The following is an address given by Martha Zechmeister CJ for the annual ecumenical service for Romero Week 2017 at St Martin-in-the-Fields, London. Many thanks to the Archbishop Romero Trust for making this text available for us to share.

“Over these ruins of ours the glory of the Lord will shine”

Archbishop Oscar Romero spoke these words that we heard just now in his cathedral in San Salvador on the Feast of the Epiphany in 1979. It was in the midst of a desperate situation, prior to the outbreak of the civil war: people were being sacrificed on the altar of wealth, they were being cut down in their struggle for a life of dignity and they were exposed to cruel and barbaric violence. They were expelled from their homes and their land, living in a nightmare of torture, of overnight escapes and separation from their loved ones.

Romero describes the atmosphere of his home country at that moment without any illusions, using the words of Isaiah: “there are only ruins here, there is nothing more than pessimism, a tremendous sense of frustration.” And so what the prophet was saying about Jerusalem, Romero is applying to the situation of El Salvador. He continues in his own words: “our human strength can do no more… we are stuck in a dead-end alley … … Politics and diplomacy achieve nothing here, everything is destruction and disaster, and to deny it is madness.”

I think many of us here are beginning to feel the same way with respect to our actual global situation: we are stunned by the interminable vicious circle of war and violence in the Middle-East and in other conflictive zones of our world. The tentacles of terror are reaching out to the capitals of Europe. (We are shocked by the attack in the heart of London: 5 dead and over 40 injured. And this atrocity was carried out exactly on the first anniversary of the Brussels killings when people were mourning those victims).

There are more than 60 million refugees worldwide, driven from their homelands by violence, hunger, poverty and climate change – and the “First World” seems to be riven with the fear of being overcrowded by the migrants and becoming ever more vulnerable. In consequence Europe is seeking to convert itself into a fortress constructed against “these invaders”. But as we know there are also still more marginalized and excluded people in the midst of the rich “developed nations”, who feel themselves betrayed by the political establishment. And finally we are confronted with the seemingly unstoppable rise of irresponsible populists and nationalists all over the world.

It seems that our world is getting a little bit out of control, that it is falling apart – and we are in danger of being overwhelmed and paralyzed by fear and anxiety. Here and now we are sharing with the people of El Salvador the awful experience that our world is in a great mess and that we are stumped – and that sometimes we are tempted to despair.

Exactly into this situation come those prophetic words of Oscar Romero: “Over these ruins of ours the glory of the Lord will shine. That is the great mission that Christians have at this critical moment: keeping hope alive.”

But – if actually we face up to the crude facts, what is it in the end that can justify our persistent confidence? What can strengthen our tenacity, to pin all our hopes on God and on the “transcendent salvation” that Romero evokes? As an attempt to answer that, I will offer you my experience with El Salvador and with Archbishop Oscar Romero.

El Salvador and Oscar Romero taught me what it truly means to be a Christian

Romero became really meaningful to me through an experience I had in “La Chacra”, a slum area in the suburbs of San Salvador. It was during the all-night vigil celebrated on 24 March 1999, the anniversary of Romero’s assassination. On that night one family after another described, in front of the whole assembly, how their relatives and friends had disappeared and had been tortured and murdered during the years of the civil war.

The martyrs of El Salvador were truly present there to testify to resurrection and as witnesses not only to God, who does not allow these victims to vanish in death, but also as witnesses to a life that takes the risk of ‘making a stand against death’ here in this place and now in this time. That was a night of many tears and great distress, yet it also brought us into the ‘real presence’ of radiant humanity and the authentic experience that Romero’s death was a source of life for us. A source of life that helps us to resist despair and can give staying power – perseverance – to our hope.

El Salvador, with its martyrs who sealed the Gospel with their blood, became for me a “Holy Land”. It became for me a privileged place where I was confronted with the drama of Jesus in a frighteningly current way – and it was the first time in my life I understood what it truly means to be a Christian.

It‘s not sophisticated, it‘s very simple: Christians are those people who follow Jesus, and who do what he did. They risk their own lives by taking sides – without any ifs or buts – alongside the vulnerable, those in danger and those excluded. But in spite of the simplicity of this message, we all know that we are unable to cope with this essential challenge of the Gospel. When it really happens, it is not our merit, it is not the result of our ethical efforts – it is the unexpected irruption of God`s grace and mercy.

