Santa Rosa priests support Father Melo

Communiqué

“I hate the one who does evil, he will not gather together with me. Far from me is the twisted heart; I will not approve the evil doer.” Psalm 100

The Priests of the diocese of Santa Rosa de Copán, having learned of the information about the threats put forth by various media against Father Ismael Moreno (Padre Melo) to national and international communities, make it known that:

1. We are in solidarity with Father Ismael Moreno, our brother in the ministerial priesthood of Jesus Christ.
2. The defense of the virginity and the chastity of a young woman, in the history of the church, led to martyrdom for missionary priests and bishops, for example, the Salesians Bishop Luis Versiglia and Father Caravario.
3. We are firmly convinced that the action of Father Ismael Moreno is based in the defense of the dignity of the human person and of the human rights of Miss Irma Melissa Villanueva.
4. Sexual assault of women is brutish conduct which intends to demonstrate superiority and brute force as a way to intimidate and to caution all those who think differently.
5. The judicial and police authorities of Honduras ought to act in adherence to the law and to justice against the police who committed lewd acts against and sexual rape of Irma Melissa Villanueva, and hopefully they will not go unpunished as in past occasion; for example, the police who wounded with bullets the demonstrators in Colonia 6 de mayo, in Macuelizo, Santa Bárbara, June 17, 2006.
6. The competent authorities ought to process the formal accusation which Father Valentín Menéndez, S.J., superior of the Jesuits, presented to the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights of San Pedro Sula, dated April 17, 2010.
7. He have taken the word of Mr. Oscar Álvares, Minister of Security, and President Porfirio Lobo Sosa, who have publicly affirmed that in this government corruption and criminal police forces will not be tolerated.
8. With this message we call upon all the bishops, priests, deacons, seminarians, and all the base ecclesial communities to join with us in one soul and one heart to defend the Catholic Church seriously threatened in terms of the moral and physical security of several priests.

“HAPPY ARE THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST FOR JUSTICE, FOR THEY SHALL BE FILLED.” (Matthew 5:6)

Santa Rosa de Copán, April 30, 2010.
Presbytery (the priests) of the Diocese of Santa Rosa de Copán [Honduras]

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The original Spanish can be found on my Spanish language blog.
The statement of the Jesuits in support of Father Melo can be read on a recent blog post of mine.

A death on our street

Until last night there were three Juancitos in the block where I live in Santa Rosa – me, Juancito who owns the mini-super up the block, and Don Juancito, his father.

Last night Don Juancito died about 7:30 pm, presumably of a heart attack. He almost always had a big smile on his face, even though he lost his wife last year. We’d often greet each other as “tocayo” – a term that means people share the same name.

At times he raised corn in a small plot across the street from his house.

The other day I saw him outside his house chopping the weeds with his machete. I called out to him – but he didn’t hear me.

Neighbors told that they saw him walking up the street yesterday. His sudden death has shaken the neighborhood.

I’ll miss his presence and his gentle smile. He was, in the best sense of the word, a simple man.

“Blessed are the pure of heart, they shall see God.” (Matthew 5: 8)

And I saw God through Don Juancito.

Jesuit statement regarding threats to Padre Melo

Statement of the Jesuits of Honduras

The superiors of the Society of Jesus in Honduras, in the face of the threats and duress that repeatedly target Father Ismael Moreno, S.J. (Padre Melo), we declare the following before national and international public opinion:

First: We denounce the fact that in the last few weeks Padre Melo has been the object of death threats by unknown persons through text messages and calls to his dell phone. Such threats are related to the humanitarian decision to provide protection for the young woman Irma Melissa Villanueva in a case already known by the Public Ministry’s District Attorney’s office and by various national and international human rights organizations.

Second: we affirm that the relation of Padre Melo with Irma Melissa and her family is exclusively in terms of the actions that occurred on August 14 in Choloma, the day Irma Melissa accused various policemen of having raped her on the occasion of a march of the Resistance in that city. The action of Padre Melo is in the framework of a Christian commitment in the face of situations that require the humanitarian accompaniment of members of religious communities such as he.

Third: we note that the threats against Padre Melo don’t refer only to him. The Society of Jesus denounces the fact that Gerardo Chévez, Radio Progreso reporter, also is receiving threats and intimidation for his informative work in the Radio.

Fourth: we note that on Friday, April 17, Father Valentín Menéndez, S.J., superior of the Jesuits in El Progreso, Yoro, presented a formal complaint (denunciation) to the Special District Attorney for Human Rights in San Pedro Sula in which he asked that there be an ongoing investigation of the threats and duress against Padre Melo.

Fifth: we demand that the national authorities conduct a diligent and effective investigation of the deeds which have been denounced and we make an urgent appeal to national and international human rights organizations to follow up on this case.

Released in the city of El Progreso, in the department of Yoro, the nineteenth of April, 2010.

Valentín Menéndez S.I.
Superior of the Jesuits of El Progreso.
Carlos Solano S.I.
Superior of the Jesuits of Yoro
Juan José Colato S.I.
Superior of the Jesuits of Tocoa.

The Spanish original can be found at the Radio Progreso blog or at my Spanish language blog.

There are articles in Spanish at Proceso Digital and at El Tiempo. Also at El Revistazo.

Human rights

I am in the middle of preparing a workshop on Catholic Social Teaching for the rural areas of the cathedral parish here in Santa Rosa de Lima. I am also helping to find sources in Catholic Social Teaching for the schools of governability and democracy that Caritas is preparing for the eight deaneries of the diocese.

In the midst of my research I came across these fascinating paragraphs (60 - 61) in Blessed Pope John XXIII's 1963 encyclical Pacem in Terris - Peace on Earth.

60. It is agreed that in our time the common good is chiefly guaranteed when personal rights and duties are maintained. The chief concern of civil authorities must therefore be to ensure that these rights are acknowledged, respected, coordinated with other rights, defended and promoted, so that in this way each one may more easily carry out his duties. For "to safeguard the inviolable rights of the human person, and to facilitate the fulfillment of his duties, should be the chief duty of every public authority."

61. This means that, if any government does not acknowledge the rights of man or violates them, it not only fails in its duty, but its orders completely lack juridical force.

Blessed are they

On Wednesday the Vatican announced the date of the beatification of Polish priest Jerzy Popieluszko as a martyr, on 6 June in Warsaw, Poland.

Ever since I heard his story I was impressed by the commitment of this young priest to the cause of the Polish workers.

He seems to have been a reluctant activist. In 1980 striking Warsaw steel plant workers asked the cardinal for a priest to say Mass at their plant. The cardinal found the Father Popieluszko at the church where he was serving part-time, because of his poor health. Father Popieluszko gradually became more involved in support of the Solidarity trade union. Eventually he presided over monthly Masses for the Fatherland where his preaching strengthened the people in their struggle.

He was a threat to the regime and so was abducted by the Polish secret police on October 19, 1984, and died after being bound, gagged, and thrown into a reservoir. He was 37 years old.

I was impressed by his commitment to nonviolence. Here are a few quotes I came across:

“Do not fight by means of violence. Violence is a sign of weakness. Whatever cannot win by influencing the heart tries to win by means of violence. The most splendid and lasting battles known to history are the battles of human thought. The most ignoble and the shortest are the battles of violence. An idea which needs weapons to survive will die of itself. The idea which prevails merely through the use of violence is perverted. A living idea conquers by itself. It is followed by millions.”

Mass for the Country, December 1982

Let us pray that we may be free from fear and intimidation, but most of all that we may be free from the desire for violence and vengeance.

at his last Mass

Through Christ’s death and resurrection the Cross – a symbol of disgrace – became a sign of courage, virtue, help, and brotherhood. In the sign of the Cross we embrace today all that is most beautiful and valuable in man. Through the Cross we go to the resurrection. There is no other way. And therefore the crosses of our county, our personal crosses, and those of our families, must lead to victory, to resurrection, if we are united to Christ who conquered the Cross.”

Mass for the Country, September 1982
in Grazyna Sikorska, Jerzy Popieluszko: A Martyr for the Truth
(Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1985), 52.

As I read this news today I thought of two other persons who also deserve honor. One is Franz Jaegerstaetter, an Austrian Peasanta who refused to serve in Hitler’s army. For his conscientious decision he was beheaded on August 9, 1943. he was beatified in October 2007. Orbis books has recently published a collection of his writings, Franz Jagerstatter: Letters and Writings from Prison.

The other person who should be formally canonized – and not just beatified – is Monseñor Oscar Arnulfo Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, who was a voice for the voiceless. In many ways I think he was a reluctant prophet, much like Blessed Jerzy. He also stood with the people, denouncing injustices and seeking a way out.

He has been canonized in the hearts of millions in Latin America and throughout the world as San Romero. But the Vatican has been slow to acknowledge him, possibly because of what they see as his political stances. However, in my eyes he was much less politically partisan than Blessed Jerzy.

There are two major differences between the two men. The killers of Blessed Jerzy were Communists whereas San Romero’s were nominally Catholic. In addition, San Romero found himself in conflict with the conservative bishops of El Salvador.

Yet he has inspired millions to live as people of faith committed to justice. Whether he is canonized or not in the next few years, his example as a bishop committed to Christ and to the suffering needs to be emulated and followed – especially these days.

A collection of quotes, The Violence of Love, is published by Orbis Books and is also available as a PDF file from Plough Publishing. Romero: A Life by James Brockman is also available from Orbis Books.

Lest I be accused of sexism, I must mention that yesterday the person who contracted the killing of Sister Dorothy Stang, a Notre Dame sister who defended the people in the Brazilian rain forests was found guilty again.

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The photo of Blessed Jerzy Popieuluszko is from the Wikipedia page.