COLUMBUS, GA – Annual gatherings for the Ignatian Solidarity Network’s annual Teach-In for Justice have grown steadily and drew record participation for the Nov. 18-20 events. More than 3,000 people attended the Teach-In and Mass and then joined the peaceful vigil and rally at the gates of Fort Benning which drew 19,000.

The weekend events commemorated the 16th anniversary of the Salvadoran Jesuit martyrs, as well as the many other innocent victims who have been killed, wounded and tortured by graduates of the U.S.-funded academy known as the U.S. Army School of the Americas (now renamed Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation).

Convened by the Ignatian Solidarity Network (ISN), delegations from across the U.S., Canada, and Latin America participated in the event. Jesuit universities, high schools, Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Christian Life Communities, and Jesuit parishes arrived by vans, cars, and charter buses on Friday afternoon and convened under the Ignatian family tent on the banks of the Chatahoochie River at 6 p.m.

Throughout the weekend, Teach-In facilitators Fr. Ted Gabrielli, SJ (California) and Emily Warming (a Creighton University senior) roll-called the assembled schools and parishes and introduced speakers and musicians.

The Ignatian Family Teach-In continued on Saturday morning prior to the afternoon vigil at the Ft. Benning gates. Saturday evening, California Fr. Provincial John McGarry, SJ presided at the Mass which drew overflow crowds. During the day on Sunday, a solemn memorial was held at the gates.

The annual SOA gathering was initiated by Maryknoll Fr. Roy Bourgeois to coincide with the anniversary of the 1989 murder of six Jesuits and two lay co-workers by Salvadoran troops who were graduates of the school. The movement has grown substantially over the years, both on Jesuit campuses and to other participants representing religious and humanitarian concerns. (www.soaw.org) It is not uncommon to see religious sisters and Capuchin monks walking alongside youthful activists, musicians, and artists.

This year, the IFTJ presenters included many student testimonials as well as presentations by national social justice leaders and educators including Fr. Charlie Currie, SJ (president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities); Fr. Joe Daoust, SJ (president of the Jesuit School of Theology Berkeley; Sr. Helen Prejean and Marie Denis (author/activists); Angelique Ruhi-Lopez (Chistian Life Communities, USA); Fr. Robert Costello, SJ (Missouri provincial at the time of the killings); Bill Quigley (Loyola New Orleans law professor and Pax Christi teacher of Peace Award recipient); and Fr. Joseph Carver, SJ (vocations promotion).

Wisconsin Province affiliated delegations included well over 100 university participants from Creighton and Marquette as well as 30 Marquette High participants. Each student group came with several faculty moderators.

The Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice not only recalls the memory and witness of the Jesuit martyrs, but also addresses emerging social concerns including fair trade, human rights, migration, economic justice, militarism and torture.

Wisconsin Province Jesuits, faculty and staff who attended included: Fr. Rick Abert, SJ, Maria Teresa Gaston, Fr. John Montag, SJ, Jeanne Schuler, Fr. Michael Flecky, SJ, Phil Runkle, Gerry Fischer, Rick Ralphson, SJ, Eddee Daniel, Fr. Bill Brennan, SJ, Michael Smith, Elizabeth Martorell, John Sealey, Bob Graf, Nathan Wendt, SJ, Phil Cooke, SJ, Phyllis Logan, Jeremy Cramer, SJ, Jim Howell-Burke, and Roger Bergman.

In a message to the entire Province before the Teach-In, Wisconsin Fr. Provincial Thomas Krettek, SJ expressed gratitude and support for the event.

“This annual gathering is a formative event for many young (and not so young) participants. Please join me in praying for the success of the gathering as it joins Christian faith with the imperative call to struggle for justice, ” Fr. Krettek said.

“This week we also remember the example of Fr. [Ignacio] Ellacuria, SJ and his companions who were killed in the early morning hours of November 16, 1989. May their courageous decision to utilize their institutions in response to the Church’s option for the poor and to promote peacemaking and reconciliation in a polarized society serve as an enduring inspiration to our apostolic lives and ministry in service of the Church.”

Information: www.ignatiansolidarity.net

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