A group of priests and deacons accompanied Bishop Edward Malesic on a five-day visit to El Salvador Sept. 11-16. In addition to a retreat, they observed the 60th anniversary of the diocesan mission in San Salvador.
“It was a memorable visit,” the bishop said.
Father Steve Vellenga, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Painesville and director of the diocesan Mission Office, was among those who made the trip with the bishop.
(See photo gallery above.)
The group spent time in the church where St. Oscar Romero was martyred while celebrating Mass on March 24, 1980, during the civil war in El Salvador. Bishop Malesic said it was very moving to say Mass at the same altar and to preach there.
He also blessed the Good Shepherd pectoral cross and other crosses that were placed on St. Romero’s tomb.
The retreat group also visited the Martyrs Chapel at the place where four churchwomen, including Sister Dorothy Kazel, OSU and lay missionary Jean Donovan from Cleveland, were martyred on Dec. 2, 1980, along with two Maryknoll sisters. They also saw the memorial monument at the location where the four women were buried hastily by Salvadorans.
The bishop said that event shook many, including those in the diocese who questioned whether the commitment to the Salvadoran mission should continue.
“But those who had served at the mission fell in love with the people and wanted to continue,” he said. Currently, two diocesan priests – Father Paul Schindler and Father John Ostrowski – minister at two parishes in La Libertad and Teotepeque and several other worship sites. They serve thousands of faithful, he added.
Another site visited was the COAR (Community of Oscar Romero) Peace Mission in Zaragoza, El Salvador. Founded in 1980, the mission includes the COAR Children’s Village, which provides a home for vulnerable children as well as a school, a clinic, pharmacy and other services for the community.
A highlight of the trip was the bishop celebrating the 60th anniversary Mass at the parish in La Libertad.
The retreat group also took a quick trip to see the Pacific Ocean.
On their last night in El Salvador, the Franciscan Sisters of Mercy hosted the group at their convent for a farewell dinner.
Bishop Malesic said the diocesan mission – known as the Cleveland Latin American Mission, or CLAM -- was established in 1964 to answer the call of St. Pope John XXIII to help spread the kingdom of Christ to the poor in El Salvador. Despite years of turmoil and civil war, the diocese maintained its presence in the area.