What do you think?
Companions of Jesus: The Jesuit Martyrs of El Salvador
A haunting, prophetic collection of writings by the six Jesuit priests of the Central American University massacred by Salvadoran soldiers in November, 1989. In a moving memoir Jon Sobrino recalls years of work with each of the priests and celebrates the ideals they embodied.
180 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
About the author
Jon Sobrino
93 books35 followersJon Sobrino, S.J. is a Jesuit Catholic priest and theologian, known mostly for his contributions to liberation theology.
He received worldwide attention in 2007 when the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a Notification for what they see as doctrines which are "erroneous or dangerous and may cause harm to the faithful."
Life
Born into a Basque family in Barcelona, Sobrino entered the Jesuit Order when he was 18. The following year, in 1958, he was sent to El Salvador. He later studied engineering at St. Louis University, a Jesuit University, in the United States and then theology in Frankfurt in West Germany. Returning to El Salvador, he taught at the Jesuit-run University of Central America (UCA) in San Salvador, which he helped to found.
On November 16, 1989 he narrowly escaped being assassinated by the Atlacatl Battalion, an elite unit of the Salvadoran Army. By a coincidence, he was away from El Salvador when members of the military broke into the rectory at the UCA and brutally murdered his six fellow Jesuits, Ignacio Ellacuría, Segundo Montes, Juan Ramón Moreno, Ignacio Martin Baro, Amando López, and Joaquín López y López, and their housekeeper Elba Ramos and her 15-year old daughter Celina Ramos. The Jesuits were targeted for their outspoken work to bring about resolution to the brutal El Salvador Civil War that left about 75,000 men, women, and children dead, in the great majority civilians.
Investigated by the Vatican throughout his career as a professor of theology, he has remained an outspoken proponent of peace, joining protests in 2008 of the continued training of Latin American military officers in torture techniques at the School of the Americas at Fort Benning, GA.
Works
Sobrino's main works are Jesus the Liberator (1991) and its sequel, Christ the Liberator (1999), along with Christology at the Crossroads (1978), The True Church and the Poor (1984), Spirituality of Liberation (1990), The Principle of Mercy: Taking the Crucified People from the Cross (Orbis, 1994), No Salvation Outside the Poor: Prophetic-Utopian Essays (Orbis, 2008). See also Stephen J. Pope (ed), Hope and Solidarity: Jon Sobrino's Challenge to Christian Theology (Orbis, 2008).
He received worldwide attention in 2007 when the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a Notification for what they see as doctrines which are "erroneous or dangerous and may cause harm to the faithful."
Life
Born into a Basque family in Barcelona, Sobrino entered the Jesuit Order when he was 18. The following year, in 1958, he was sent to El Salvador. He later studied engineering at St. Louis University, a Jesuit University, in the United States and then theology in Frankfurt in West Germany. Returning to El Salvador, he taught at the Jesuit-run University of Central America (UCA) in San Salvador, which he helped to found.
On November 16, 1989 he narrowly escaped being assassinated by the Atlacatl Battalion, an elite unit of the Salvadoran Army. By a coincidence, he was away from El Salvador when members of the military broke into the rectory at the UCA and brutally murdered his six fellow Jesuits, Ignacio Ellacuría, Segundo Montes, Juan Ramón Moreno, Ignacio Martin Baro, Amando López, and Joaquín López y López, and their housekeeper Elba Ramos and her 15-year old daughter Celina Ramos. The Jesuits were targeted for their outspoken work to bring about resolution to the brutal El Salvador Civil War that left about 75,000 men, women, and children dead, in the great majority civilians.
Investigated by the Vatican throughout his career as a professor of theology, he has remained an outspoken proponent of peace, joining protests in 2008 of the continued training of Latin American military officers in torture techniques at the School of the Americas at Fort Benning, GA.
Works
Sobrino's main works are Jesus the Liberator (1991) and its sequel, Christ the Liberator (1999), along with Christology at the Crossroads (1978), The True Church and the Poor (1984), Spirituality of Liberation (1990), The Principle of Mercy: Taking the Crucified People from the Cross (Orbis, 1994), No Salvation Outside the Poor: Prophetic-Utopian Essays (Orbis, 2008). See also Stephen J. Pope (ed), Hope and Solidarity: Jon Sobrino's Challenge to Christian Theology (Orbis, 2008).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 1, 2020
A couple of the chapters at the end feel like fillers to make the book longer, but overall this book is very interesting and very informative
July 29, 2021
So much good in this little book. A fair bit of it can probably be found elsewhere, but to have it all collected together - including brief biographies of the Salvadoran Martyrs - really amplifies the message.
September 26, 2011
Sometimes when we think of martyrs, we picture individuals who are far removed from ordinary people, people who are sort of superhuman, making their sacrifices seem both natural and impossible to emulate. Sobrino does a great job of lovingly portraying his martyred brothers as men of faith and action who were also very human and imperfect.
Sometimes Sobrino's writing is a bit dry for me, even though I enjoy his message. The articles written by Ellacuria and Martin-Baro, as well as the interviews with the other priests, not only offer insight into the minds of the martyrs, but also provide a nice respite from Sobrino's denser style.
As a recent convert to Christianity, I still find that some theological discussions are somewhat foreign to me. Sobrino presents his arguments in a simple enough manner that I can follow his reasoning, yet he does not come across as simplistic or unnecessarily didactic.
Sometimes Sobrino's writing is a bit dry for me, even though I enjoy his message. The articles written by Ellacuria and Martin-Baro, as well as the interviews with the other priests, not only offer insight into the minds of the martyrs, but also provide a nice respite from Sobrino's denser style.
As a recent convert to Christianity, I still find that some theological discussions are somewhat foreign to me. Sobrino presents his arguments in a simple enough manner that I can follow his reasoning, yet he does not come across as simplistic or unnecessarily didactic.
July 30, 2017
This portrait of the slain Jesuits of El Salvador and two women, seasoned with writings from their own hands, gives a stirring account of the faith that these men lived and died by. Whatever you theological persuasion, read this text with an open mind and heart and you will come away with a deeper felt interior knowledge of how and why the martyrs of the UCA gave their lives for the poor.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews