Archdiocese, Salvadorans in L.A. Deplore Slayings

Members of Los Angeles’ large Salvadoran community and their supporters are flooding community centers and churches with offers to donate blood, raise funds or participate in public protests.

“There’s a lot of outrage in the community because of the indiscriminate (government) bombing against civilians,” said Carolina Castaneda, a coordinator with the Central American Refugee Committee and a Salvadoran refugee herself. “The outrage has been magnified by the massacre of the priests.”

The killings Thursday of six Jesuit priests, including the renowned rector and vice rector of San Salvador’s leading Catholic university, followed a week of escalating combat between government and guerrilla forces.

“People are angry. They are very angry,” said Castaneda.

Some of the estimated 350,000 Salvadorans in Los Angeles have participated in protests against the war this week in front of the Salvadoran Consulate near MacArthur Park. Another community demonstration against the escalating violence is planned for Saturday at MacArthur Park, the heart of Los Angeles’ Central American community.

Los Angeles Archbishop Roger M. Mahony said Thursday that the “tragic slaughter” of the Jesuit priests “signals a new, ominous chapter in this country which has already experienced such suffering.”

“Innocent people continue to be the victims caught between the differing ideologies of the government and the guerrillas. . . , “ Mahony said.

A Mass in memory of the slain priests was held Thursday night at Our Lady Queen of Angels, the downtown Catholic church that is also known as La Placita.

The murders stunned the dozen or more human rights, peace activists and relief groups in Los Angeles that all week have been mobilizing to send aid and medical supplies to the Salvadoran people.

“It’s like our worst fears being realized,” said Father Don W. Lewis, rector of St. Edmond’s Episcopal Church in San Marino.