H. Res. 458

In the House of Representatives, U.S., 

December 14, 2005.

Whereas on December 2, 1980, four United States churchwomen, Maryknoll Sisters Maura Clarke and Ita Ford, 

Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel, and Cleveland Lay Mission Team Member Jean Donovan, were violated and executed by members of the National Guard of El Salvador; 

Whereas in 1980 Maryknoll Sisters Maura Clarke and Ita 

Ford were working in the parish of the Church of San 

Juan Bautista in Chalatenango, El Salvador, providing 

food, transportation, and other assistance to refugees and 

Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel and Cleveland Lay Mission Team Member Jean Donovan were working in the 

parish of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in La 

Libertad, El Salvador, providing assistance and support 

to refugees and other victims of violence; 

Whereas these four United States churchwomen dedicated 

their lives to working with the poor of El Salvador, especially women and children left homeless, displaced and 

destitute by the Salvadoran war; 

Whereas these four United States churchwomen joined the 

more than 70,000 civilians who were murdered during 

the course of the Salvadoran war; 
2

•HRES 458 EH 

Whereas on May 23 and May 24, 1984, five members of the 

National Guard of El Salvador—Subsergeant Luis Antonio Colindres Aleman, Daniel Canales Ramirez, Carlos 

Joaquin Contreras Palacios, Francisco Orlando Contreras 

Recinos, and Jose Roberto Moreno Canjura—were found 

guilty by the Salvadoran courts of the executions of the 

churchwomen and were sentenced to thirty years in prison, marking the first case in the history of El Salvador 

where a member of the Salvadoran Armed Forces was 

convicted of murder by a Salvadoran judge; 

Whereas the United Nations Commission on the Truth for El 

Salvador was established under the terms of the historic 

January 1992 Peace Accords that ended El Salvador’s 

twelve years of war and was charged to investigate and 

report to the Salvadoran people on human rights crimes 

committed by all sides during the course of the war; 

Whereas in March 1993 the United Nations Commission on 

the Truth for El Salvador found that the execution of the 

four United States churchwomen was planned and that 

Subsergeant Luis Antonio Colindres Aleman carried out 

orders from a superior to execute them, and that then 

Colonel Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova, then DirectorGeneral of the National Guard and his cousin Lieutenant 

Colonel Oscar Edgardo Casanova Vejar, then Commander of the Zacatecoluca military detachment where 

the murders were committed, and other military personnel knew that members of the National Guard had 

committed the murders pursuant to orders of a superior 

and that the subsequent cover-up of the facts adversely 

affected the judicial investigation into the murders of the 

four United States churchwomen; 
3

•HRES 458 EH 

Whereas the United Nations Commission on the Truth for El 

Salvador determined that General Jose Guillermo Garcia, 

then Minister of Defense, made no serious effort to conduct a thorough investigation of responsibility for the 

murders of the churchwomen; 

Whereas the families of the four United States churchwomen 

continue their efforts to determine the full truth surrounding the murders of their loved ones, appreciate the 

cooperation of United States Government agencies in disclosing and providing documents relevant to the churchwomen’s murders, and pursue requests to release to the 

family members the few remaining undisclosed documents 

and reports pertaining to this case; 

Whereas the families of the four United States churchwomen 

appreciate the ability of those harmed by violence to 

bring suit against Salvadoran military officers in United 

States courts under the Torture Victim Protection Act of 

1991 (28 U.S.C. 1350 note); 

Whereas the lives of these four United States churchwomen 

have, for the past 25 years, served as inspiration and 

continue to inspire Salvadorans, Americans, and people 

throughout the world to answer the call to service and to 

pursue lives dedicated to addressing the needs and aspirations of the poor, the vulnerable, and the disadvantaged, especially among women and children; 

Whereas the lives of the four United States churchwomen 

have also inspired numerous books, plays, films, music, 

religious, and cultural events; 

Whereas schools, libraries, research centers, spiritual centers, 

health clinics, women’s and children’s programs in the 

United States and in El Salvador have been named after 
4

•HRES 458 EH 

or dedicated to Sisters Maura Clarke, Ita Ford and 

Dorothy Kazel and lay missionary Jean Donovan; 

Whereas the Maryknoll Sisters, headquartered in Ossining, 

New York, the Ursuline Sisters, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, numerous Religious Task Forces in the 

United States, and the Salvadoran and international religious communities based in El Salvador annually commemorate the lives and martyrdom of the four United 

States churchwomen; 

Whereas the historic January 1992 Peace Accords allowed 

the Government and the people of El Salvador to achieve 

significant progress in creating and strengthening democratic political, economic, and social institutions; and 

Whereas December 2, 2005, marks the 25th anniversary of 

the deaths of these four spiritual, courageous, and generous United States churchwomen: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

(1) remembers and commemorates the lives and 

work of Sisters Maura Clarke, Ita Ford, and Dorothy 

Kazel and lay missionary Jean Donovan; 

(2) extends sympathy and support for the families, 

friends, and religious communities of the four United 

States churchwomen; 

(3) continues to find inspiration in the lives and 

work of these four United States churchwomen; 

(4) calls upon the people of the United States and 

religious congregations to participate in local, national, 

and international events commemorating the 25th anni-
5

•HRES 458 EH 

versary of the martyrdom of the four United States 

churchwomen; 

(5) recognizes that while progress has been made 

during the post-war period, the work begun by the four 

United States churchwomen remains unfinished and social and economic hardships persist among many sectors 

of Salvadoran society; and 

(6) calls upon the President, the Secretary of State, 

the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, and the heads of other United 

States Government departments and agencies to continue to support and collaborate with the Government of 

El Salvador and with private sector, nongovernmental, 

and religious organizations in their efforts to reduce poverty and hunger and to promote educational opportunity, 

health care, and social equity for the people of El Salvador.

Attest:

Clerk.