Serrano's Easter return a sign of hope for church in El Salvador
Episcopal News Service. May 10, 1990 [90030_Z]
Kevin Pearson
"Aleluya, Cristo ha resucitado!" ("Alleluia, Christ is risen"), proclaimed the Rev. Luis Serrano before 400 of El Salvador's poor who wedged themselves into the radiant Church of St. John the Evangelist on Easter morning.
I could palpably feel the resurrection hope offered up in response as the church shook to the lively Salvadoran beat, provided by a choir of four, string-playing campesinos (peasants). "Que Alegria" ("What Happiness"), sang the congregation, while Serrano processed slowly through their midst. The return of their priest rekindled a hope for peace in their war-shattered lives.St. John's is a modern, sun-filled structure adorned in the florid colors of Salvadoran hand paintings. The people in their Sunday best added to the blaze of color, and all spoke a resounding "Aleluya!"
While church workers watched at the windows to ensure safety, Serrano moved to the microphone to deliver the Easter homily. "This is a very emotional time -- a very special day...and all of you know why," Serrano told the hushed congregation.
"We are a family," proclaimed Padre Luis, as he is affectionately known. "Brothers and sisters, we are a family with God as our Father. Why are we killing each other? We are brothers and sisters!"
Serrano was arrested and jailed on November 20, 1989, along with 17 other church workers a week after the government opposition movement, the FMLN, began a military offensive, and just four days after six Jesuits and two women were murdered. Serrano, who spent 45 days in jail, was interrogated about his ministry among El Salvador's poor. He faced charges that he knew a guerrilla truck was loaded with arms on church property. His release in January after international protests was followed by four months of voluntary exile.
During the Easter liturgy, Serrano communicated the greetings and deepest concerns of the Anglican Communion as expressed by Primates Peers of Canada, Tutu of Southern Africa, Browning of the United States, and Runcie of Canterbury.
"Thank you for bringing Padre Luis back home to us -- and for the solidarity you bring," an elderly campesina told us. The symbolism of our ecumenical delegation, which included Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Evangelical traditions, seemed particularly relevant in this nation where a strong ecumenical spirit abounds.
After baptisms and Communion, the spirit of community spilled out into the churchyard where the people shared an Easter meal. While the band continued to seranade the crowd, tamales and juice were distributed, and all feasted on this day of deep emotion. The people shared their own stories of the cross and resurrection that heightened the Easter story.
"We have been displaced, once by the earthquake, and again by the war," said a shy and saddened father. "I have four children, and we were without a home; the church gave us a place."
"My daughter disappeared," recounted an elderly woman as she wept. "Since then, I have tried to raise my granddaughter. My husband and son were killed in the war. And I'm too old to raise her alone."
The tales went on as long as one could bear to listen and were, a striking contrast to the liturgy that had just ended. In El Salvador, resurrection is a bright glimmer that ekes through fractured lives offering courage for the next step in the struggle.
Life for the vast majority in El Salvador is a perpetual embodiment of the stations of the cross. The very language of the land's theology -- language of liberation -- suggests tension and struggle.
I have always found among those struggling near the precipice of death an unmatched vitality. Salvador's poorest are no exception. There, it is difficult to separate resurrection from the via crucis (the way of the cross).
With a dream of the kingdom of God in their hearts, the people struggle against great odds for their most basic needs of food, health, dignity, and self-determination
In a homily before lay church workers, Salvadoran Lutheran Bishop Medardo Gomez recounted the events of Christ's life that we relived during Holy Week. Gomez declared, "This story is incarnate in our country. There are people who want to stop your ministry. They want to kill you. But remember...there is resurrection. We have an example of that in the return of our brother, Luis Serrano."