Xavier Commemorates the Jesuit Martyrs of El Salvador

In the early morning hours of November 16, 1989, six Jesuits of the faculty and Jesuit Community of the University of Central America (UCA) in El Salvador, their housekeeper and their housekeeper's daughter were brutally murdered. They were silenced for their solidarity with the poor and the oppressed, for their work to make real the gospel vision of a just and peaceful world.

On Wednesday, November 12, Xavier High School, in partnership with the Xavier Jesuit Community and the Church of St. Francis Xavier, will commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the deaths of the UCA Martyrs with a mass and reception in their honor. The mass will be celebrated in the Church of St. Francis Xavier at 6:30PM and the reception will follow. Fr. Joseph Marina, S.J., pastor of the Church of St. Francis Xavier will be the main celebrant, assisted by Fr. James Croghan, S.J., rector of the Xavier Jesuit Community and other Jesuits of the New York province and priests of the archdiocese. The Ignatian Schola and the Choir of the Church of St. Francis Xavier will lead the music which will include the mass parts from, Misa Popular Salvadoreña, by Guillermo Cuellar and El Salvador by Robert Scullin, S.J., of the Gesu in Detroit. The Misa Popular Salvadoreña was commissioned by Servant of God Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador from 1977 until his assassination in 1980.

The Online Ministries of Creighton University has wonderful resources on the UCA Martyrs. All are invited and welcome at the mass and reception.