FRONTLINES IGNATIAN HERITAGE MONTH
Carrying on the social justice legacy of the Salvadoran martyrs
L
ast year marked the 25th an- niversary of the martyrdom of six Jesuit priests and two others who were assassinat- ed in El Salvador for speaking out against the government and advocating for the poor. After last November’s anni- versary, Michael J. Garanzini, S.J., then president of Loyola, proposed that the Univer-
sity do something to not only remember the Salvadoran martyrs but also highlight modern- day advocates for social justice who carry on the martyrs’ legacy. From that idea came Loyola’s new Martyrs
Award, an honor that keeps the memory and mission of the Salvadoran martyrs alive by rec- ognizing a faith-based organization committed to social justice. The inaugural Martyrs Award was presented November 16—the 26th anni- versary of the martyrs’ death—to the Interfaith Committee for Detained Immigrants (ICDI), a Chicago nonprofit that helps those caught in the immigration detention process. Sister JoAnn Persch (MRE ’71), executive
director and cofounder of ICDI, accepted the award, which includes a $25,000 grant. Winning an award in commemoration of the Salvadoran martyrs has personal meaning to Persch, who met Amando López Quintana, S.J., one of the six Jesuits slain in 1989, while on a delegation in El Salvador. “He was such a peaceful man, but you could see the courage he had,” she says. ICDI reflects the courage and commitment to
serving people who are marginalized that the Martyrs Award represents. The vision behind ICDI started in January 2007 when Persch and Sister Pat Murphy, the group’s other co-founder, stood outside the Broadview Immigration Stag- ing Center with an immigration case lawyer to support immigrants being deported that day. Nearly nine years later, volunteers from the
ICDI still visit Broadview every Friday from 5 to 10 a.m. to pray on buses filled with those being deported, support families who are saying
Sr. JoAnn Persch, RSM (MRE ‘71) PHOTO BY NATALIE BATTAGLIA
goodbye to loved ones, and act as witnesses to the injustices of the immigration system. The or- ganization’s staff and volunteers also offer prison visitation services, a court watch program, and a post-detention accompaniment network that helps people who are released from Broadview.
While the ICDI does not have any formal plans
yet for the award grant, Persch says the money could help the organization rent space to house people who are released from detainment or prison with nowhere to go and no family to ask for help. L
6 LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO
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