Reverend Howard J. Hubbard
Bishop of Albany
Chairman
Committee on International Justice and Peace

letter-to-house-from-bishop-hubbard-on-elsalvador-and-h761-2009-10-28.pdf