Worship yesterday at the church, Madre Maria de los Pobres in the very poor neighborhood of La Chacra, was very inspiring and joyous in many ways. Several of the young people read Scripture, others were in the choir and band, and the church was full. Padre Luis spoke without notes in a warm way. His message was how Jesus helps us overcome fear and live in hope When he prepared for communion, he exchanged smiles and gave a friendly pat to one of the two men assisting him. When we were passing the peace, I went up to pass the peace to Padre Luis and he gave me a very warm hug. Later he gave warm hugs to others in the church.
Today Carlos Dada, who was a Knight Fellow at Stanford University and came to one of our SBSC events, told us of his work getting his online weekly newspaper, El Faro, started. He and his team do indepth reports and challenge people to be informed readers. Carlos told us that El Salvador is the most violent country in the world in terms of the number of murders in ratio to the population and impunity is a major reason for this. There are various ways to fight impunity in addition to convicting and sending people to prison. El Faro works to show people who were guilty of terrible crimes so that some of them or others will feel embarassed or sad and guilty about what they did. Carlos hopes that more good people will loose their fear and will work to change things and make a difference.
El Salvador is looking forward to the visit of President Obama and Michelle tomorrow and the next day. This is an extraordinary visit in many ways including that the Obamas will go to the cathedral and visit the tomb of martyred Archbishop Oscar Romero. Before this the US supported the right wing ARENA government that was founded by the intellectual author of the assassination of Archbishop Romero. Salvadorans are excited about his visit and have a heart connection with Obama.
Rather than focusing on problems, El Faro is investigating the 5 municipalities where there have been no murdres in last years and are reporting on good things that are happening in those municipalities. The findings are impressive and help people overcome their fear and live in hope!
This delegation is a great joy in many ways!
Arlene
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