Section:
advocacy
Sisters Gather to Support Closing the School of the Americas (SOA)*
The School of the Americas, although located in Georgia, trains military leaders 
from various Latin American countries. Many of these leaders have been responsible for the murders and disappearance of thousands of people in their own countries. Among the atrocities that SOA graduates are suspected of being responsible for are the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero; the murder of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper, and her teenage daughter; and the rape and murder of four American churchwomen. For a list of additional crimes attributed to SOA graduates, visit http://www.soaw.org/about-the-soawhinsec/soawhinsec-grads/notorious-grads/238.
For many years, our sisters have been among those gathered at the gates of Fort Benning, calling for the closing of the School of the Americas. This year we will host a gathering at our motherhouse in Aston, Pennsylvania, to learn more about the SOA and to pray in solidarity with those gathered at Fort Benning. For details, check our events page, www.osfphila.org/events. If you’re not able to join us, perhaps you, your family, and your friends can join us in prayer from wherever you are. You’ll find a prayer service on our website at www.osfphila.org/prayers/service_soa.
What You Can Do
Urge your congress-person to co-sponsor HR 1217 to suspend operations at the SOA/WHINSEC!
- 100 cosponsors are already signed on to HR 1217
- Each phone call representatives receive directly impacts their decision to cosponsor the bill
*Renamed Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation
Visit School of Americas Watch www.soawne.org
Learn more about other areas in which we’re working for change
Sisters Remember Slaying of Churchwomen in El Salvador
This December will mark the 30th anniversary of the death of those four U.S. churchwomen—Srs. Dorothy Kazel, Maura Clarke, Ita Ford, and lay woman Jean Donovan—who were brutally raped and murdered in El Salvador in 1980. Two of our sisters, Srs. Jean Rupertus and Julie Keegan, will participate in the SHARE delegation to El Salvador from November 29 to December 6, 2010.
Read an article written by Srs. Julie and Jean that explains their journey: Great Hope Prevails Over Tragedy and Pain.
