III 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 321 

Commemorating the lives and work of Jesuit Fathers Ignacio Ellacurı ́a, 

Ignacio Martin-Baro ́, Segundo Montes, Amando Lo ́pez, Juan Ramon 

Moreno, Joaquı ́n Lo ́pez y Lo ́pez, and housekeeper Julia Elba Ramos 

and her daughter Celina Mariset Ramos on the occasion of the 20th 

anniversary of their deaths on November 16, 1989, at the Universidad 

Centroamericana Jose ́ Simeon Can ̃as located in San Salvador, El Salvador. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 26, 2009 

Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. CASEY, and Mr. 

MENENDEZ) submitted the following resolution; which was considered 

and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Commemorating the lives and work of Jesuit Fathers Ignacio 

Ellacurı ́a, Ignacio Martin-Baro ́, Segundo Montes, 

Amando Lo ́pez, Juan Ramon Moreno, Joaquı ́n Lo ́pez 

y Lo ́pez, and housekeeper Julia Elba Ramos and her 

daughter Celina Mariset Ramos on the occasion of the 

20th anniversary of their deaths on November 16, 1989, 

at the Universidad Centroamericana Jose ́ Simeon Can ̃as 

located in San Salvador, El Salvador. 

Whereas in the early morning hours of November 16, 1989, 

6 Jesuit priests and faculty members of the Universidad 

Centroamericana Jose ́ Simeon Can ̃as (‘‘UCA’’) located in 

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San Salvador, El Salvador—Fathers Ignacio Ellacurı ́a, 

Ignacio Martin-Baro ́, Segundo Montes, Amando Lo ́pez, 

Juan Ramon Moreno, and Joaquı ́n Lo ́pez y Lo ́pez—and 

housekeeper Julia Elba Ramos and her daughter, Celina 

Mariset Ramos, were executed by members of the Salvadoran Army; 

Whereas Father Ignacio Ellacurı ́a, aged 59, was since 1979 

rector of the UCA and was an internationally-respected 

intellectual and advocate for human rights and for a negotiated solution to the Salvadoran civil conflict; 

Whereas Father Ignacio Martin-Baro ́, aged 44, was the vice 

rector of the UCA, a leading analyst of national and regional affairs, the founder and director of the respected 

polling organization, the Public Opinion Institute, former 

dean of students, dean of the psychology department, an 

internationally-renowned pioneer in the field of social 

psychology, and pastor of the rural community of 

Jayaque; 

Whereas Father Segundo Montes, aged 56, was dean of the 

department of social sciences, a sociology professor at the 

UCA, and the founder and director of the Human Rights 

Institute at the UCA, who did extensive work on Salvadoran refugees in the United States during the period of 

the Salvadoran conflict, including providing documentation and advice to Members of Congress on refugee 

issues; 

Whereas Father Amando Lo ́pez, aged 53, was a philosophy 

and theology professor at the UCA, was the former director of the Jesuit seminary in San Salvador, and served 

as pastor of the Tierra Virgen community in Soyapango, 

a poor neighborhood in the periphery of San Salvador; 

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Whereas Father Juan Ramon Moreno, aged 56, was a professor of theology at the UCA, a former novice-master for 

the Jesuits, and a tireless pastoral worker and spiritual 

guide; 

Whereas Father Joaquı ́n Lo ́pez y Lo ́pez, aged 71, was one 

of the creators of the UCA and the founder, organizer, 

and director of Fe y Alegrı ́a (Faith and Joy), an organization to address the lack of education in El Salvador, 

which opened 30 educational centers in marginalized 

communities throughout El Salvador where 48,000 people received vocational training and education; 

Whereas Julia Elba Ramos, aged 42, was the cook and 

housekeeper for the Jesuit seminarians at the UCA and 

the wife of Obdulio Lozano, the UCA gardener and 

groundskeeper; 

Whereas Celina Mariset Ramos, aged 16, had finished her 

first year of high school at the Jose ́ Damian Villacorta 

Institute in Santa Tecla, El Salvador and was staying 

with her mother the night of November 15, 1989; 

Whereas the 6 Jesuit priests dedicated their lives to advancing education in El Salvador, protecting and promoting 

human rights and the end of conflict, and identifying and 

addressing the economic and social problems that affected the majority of the Salvadoran population; 

Whereas the 6 Jesuit priests, as faculty and administrators 

at the UCA, educated many students throughout the 

1970s and 1980s, students who subsequently became Salvadoran government, political, and civil society leaders, 

and thus helped facilitate communication, dialogue, and 

negotiations, even during the turbulent years of the 

armed conflict; 

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Whereas these 6 priests and 2 women joined the more than 

75,000 noncombatants who perished during the Salvadoran civil war; 

Whereas on December 6, 1989, Speaker of the House of Representatives Thomas Foley appointed the Speaker’s Task 