With Archbishop Romero, God‘s grace irrupted into the midst of the cruel reality of El Salvador. So, the theologian, Ignacio Ellacuria, far from reciting pious platitudes, declared at the moment of the assassination of Romero: “With Archbishop Romero, God passed through El Salvador”. Yes, Oscar Romero is a true incarnation of God’s mercy and love in that historic moment; he is a “sacrament of Jesus Christ”, the real presence of the whole drama of the life of Jesus. His assassination confronts us with the cross of Jesus – as a consequence of his Jesus-like way of living. Therefore, Romero`s life and Romero`s death – like the life and death of Jesus – become an unfailing source of Christian hope and joy.

Living this core of the Christian life with such integrity, Romero also had a very clear view of what is the essence of the Church and what has to be her mission. The Church, as the community of those who follow Jesus, has to make the Gospel present, here and now, as a liberating and redeeming reality in the midst of whatever is oppressing and enslaving people. In the words of Romero himself:

“A Church that does not join the poor in order to speak out on behalf of the poor and against the injustices committed against them, is not the true Church of Jesus Christ… The voice of the Church has always been the voice of the Gospel — it can be nothing else. Many times this Gospel touches the open wounds of society and it is natural that it should sting and cause pain.”

As he took up this vocation Oscar Romero was transformed into one of Christianity’s outstanding prophets. He himself defines what it means to be a prophet:

“The prophet is the watchman who keeps vigil. When God tells the evildoers to be converted, the prophet has to sound the trumpet of God and tell the evildoers to repent. …”

As a bishop, Romero considered himself as the guardian of his brothers and sisters, called to protect and defend them. Certainly it was a highly risky task to sound the trumpet, to bring to public light, that evildoers were threatening and damaging the lives of his people, motivated by greed or other egocentric interests. Romero by his natural temperament wasn`t a “trumpet”; in fact he was a calm, peaceful and shy man. But he accepted the hazardous burden of confronting the oppressors with their crimes. And most of them had the benefit of great wealth or high office with political or military power behind them.

Even so he encouraged his priests, his fellow pastoral workers – and every one of us to take this risk: “Do not be false in your service to this ministry. It is very easy to be servants of the word without disturbing the world: a very spiritualized word, a word without any commitment to history, a word that can sound in any part of the world because it belongs to no part of the world. A word like that creates no problems, starts no conflicts.”

Remembering Archbishop Romero, remembering the martyrs, and celebrating them, is a dangerous thing to do. It obliges us, like them, to let ourselves be touched in our innermost being, by the anguish that the victims of exclusion, discrimination and impoverishment suffer today. It obliges us to risk what seems like self-destructive insanity: in Bonhoeffer’s words, to throw ourselves, with all of our existence, against those systems that crush and exclude the vulnerable. To remember the body and blood of the martyrs, among them, the proto-martyr Jesus of Nazareth, does not allow for any kind of diluted celebration. It either draws us into following those martyrs, or the celebration is a lie, and carries within itself “its own judgment” – as Corinthians tells us.

To be faithful to the legacy of the martyrs of El Salvador, we are obliged to practice a patient exercise of contemplation, of paying close attention to the situation in which the crucified people live today. If we do it well, it will hurt. Only from such pain can a new pastoral word and action be born, pastoral action that is effective and hope-giving.

In an audacious and courageous way, Romero identifies the cross of Jesus Christ with the horror that the people lived through in his time. They were exposed to violence, cruelty, and humiliation. He affirms the inseparable connection, between the crucified people and the crucified Christ. They are one single flesh and cannot be separated.

When we Europeans are speaking about martyrs we are always in danger of provoking depression and feelings of guilt. This is not the Gospel and it is not Oscar Romero! However paradoxical it may seem, the most vulnerable, the marginalized people of El Salvador and the poor all over the world, can teach us, what it means to celebrate the martyrs. To follow in their footsteps is not forcing ourselves into some kind of moral and ascetic performance, but rather something that enables us to become more human and fully alive. Following in their footsteps we become liberated from our paralysis and depression and we are empowered to joyful action. ‘Whoever loses his or her life . . . will gain it.’

Hope – as a “divine virtue”

Christian hope is not the starry-eyed confidence that somehow everything will go well – it is not the pious variant of “positive thinking”, the self-centered autosuggestion that: “nothing bad will happen to me”. Christian hope is far more radical, it does not trivialize these forces that have the power to bring suffering and to destroy the lives of others. The meaning of Christian hope reveals itself only as we face the victims. If there is no hope for them, then certainly there is no hope for us.

