Academics

By Briana Berg

Last week students packed themselves into the cozy lunchroom on the bottom floor ofthe Humanities building to listen to Claude Porsella, a French journalist for Radio France Internationale, give a speech entitled, “From D-Day to FreedomFries: 40 Years of Covering America”, about his experiences as a journalist inAmerica. The speaker included personal accounts of his life in France as ayoung boy and thoughts on world politics today. “We French love our wine. We love our cheese,” he said regarding his native country of France. While some of the students were journalism majors who came to listen to Porsella inhopes of getting a glimpse into the career they wanted to pursue, other students came to hear the speaker for a class. Everyone who attended the event said that they enjoyed the speaker immensely and learned a lot from him.

Read more: French Journalist Teaches Lesson to All Students Regardless of Major

By Jacqueline Lovdahl

Fr. Mark Ravizza, S.J. from the University of Central America in El Salvador, spoke to the Loyola community on March 29 in a presentation entitled “The Hope of the Martyrs.” Ravizza focused on the hope that Archbishop Romero and six Jesuit martyrs, who were killed in the 1980s during the civil war, have instilled in El Salvador that still exists to this day; the El Salvadorians have found comfort among violence, a struggling economy and emotional strife by clinging to the hope that these martyrs have left.

Archbishop Romero worked alongside his El Salvadorian people during the bloody 1980s civil war between the government and the people of El Salvador, but he was unable to see the fruition of his work, since he was assassinated by a suspected guerilla fighter in 1980 because of his work. Nine years later, six prominent Jesuit priests and two housekeepers were brutally murdered at the University of Central America by the leftist guerilla movement. About 70,000 people were killed in the war between the guerillas and the people that lasted over 10 years and many others are still missing.

The six Jesuit martyrs were dragged from their beds, brutally shot and then left to die in front of their residence. “These men and women died because of what they thought a university should be, and how they tried to live it out,” said Ravizza. A university should be present intellectually where it is needed, which would involve working for and with the poor, Ravizza added. A university should give a voice for the voiceless, he said. These Jesuits were aware of the danger, but they were willing to stay with their people.

Fr. Ravizza often quoted Ignacio Ellacuria, he was a Jesuit philosopher, theologian and professor at the University of Central America: “In a worlds where injustice reigns, a university that fights for justice must necessarily be persecuted.” Ravizza then asked the audience to ask themselves, “How persecuted are you? Are you doing anything that is worth doing?” Every time someone tries to promote justice, there is a force that tries to stop him or her, Ravizza said.

The second point that Ravizza made was how we too often put Romero and the martyrs on a pedestal and proclaim them as heroes. Ravizza said that the El Salvadorian people looked to Romero “like a Salvadorian Jesus Christ.” He quoted a country person whom he interviewed in El Salvador who said that Romero gave the people the strength to resist opposition. Ravizza claimed that the martyrs did “not want to be sanctified, but to be imitated.”

Ravizza then pointed out those Loyola organizations such as the Center for Community Service and Justice, Project Mexico, Encounter El Salvador and many others deal with the struggle of giving oneself away through service with the possibility of losing hope. Ravizza then asked the audience, “In a world marked by grave suffering, injustice and disappointment, how do we keep investing in this work?”

Many students on campus are well aware of this fight for justice, and sometimes even more aware of the discouragement. How does one keep going? “Why does [the work of the martyrs] not scare us? Why does it not make us turn away?” asked Ravizza.

Tina Esser, who is a sophomore and Project Mexico member, said that the reason she fights for injustice is because she “trust[s] in the slow work of God. Even when I can’t see that there is any change, change can only take place little by little.”

Ravizza explained that the work of the martyrs had instilled a hope that is situated within the people in “three days,” or three moments people experience. This hope is what gives the Loyola community and beyond a reason to fight for justice, even in the face of discouragement. “Day one” is when we fall in love, when we believe and invest in this hope. “Day two” is when the dream dies, the people lose heart and they retreat. “Day three” is when there was new light, when loved is renewed and there is hope again. Ravizza told the audience that “we can’t always secure the outcomes we want” but the “day two” mentality is not the final word on any situation. Hope arises out of darkness.

Even in the midst of an oppressive government, imbalanced social conditions and a bloody past, the people of El Salvador have found a peace that rests in the fruits of the martyrs’ labor. “In the end, you may be hurt, but you won’t be abandoned. Our life and God have plans for us all,” concluded Ravizza.