Force on El Salvador consisting of 19 Members of the 

House of Representatives and chaired by Representative 

John Joseph Moakley of Boston, Massachusetts, to monitor the Salvadoran government’s investigation into the 

murders of the Jesuit priests and 2 women and to look 

into related issues involving respect for human rights and 

judicial reform in El Salvador; 

Whereas the Speaker’s Task Force on El Salvador found that 

members of the high command of the Salvadoran military 

were responsible for ordering the murder of the Jesuits 

and 2 women and for obstructing the subsequent investigation into the crimes; 

Whereas the United Nations Commission on the Truth for El 

Salvador (the ‘‘Truth Commission’’) was established 

under terms of the January 1992 Peace Accords that 

ended El Salvador’s 12 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 on March 15, 1993, the Truth Commission confirmed the findings of the Speaker’s Task Force on El 

Salvador; 

Whereas on September 28, 1991, a Salvadoran jury found 2 

Salvadoran military officers guilty of the murders, including Salvadoran Army Colonel Guillermo Alfredo 

Benavides Moreno, the first time in Salvadoran history in 

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which high-ranking military officers were convicted in a 

Salvadoran court of law of human rights crimes; 

Whereas the UCA remains dedicated to advancing and expanding educational opportunity and providing the highest quality of academic excellence in its studies and 

courses and maintains a commitment to human rights 

and social justice; 

Whereas the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United 

States, which represent many of the highest quality academic communities in the Nation, have maintained a 

sense of solidarity with the UCA and the people of El 

Salvador and have annually observed the November 16th 

anniversary of the martyred Jesuits and women; 

Whereas in the United States, in El Salvador, and around 

the world, university programs, academic and scholarly 

institutes, libraries, research centers, pastoral programs, 

spiritual centers, and programs dedicated to educational 

achievement, social justice, human rights, and alleviating 

poverty have been dedicated in the names of the Jesuit 

martyrs; 

Whereas the international and Salvadoran outcry in response 

to the deaths of the 6 Jesuits and 2 women and the subsequent investigations into this crime served as a catalyst 

for negotiations and contributed to the signing of the 

1992 Peace Accords, which have allowed the people and 

the Government of El Salvador to achieve significant 

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

Whereas November 16, 2009, marks the 20th anniversary of 

the deaths of the 8 spiritual, courageous, and generous 

priests, educators, and laywomen: Now, therefore, be it 

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1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) commemorates the lives and work of Father 

3 Ignacio Ellacurı ́a, Father Ignacio Martin-Baro ́, Fa4 ther Segundo Montes, Father Amando Lo ́pez, Fa5 ther Juan Ramon Moreno, Father Joaquı ́n Lo ́pez y 

6 Lo ́pez, Julia Elba Ramos, and Celina Mariset 

7 Ramos; 

8 (2) extends sympathy to the families, friends, 

9 colleagues, and religious communities of the 6 Jesuit 

10 priests and 2 laywomen; 

11 (3) recognizes the continuing academic, spir12 itual, and social contributions of the Universidad 

13 Centroamericana Jose ́ Simeon Can ̃as (‘‘UCA’’) in 

14 San Salvador, El Salvador; 

15 (4) commends the 28 Jesuit colleges and uni16 versities in the United States for their solidarity 

17 with the UCA and annual remembrances of the Jes18 uit martyrs; 

19 (5) continues to find inspiration in the lives and 

20 work of the Jesuit martyrs; 

21 (6) remembers the seminal reports by Rep22 resentative John Joseph Moakley and the Speaker’s 

23 Task Force on El Salvador in investigating the mur24 ders of the 6 priests and 2 laywomen; 

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1 (7) acknowledges the role played by the Speak2 er’s Task Force on El Salvador, Representative 

3 John Joseph Moakley, the Jesuit leadership of the 

4 UCA, and the Salvadoran judicial investigation and 

5 convictions in advancing negotiations to end the war, 

6 such that the deaths of the Jesuit martyrs and 

7 laywomen contributed directly to achieving the peace 

8 to which they had dedicated their lives; 

9 (8) calls upon the people of the United States, 

10 academic institutions, and religious congregations to 

11 participate in local, national, and international 

12 events commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 

13 martyrdom of the 6 Jesuit priests and 2 laywomen; 

14 (9) recognizes that, while significant progress 

15 has been made during the post-war period, social 

16 and economic hardships persist among many sectors 

17 of Salvadoran society; and 

18 (10) calls upon the President, the Secretary of 

19 State, the Administrator of the United States Agen20 cy for International Development, and other Federal 

21 departments and agencies to support and collaborate 

22 with the Government of El Salvador and other pub23 lic, private, nongovernmental, and religious organiza24 tions in efforts to reduce poverty and hunger and to 

25 promote educational opportunity, human rights, the 

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1 rule of law, and social equity for the people of El 

2 Salvador. 

Æ 

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