Christian hope is the vigor of the heart, capable of resisting and rejecting the imposition of the “law of the strongest” as the inevitable “law of nature”. Hope is stubborn enough not to accept, that the victims are the inevitable collateral damage of human history.

Our God is the solemn promise that the evildoers of this world WILL NOT HAVE THE LAST WORD. This confidence, that GOD will have the last word, transformed the shy man of El Salvador into a courageous prophet. With him the saving and life-giving love of God passed through El Salvador, and was present amongst us.

Blessed Oscar Romero, servant of God, faithful follower of Jesus Christ, friend of the poor, voice of the voiceless – Pray for us.

We on the Westminster Justice and Peace Commission extend our prayers and sympathy to all affected by the tragic events at Westminster. We express our sadness at the loss of life and concern for those injured and all affected by this tragic event.

Our congratulations to all who responded in an amazing fashion, emergency services, paramedics, police and the public who tried to help in every possible way.

It shows how vulnerable we are and how difficult it is to maintain security without turning our city, or any public place, into an absolute fortress. Even then, security could not be total, because when evil intentions are intended it is very difficult to contain.

How do we learn from this tragedy? What is it that motivates individuals or groups to take lives indiscriminately? Maybe this is not the time or the place to look at the origins of hate and violence in those cases, but it is still a burning question. Reaching out to others, to all the communities that make up London, making links of trust and friendship can be a beginning. Again our thoughts with all suffering from this tragedy.

Membership: The network now has some 50 people on its mailing list, approximately 10 to 15 parish groups that regularly attend its meetings (three a year), and routinely contacts all West London parishes to encourage the appointment of a J&P contact person.

Meetings: In 2016, we had our regular meetings in Hayes (January) and Chiswick (June). As usual, the meeting format involved a two-hour meeting in a parish hall in West London with an invited speaker and an exchange of news on parish or diocesan activities. The meetings predominantly involve parish J&P representatives, but there are also regular Anglican and Methodist participants and, depending on the venue, from local Quakers. Our third such meeting of the year in September (normally in Osterley) was devoted solely to Laudato Si.

Network Speakers/Topics in 2016: At the first meeting of the year there was an excellent presentation by a volunteer with Mary’s Meals, an international relief charity that has been going for 10 years based on the simple idea of giving every child a meal in their place of education to encourage prioritising school attendance. The second presentation in June was given by Fr Eamonn Mulcahy from Manchester and all left the session with even greater commitment to justice and peace efforts in West London (rough synopsis available on request). The final meeting of the year was devoted solely to the topic of Laudato Si and was opened up to participation beyond the west London network with speakers from CAFOD, Caritas and the Westminster J&P. Ellen Teague of the Columbans prepared a short note on the meeting which was carried in the Independent Catholic News soon after.

Summary of J&P activities across the parishes in 2016

Local: Several parishes work in either night shelter initiatives, or local foodbanks (often both). One parish reported working one night each week during the winter at the ecumenical Hounslow Homeless Night Shelter project, providing a hot meal and a bed in the parish centre. Others support local homeless charities and they make contributions of food supplies and volunteers to foodbanks in Hammersmith, Hanwell and elsewhere. One regular network participant contributes the musical entertainment for those sharing in the community meal offered weekly by his congregation in Acton. Another parish invited a speaker from the Catholic Workers Movement and raised £800 for their work. Yet another parish devotes a certain percentage of its annual income to good local causes.

National: One parish group is very active on the issue of nuclear weapons and organised a briefing in Westminster on the ethics of such weapons in advance of the Trident vote. Other parishes were encouraged to write to their MPs asking them to attend and sending on detailed briefings. Another group of parishioners are active in Citizens UK and attended their Mayoral Accountability event in advance of the mayoral elections. In addition to the two main candidates (Zac Goldsmith and Sadiq Khan), there were some 6000 people representing a marvellous array of young and old, Jew/Muslim/Christian, and commitments were made by both candidates regarding social justice and inclusion in London.

International: Much J&P work is focused on our responsibilities as members of the worldwide human family. Some parishes have specific projects to support – for example, a seven bridges walk and cake sales were organised for a project in north west Kenya which trains nurses in nutritional care, tackling infant mortality and combatting child marriage; another has regular fundraising efforts for Haiti; and yet another parish has a “twinning” relationship with projects in Nigeria and Tanzania.

