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El Salvador Educational Pilgrimage

El Salvador experienced a brutal civil war from 1980 to 1992.  Many of its victims were innocent civilians, including Archbishop Oscar Romero and the four United States missionary women.

In 1989, six Jesuits and two laywomen working at the Universidad Centroamerica (UCA) in El Salvador were brutally murdered as a result of the work of the Jesuits at the University.  They had written, talked, researched, and taught about the necessary connections between Catholic faith and social justice – not simply in theory but in the lived experience of the Salvadoran people. 

Although the civil war ended over two decades ago, many Salvadorans are still in the process of rebuilding their lives and communities.  Approximately 37% live beneath the poverty line and experience limited freedoms.

Since the time of the war, the UCA and its continuing work has been a place of inspiration and even pilgrimage for men and women involved in Jesuit education across the globe.   The University of Scranton carries on that tradition through a yearly educational pilgrimage for faculty and staff.

The pilgrimage puts people in direct contact with those who were oppressed during the time of the war and includes an overnight stay in a remote Salvadoran village.

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