Ladrigan-Whelpley, Theresa

English

epublications@Marquette

Conversations on Jesuit Higher EducationVolume 47 The Spiritual Exercises as Foundation forJesuit Higher Education Article 27March 2015Book Review: La Verdad Y La Justicia WitnessingTruth in the Service of Justice: La Verdad: AWitness to the Salvadoran Martyrs, by Lucía Cernaand Mary Jo IgnoffoTheresa Ladrigan-WhelpleyFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversationsRecommended CitationLadrigan-Whelpley, Theresa (2015) "Book Review: La Verdad Y La Justicia Witnessing Truth in the Service of Justice: La Verdad: AWitness to the Salvadoran Martyrs, by Lucía Cerna and Mary Jo Ignoffo," Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education: Vol. 47, Article 27.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol47/iss1/27Conversations 43Book ReviewWhat are you livingfor? What wouldyou die for? Fewof us would say “the truth.” Lucía Cerna, aSalvadoran woman who worked as ahousekeeper in the Jesuit Communityat the Universidad Centroamericano(UCA) in San Salvador, chose to riskher life by speaking truth to power. Asprimary witness to the massacre at theUCA on November 16, 1989, Cerna tes-tified to the reality that it was theSalvadoran military who carried out thekillings. “My life changed in onemoment.... I never thought my lifewould change. I just thought to tell thetruth” (p. 90). In La Verdad: A Witness to theSalvadoran Martyrs, a book jointly pub-lished by Santa Clara University andOrbis Press in commemoration of the25th anniversary of the UCA martyrs,Cerna shares her harrowing life story indialogue with her friend, co-author, andhistorian, Mary Jo Ignoffo. Cerna beginsby recounting her childhood in a townoutside of San Savador, where she andher brothers lived with their mentally-illgrandmother and abusive grandfather,subsisting on the edge of the agriculturalestate of one of the fourteen ruling fami-lies of El Salvador. “I think the people ofthat town would say my family was themost poor of all. I will tell you why. Ipicked up garbage nobody wanted, but Ineeded it. We had hunger” (p. 3). Afterher grandmother died, Cerna began towork as a housekeeper in San Salvadorand met and married her first husband.He worked as a gardener for another oneof the fourteen land-owning families, butafter his employer was kidnapped andkilled by the guerrilla resistance, hebecame desperate for money, and Cernanotes: “he changed, first in the mind andthen the face. Maybe he was depressed;I don’t know. But when his face changedto hate, I felt scared” (p. 22). Cernarecalls stories of her husband’s abuse andultimate death and how he kept their twochildren from her. Cerna’s accounts ofher own life, including the oppressionand struggles of her family, echo therealidad of hundreds of thousands in ElSalvador’s landscape. In 1980, through the recommenda-tion of her aunt, Cerna came to work asa housekeeper at Loyola Center, aretreat house near the UCA, and later atthe UCA offices as well. Cerna noteshow respected she felt by the Jesuits,how much they regarded the signifi-cance of her work and her humanity.“The priests appreciated my work.…They offered respect. Never before did Ihave that” (p. xxiv). When the civil warleft her village without power and waterfor several days in 1989, it was Cerna’sconfidence in the Jesuits’ care that com-pelled her to seek refuge and supportfor her family at the UCA. The Cernasarrived the afternoon of November 15,1989, and Padre Nacho [Ignacio Martín-Baró, S.J.] offered them space in anempty guest house on the campus.La Verdad Y La JusticiaWitnessing Truth in the Service of JusticeLa Verdad: A Witness to the SalvadoranMartyrs, by Lucía Cerna and Mary Jo IgnoffoNew York: Orbis Books, 2014, co-published with Santa Clara University. Paperback, 186 pages, $20.00Reviewed by Theresa Ladrigan-WhelpleyTheresa Ladrigan-Whelpley serves asdirector of Institutes and Spiritualityin the Ignation Center for JesuitEducation at Santa Clara University.15304_mag_m  1/2/15  9:35 AM  Page 431Ladrigan-Whelpley: Book Review: La Verdad Y La Justicia Witnessing Truth in the ServPublished by e-Publications@Marquette, 201544 ConversationsBook ReviewThat night Lucía Cerna awoke toa tremendous uproar and loudshooting. She reflects: “My bloodwent cold, like ice…. Then PadreNacho yelled…‘this is an injustice!’Now I wonder if he wasyelling…because he knew I was inthat room and he knows me. Heknew I would hear and I would tell.I would not let anything stop mefrom telling” (p. 83). Indeed, Cernadid tell what she saw from her openwindow that early morning underthe full moon. However, after beingwhisked out of the country for herown protection, Cerna was interro-gated for seven days in Miami bythe FBI and a Salvadoran colonel,who withheld food from her andher family in an effort to press herinto changing her story. The factthat the murders were strategicallyplanned and carried out by aSalvadoran military which had beenfunded, trained, and weaponizedby the United States government inthe name of anti-communism wasnot a welcome truth. The Jesuits at the UCA wereseeking to use the resources at theirdisposal to stand with those whowere being oppressed and dehu-manized by the ruling oligarchy inEl Salvador. As we continue to dis-cern how we are called to realizeour mission as Jesuit, Catholic uni-versities in the 21st century, thestory of La Verdad: A Witness to theSalvadoran Martyrs reminds us thatour work is urgent and the stakesare high. Seeking and living truth inthe service of justice is risky busi-ness. But if the transformation ofour world is the end for which wehave been created, we will findstrength and company in the wit-ness of La Verdad.  ■Lucía Cerna (second from the left) engages in a campus dialogue with La Verdadco-author Mary Jo Ignoffo (far right), Professor Luis Calero, S.J., and director of cam-pus ministry, Maria de la Luz (Lulu) Santana, at a November 2014 panel discussionat Santa Clara University. Photo credit: Max Westerman, Santa Clara University.Ignacio Ellacuría, S.J.,urged in a commencementaddress he deliveredseven years before hisdeath: “What then does auniversity do, immersedin this reality? Transformit? Yes. Do everything possible so that liberty isvictorious over oppression,justice over injustice, loveover hate? Yes. Withoutthis overall commitment,we would not be a university, and even lessso would we be a Catholicuniversity.” 15304_mag_m  1/2/15  9:35 AM  Page 442Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education, Vol. 47, Iss. 1 [2015], Art. 27http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol47/iss1/27

Book Review: La Verdad Y La Justicia Witnessing Truth in the Service of Justice: La Verdad: A Witness to the Salvadoran Martyrs, by Lucía Cerna and Mary Jo Ignoffo

https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1934&amp;context=conversations

Book Review: La Verdad Y La Justicia Witnessing Truth in the Service of Justice: La Verdad: A Witness to the Salvadoran Martyrs, by Lucía Cerna and Mary Jo Ignoffo

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

epublications@Marquette