armoe 5

Allow me, I said at Louvain... 

to speak for my people’s poor, as their representative... 

and explain briefly the circumstances and the activity of our church in the world where we live. 

I went on to tell them of what is happening, to our church here in El Salvador, and what we are doing.

First, we become incarnate among the poor. 

We want a church that is really side by side with the poor, with the people of El Salvador. And as we draw near to the poor, we find we are gradually uncovering the genuine face of the Suffering Servant of Yahweh. We are getting to know closer at hand the mystery of the Christ who becomes human and becomes poor for us.

What else does the church do here? 

It proclaims the good news to the poor, I said.

I do not mean this in the demagogic sense of shutting the door on others. On the contrary. I do mean that those who have for centuries listened to bad news, and lived even worse realities, are now hearing from the church the word of Jesus: “The reign of God is near. It is yours! Blessed are you poor, for the reign of God is yours.” 

Hence the church has good news to proclaim to the rich as well. 

They are to turn to the poor... 

and thus share with them in the riches of God’s reign... 

that belong to the poor.

Another thing that the church does in El Salvador, I said... 

is its commitment to defend the poor. 

The poor masses of our land find in the church the voice of Israel’s prophets. There are among us those who sell the just for money and the poor for a pair of sandals, as the prophets said. 

There are those who pile up spoils and plunder in their palaces, who crush the poor, who bring on a reign of violence while reclining on beds of ivory, who join house to house and field to field, so as to take up all there is and remain alone in the land.

These texts of the prophets [Amos 6:3-4, Isaiah 5:8] are not distant voices that we read with reverence in our liturgy. They are daily realities, whose cruelty and vehemence we live each day.

And therefore, I told them, the church suffers the fate of the poor. 

Which is persecution. 

Our church glories that it has mingled the blood of its priests, its catechists, and its communities with that of the massacred people and has continually borne the mark of persecution. 

Because it disquiets [verontrust]... 

it is slandered... 

and its voice crying against injustice... 

is disregarded.

[17.2.1980]