Much of the work is however undertaken as part of larger campaigns rather than because of direct parish-to-parish “twinning”. For example, most groups worked on CAFOD fundraising and campaigns (the Lenten and Harvest collections, climate change campaign etc) and one raised funds for a CAFOD El Salvador project with parish garden produce. For others, Christian Aid Week is actively promoted to all parishioners, and some undertook work on behalf of Mary’s Meals (fundraising, clothing collections etc). This year, several parishes undertook a variety of actions on behalf of refugees – having a sew-in where they made blankets for use in the ‘jungle’, joining in protest marches, collecting and delivering goods for onward transmission to Calais, and supporting local campaigns to host new arrivals.

Many, if not all, members of the network are engaged in Fairtrade work and for one or two groups this is their one most active contribution to a fairer world. Most engage in Fairtrade Fortnight and one parish organised a series of afternoon talks in this period; some regularly sell Fairtrade items from the repository; and one parish chose to replace the usual Fairtrade stall in the church porch with Fairtrade ‘tastings’ which went down very well, particularly with the children who brought their parents along.

Miscellaneous: Several of the network engaged in the diocesan consultation about synergies between the work of CARITAS and J&P (see note attached). At the local level, a parish organised a meeting for all those engaged in social action of any kind to try and better co-ordinate the kinds of work undertaken by CAFOD, SVP, Africa projects, Food Bank and Mary’s Meals as well as Fair Trade and other campaigning issues around refugees and climate change. Yet others promote Catholic Social Teaching by way of regular items in the parish newsletter, but there are challenges – one CAFOD rep on his Parish Council reported his surprise at learning his colleagues thought that such work was too ‘political’. Many used the Year of Mercy context to promote their efforts to others in the parish, and the multi-cultural nature of most parishes has been turned to positive effect, thus Peace and Racial Justice Sundays were used by one group to invite parishioners to write a short prayer in their “language of origin” together with a translation for display. Much J&P work is also done on an ecumenical basis, especially when marking the festivities around Easter and Christmas, or by way of jointly organised events. One parish organised a series of commemorations of WW1 with Chiswick Churches for Justice and Peace (CCJP). Fundraising and consciousness-raising is often deliberately tied into liturgical dates or events by the different groups – eg Lenten projects, Stations of the Cross, Advent services etc. The network meetings themselves provide opportunities for the sharing of information and resources to provide helpful ideas to those just starting out; opportunities to hear from invited speakers (see above); and the notes of the meetings record important dates, websites, and other resources which help us maintain our morale in face of the big challenges facing us all in terms of justice and peace locally, nationally or internationally.

It was a privilege to be part of this Delegation from 13^th – 19^th February. Thanks to the EU Civic Commission for organising the Delegation to Turkey. Some of us have participated in the first Delegation in February 2016 to Istanbul and then followed on to Strasbourg to encourage the Committee for Prevention of Torture to intervene for Mr Ocalan, who has been in prison since February 1999. Most of this time; he has been in solitary confinement and not allowed visits either by his family or his lawyers. This has been the case for many years. This inhumane treatment is against all natural law and even against the Turkish Constitution on Human Rights, which they have signed up to.

The Delegation in Diyarbakir:

Our Delegation met with several groups and individuals: Democratic Society Congress (DTC) and Co-Chair Leyla Guyen who had just been released from prison. She explained her role in trying to bring together all members of society. She indicated that the Kurdish people are united as never before and their single aim is to have democracy in Turkey.

We met with the Democratic Regions Party (DBP), Co-Chairs and had lunch with local authorities – Co-Mayors in Diyarbakir. We met with the Free Women’s Congress (JJA) and MPs of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP). The Trade Unions, KESK and DISK told their story, as did the journalists, news agencies and TV representatives whose offices were closed down by the authorities.

It was very revealing that all of these different groups that we met indicated the harassment, oppression, and total aggression that they were experiencing. The following statistics give evidence of this

• More than 100,000 people have been fired from their jobs. Nearly 30,000 of them were teachers and 4000 of them academics.

• 40,000 people have been detained, 20,000 people were arrested, and investigations have been opened against 70,000 people.

• 1500 civil society organisations were closed down.

• 177 media outlets, including TV stations and newspapers, have been closed. More than 150 journalists and writers were jailed.

