Religious Leaders Put U.S. Secretary of State on Alert
Episcopal News Service. January 25, 1990 [90014]
WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 -- An ecumenical and interfaith delegation of nine religious leaders put Secretary of State James Baker, III, on the alert that they "would be watching" to make sure the U.S. government keeps faith with their own efforts to end religious persecution in El Salvador and to secure a peaceful resolution to the violence in that war-torn nation.
The 35-minute meeting with Baker, described by one of the participants as "a very productive meeting," came just before Congress reconvenes next week and at a time when political observers on Capitol Hill insist that continued American aid to El Salvador may be in trouble. The subject of U.S. aid to El Salvador is likely to provoke fierce debate due to the recent harassment of churches, including the alleged involvement of soldiers in the murder of six Jesuit priests and two women last fall.
The religious leaders warned Baker that U.S. aid to El Salvador must be connected to human rights improvements. "I don't think military aid is the way towards peace in El Salvador," said Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning of the Episcopal Church in an interview following the meeting. "The way towards peace is human rights," Browning said.
"We have no effect on the government of El Salvador if aid is automatic," said Rabbi David Saperstein who represented the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.
Secretary Baker maintained that the Bush administration is firmly on record in support of dialogue and negotiations and has consistently encouraged the Cristiani government in that direction. "The alternative to a negotiated solution," he said, "is more bloodshed and violence."
"We told the secretary that we were happy that most of our church workers in El Salvador have now been released from detention, but I told him that some fundamental concerns remain," said Browning. He added that he was convinced a letter from Baker to Salvadoran President Alfredo Cristiani in early December had helped to secure the release of detained church workers. However, Browning reported that "church workers still have tremendous fear and anxiety that severe harassment will flare up again."
"While things in general are improving, there is still a climate of pervasive fear and tension," said Dr. Daniel Weiss, General Secretary of the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A.
Browning presented the secretary with evidence documenting harassment of the church in El Salvador in recent months. The document, which was compiled by religious and human rights organizations, chronicled 54 searches of 40 different facilities and homes of church workers by Salvadoran military and security forces. The church leaders pointed out that many Christians continue to feel endangered and demoralized in the midst of such invasions of privacy.
The meeting with Secretary Baker represents the latest in a persistent struggle on the part of church leaders to bring pressure on the U.S. and Salvadoran governments for a solution to the turmoil in El Salvador. The church leaders signed a statement on November 29 expressing "outrage over the deliberate and calculated campaign by government forces in El Salvador to intimidate and harass the churches in that country." The statement said the U.S. government had failed to bring about any change in the behavior of the Salvadoran government.
Presiding Bishop Browning has repeatedly called for "a reassessment of our government's policy in Latin America from top to bottom." The National Council of Churches (NCC) launched a human rights campaign to call attention to the harassment of church workers, culminating in ecumenical services across the nation on January 21. The NCC also asked members of its constituent denominations to contact congressional representatives seeking to "guarantee safety and immediate freedom for imprisoned church workers" and to work for a negotiated settlement to the civil war and an end to military assistance.
The religious leaders sought assurances that the U.S. government would try to pressure the Salvadoran government to make restitution of church assets and property necessary to carry out humanitarian work, which have been seized or damaged during the escalation of violence. "I think Secretary Baker heard our concerns in this area, and we are hopeful that there will be some positive action from the State Department as a result," Browning said.
The delegation insisted that the crisis in El Salvador has hampered the mission of the church. "There seems to be a misunderstanding of, or an unwillingness to understand, the mission of the churches: to feed the hungry, to help the uprooted, to resettle the refugees. . .," said Weiss. Such activities, central to the churches' ministry, are interpreted in El Salvador as "political acts," he said.
"Religious workers should be able to carry out their work in El Salvador," said Herbert Chilstrom, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Browning sharply criticized assertions being circulated that churches and humanitarian organizations serve as a front for the FMLN, an opposition political party in El Salvador. "We're not in El Salvador to support political parties," said Browning. "We are there to carry out the mission of the church -- to work with the poor in every way to improve their lives."
Delegation of religious leaders who met with Secretary of State James Baker, III:
- The Most Rev. Edmond L. Browning, Presiding Bishop and Primate, The Episcopal Church
- The Rev. Herbert Chilstrom, Presiding Bishop, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
- James A. Hamilton, General Secretary, National Council of Churches
- The Rev. Donald E. Miller, General Secretary, Church of the Brethren
- Rabbi David Saperstein, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Union of American Hebrew Congregations
- The Rev. Dr. Gordon Sommers, President, The Moravian Church in America
- The Rev. Melvin G. Talbert, Bishop, The United Methodist Church
- Dr. Daniel Weiss, General Secretary, American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A.
- John Carr, Secretary of the Department of Social Development and World Peace, U.S. Catholic Conference