Episcopal Press and News
Church in El Salvador Is 'Living Between Hope and Fear'
Episcopal News Service. January 24, 1992 [92014]
Jeffrey Penn
The recent arrest and detainment of an Episcopal priest and death threats against members of the Salvadoran National Council of Churches reflect the dangerous climate in El Salvador before the UN-sponsored peace agreement is fully implemented.
"This is a very risky time," according to the Rev. Ricardo Potter, the Episcopal Church's partnership officer for Latin America and the Caribbean. "We have in El Salvador a very nervous church living between hope and fear as it awaits the implementation of the peace agreement."
On January 3, the Rev. Jose Ignacio Meza Rodezno, a priest of the Episcopal Church of El Salvador, was captured and jailed by the Salvadoran National Guard on charges that he was involved in guerrilla activity. Members of the Salvadoran council of churches received death threats after they denounced Meza's arrest and detainment. Meza was released on January 10 after a judge determined that there was insufficient evidence to hold him.
Potter said that the arrest and death threats confirmed his earlier assertion that the church may continue as a victim of harassment and persecution while the nation moves toward peace. "The church is always vulnerable because it is an institution of love and service, and it will continue to be pressured from all sides," he said.
The peace settlement, negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations, takes effect on February 1 with a formal cease-fire ending the 12-year civil war. Episcopal Church leaders and the leaders of other religious groups have pressed for an end to aid for both the Salvadoran government and the opposition rebels during the conflict that has claimed 75,000 lives.
"From the very beginning of the conflict, the church was the voice of reason, continually calling on all factions to lay down their arms and negotiate," Potter continued, "and now the people who do not sincerely want peace are blaming the church for the peace accord."
Potter also noted that Episcopalians in El Salvador are frustrated because they do not have a resident bishop. Although the Rev. Martin Barahona was elected bishop of El Salvador on September 7, 1991, his consecration is delayed until a majority of diocesan standing committees consent to the election. Potter reported that so far, fewer than 30 dioceses have responded.
"Many people in El Salvador have said, 'If we only had our bishop here, how different we would feel,"' Potter reported. "The church is [living] in expectancy for the presence of a new bishop to guide it in the difficult days ahead."