These numbers grow every day. Thousands of investigations have been opened against film makers, writers, lawyers, doctors, academics and others.

We attended a court hearing of an MP whose trial was conducted by video link because of the distance; she was removed from her home constituency. We stayed as long as we could at the hearing and were told later that the judge said: “You can easily carry out your constituency duties from prison! I ask you!!

The Delegation in Istanbul:

On our return to Istanbul from Diyarbakir we made the three hours trip to see if we could visit Selahattin Demirtaş –HDP, Co-Chair MP at Edirne prison. No member of our party were allowed to visit. We held a Press Conference in the region of the prison and were able to convey our solidarity through the lawyers who had arranged their visit to the MP. (More information on our Istanbul stay is in the House of Commons Report).

Report at the House of Commons:

On Wednesday 22^nd February, four member of the 3^rd Imrali Delegation presented a report in the Committee Rooms at the House of Commons. This event was kindly hosted by Natalie McGarry MP and chaired by Bert Schouwenburg, International Officer GMB.

Dr Federico Venturini gave the background details of the meaning of our visit to Turkey. He indicated that the request made by Julie Ward, MEP had not been responded to. He outlined our plan to visit Strasbourg and meet with the CPT Representative (Committee for the Prevention of Torture) just as we did last year. Then to do a return visit to Strasbourg when the full Council was in session.

Fr Joe Ryan reported on the Delegation’s meeting with Mr Ocalan’s lawyers in Istanbul. Mr Ibrahim Bilmez reminded us that they had not been able to visit their client since 27 July 2011, despite hundreds of applications. In the period of January 1^st to 15 July 2016, all of the 57 applications of lawyer visits were rejected by the Chief Public Prosecution Office in Bursa for various reasons like ‘boat maintenance’ or ‘adverse weather conditions’.

His family applied for a visit 26 times in that same period, but again a similar reply. His brother was able to make one visit last year and reported that Mr Ocalan was in reasonable health and in good spirits. He was unable to elaborate any more.

We also met with Ms Pervin Bundan who leads the support Delegation for Mr Ocalan. She would have been the last to see Mr Ocalan on Imrali Island. There is real concerns for his well-being and the inhumane condition under which he is held. They too made appeal after appeal to visit him in prison, with no success.

Mr Jonathan Steele gave his impression as a journalist and indicated the same concern for Mr Ocalan. The engagement of the Council of Europe is vital if any real progress is to be made.

This was the same message from Julie Ward, MEP. She has already set in motion plans to move the process forward. She will be requesting that the matter be on the agenda at the next full council meeting. She will be using her Parliamentary Privilege to indicate the urgency of raising the whole Turkish/Kurdish situation.

Simon Dubbins, Trade Union Representative, reported on the support now being generated amongst trade unionists on the whole process of Peace in Kurdistan.

THE SILENCE: We in the free world, we here in the House of Commons, members of the Council of Europe and Governments of the free world need to respond. The reality is that silence means compliance, compliance means agreement, agreement means consent and consent means that everything is just fine as it is! When we are privy to injustice and total disregard for even natural law, not to speak of the Geneva Convention etc., and do or say nothing, this is a terrible indictment for us to carry. We cannot wash our hands of this terrible situation. We need action.

• Freedom of Abdullah Ocalan, as he is a key person in whole peace process not only in Turkey but in the whole of the Middle East.

• Stop the reign of terror against the Kurdish people

• Start the peace process again between Turkey and the Kurdish Committee

We have a mandate and an obligation as a result of the 10.3million signatures presented to the Council of Europe in 2014 demanding the release of Mr Ocalan.

We will have a full report in due course.

We must continue the struggle

Signed: Joe Ryan

24^th February 2017

APPENDIX:

The delegation is made up of; MEP Julie Ward from the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, British journalist and author Jonathan Steele, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and Group of the Unified European Left member Ulla Sandbaek, Member of the Parliament of Iceland, former Minister and Chairman of BSRB (Confederation of State and Municipal Employees of Iceland) Ögmundur Jonasson, former MEP Francis Wurtz, PACE member Miren Edurne Gorrotxategi, Chair of Westminster Justice and Peace Commission Joe Ryan, Westminster School of Geography at the University of Leeds and International Institute for Social Ecology Advisory Board Member Federico Venturini, International Institute for Social Ecology Advisor from Canada Dimitri Roussopoulos and Cambridge University Political Sociology Professor Dr. Thomas Jeffery Miley.