The COAR (Community of Oscar A. Romero) Peace Mission marked its 45th anniversary with a Mass and benefit fundraiser April 26 at the Center for Pastoral Leadership in Wickliffe. The event included Mass, heavy hors d’oeuvres, raffle baskets, information about COAR and the presentation of three awards for St. Oscar Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, Sister Dorothy Kazel, OSU and Jean Donovan. All three were killed during the civil war. The two women were from the diocese and were working as missionaries in El Salvador when they were killed on Dec. 2, 1980.
Established in 1980, COAR originally was a war orphanage for children who lost their parents in El Salvador’s civil war, which lasted from 1979 to 1992. The Diocese of Cleveland, in response to Pope John XXIII’s call to spread the kingdom of Christ to the poor in El Salvador, established the Cleveland Latin American Mission, known as CLAM, in 1964. Dozens of priests, religious sisters and lay people embraced the missionary work and spent time there. The mission’s work became even more important when the civil war broke out.
(See photo gallery above.)
Mary Stevenson, COAR executive director, said the time was right to celebrate the work of the mission, its missionaries and the children and families who benefited from it.
The evening began with a Mass celebrated by Father Jeff Barnish in Mary, Mother of the Good Shepherd Chapel. Father Barnish, who is assigned to Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Philosophy, is the brother of Susan Barnish Dinehart, COAR programs director.
“I’ve never been to COAR. My connection is that I’m Susan’s younger brother,” he said. “But you don’t have to have been to COAR or to have hugged the children to be involved in their lives, to have a kinship with them. We may not have a personal connection to them, but we know someone who does.”
Father Barnish said the mission evolved from the call to missionary discipleship. He recalled the late Pope Francis referring to the Church as a field hospital that needs to heal wounds from the ground up, something CLAM and COAR do daily.
“We need to be able to go into the darkness without getting lost. Sister Dorothy and Jean Donovan did that. They took care of the needs of refugees first,” he said, connecting their work to Divine Mercy Sunday, which was observed last weekend.
Although he never met the churchwomen, he is familiar with their work and said he admired their dedication. They encountered misery as they ministered courageously to the poor and suffering in El Salvador, he said.
Concelebrating the liturgy were Father Bob Sanson, a longtime supporter of CLAM, and Father Andy Turner, president/rector of Borromeo and Saint Mary seminaries. Deacon Mark Janezic of St. Rita Parish and a longtime CLAM/COAR supporter, assisted.
Traditional Salvadoran items representing the bounty of El Salvador and North America were presented in the offertory procession, including corn and masa flour, the bread of El Salvador, sheaves of wheat, the bread of North America and flowers of El Salvador. Also presented were images of people who risked their lives while advocating for the safety of the children of El Salvador during the civil war and the early years of COAR: St. Romero, Sister Kazel, Donovan and Maryknoll Sisters Ita Ford and Maura Clark, Sister Rose Elizabeth Terrell, OSU, CLAM team member 2004-2014, Blessed Rutillo Grande and companions and the late Father Ken Myers, a classmate of Father Sanson.
After Mass, the group moved to the Founders’ Room for the celebration. Stevenson presented a history of COAR and talked about how it provides a safe haven for children. The village is located on 80 acres of property in the Archdiocese of San Salvador. Its mission has shifted over the years from a war orphanage to a safe haven providing foster care for 30-50 children and teens who were rescued from abuse. COAR also educates them and other students in grades PreK to grade 12, as well as providing other services to impoverished children. It is administered by the archdiocese.
“Your gifts tonight help us to provide the $450,000 annually that the children need for food, shelter, medicine, special services, housemothers, teachers and everything it takes to raise children who are secure, loving and resilient so they can take their place as peaceful, joyful, productive adults and parents,” Stevenson said.
She shared stories of some COAR students who arrived traumatized and how the village helped them heal.
During the program, Stevenson presented the award for St. Romero to Bishop Edward Malesic (Diocese of Cleveland), for Sister Kazel to Sister Terrell and for Donovan to her friends Rita Dowd Mikolajczyk and Mary Fran Ehlinger and her cousin, Meg McGarry.
Bishop Malesic talked about his connection to St. Romero, noting his photo was in the robing room at his previous diocese when he served as bishop of Greensburg, Pennsylvania. That connection was strengthened when Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Cleveland in 2020 and he had the opportunity to visit the diocesan mission in El Salvador twice.
He recalled celebrating Mass at the altar where St. Romero was killed while celebrating Mass on March 24, 1980. An unconsecrated host fell to the floor as he celebrated Mass. The bishop said he later learned that it landed on the spot where St. Romero’s body fell after he was shot.
“That host somehow mingled with his blood and later was consecrated with the body and blood of Christ,” he added.
The bishop also talked about how much he enjoyed his visits to the mission and COAR, specifically mentioning the warmth and happiness of the children.
“I am happy to accept this award on behalf of St. Romero and the diocese,” he said.
Sister Terrell shared information about Sister Kazel, who entered the Ursuline congregation a year before her. “Everyone loved her … She was always smiling … She planted the seeds of faith, sharing her love of God and justice for everyone. Those seeds continue to be watered and cared for by the CLAM team, parishes in the diocese and others,” Sister Terrell added.
Donovan, a lay woman who served as a missionary in El Salvador, was remembered by her friends Mikolajczyk and Ehlinger, and her cousin McGarry.
“If she’s a saint now, it’s because of how she lived, not how she died,” Mikolajczyk said.
Ehlinger said she was pleased to accept the award “on behalf of my best friend,” who she described as “an alleluia woman” and a woman of hope.
McGarry said her late cousin “partied hard, prayed hard and served hard. Although I never met her, Jean burst into my life on Dec. 2, 1980. I got a call saying, ‘Meg, we have a martyr in the family.’ Jean got into my life and she never left.”
Several times Donovan thought about leaving her mission work in El Salvador, McGarry said, referring to journal entries written by Donovan. “I could have, except for the children. Who would have cared for them?” she asked.
For more information about COAR, click here, and click here to learn more about CLAM.