Jesuit Journeys
Fall 2005

By Fr. Bill Brennan, SJ

Back in 1954 I was a 35-year-old Jesuit missionary, a faithful anti-communist, and a strong admirer of Sen. Joe McCarthy who had spent the last semester of his Marquette Law School training as an apprentice in my father’s law office. I supported the senator in his “crusade against atheistic communism.” Then, what I consider a graced and spiritual moment forever changed me in a way that helps keep my heart and mind open to new perspectives and appreciate the mission of the Ignatian Family Teach-In.

I was standing in the Guatemala City airport, saying goodbye to my mother and father who were returning to the U.S. Having never been farther south than the Wisconsin-Illinois border until this trip to visit their missionary son, they fortunately did not understand the words blaring over the loud speaker in Spanish. I could make out enough to be aware of what was going on.

Guatemala’s President Jacobo Arbenz was speaking out against an armed invasion that very day by troops from Honduras – troops trained under our CIA. The democratically elected Arbenz was a target. Politically inspired by the social programs of U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Arbenz had offended the wealthy landowners by seeking a more equitable land reform policy. He stood in solidarity with the efforts of workers in their demand for better wages from the U.S.-based United Fruit Company. Moreover, sensing military intervention, he had sought support from eastern Europe.

Stateside these events were reported as another episode in our struggle to rid the world of communism. Had I not been there myself, however, I might not have ever understood them as I do now and changed my perception of world politics. These events and their fallout are well-documented. I especially like a book titled The Cry of the Peopleby Penny Lernoux. I don’t think many people could read but a few chapters of Lernoux’s book and not at least begin to question why we have been training Latin American soldiers on U.S. soil for more than half a century.

So, as this Jesuit priest journeys on in his 86th year, my hopes for a better, more just world are heartened by the fact that each November more and more college students, high school students, and others participate in the teach-in and vigil to promote human rights, learn more about other justice issues, and end U.S.-sponsored training of Latin American military personnel.

God willing, I’ll be there again this fall.

A Jesuit since 1938, Fr. Bill Brennan, SJ worked for many years in Central America and currently is associate pastor at St. Patrick’s Parish in Milwaukee.

Return to Fall 2005 issue

Return to Honoring the Martyrs