Seattle U. remembers political murder of 6 priests and 2 others in El Salvador

Seattle University commemorated the Nov. 16 20th anniversary of the grisly political assassination of six Catholic priests, their housekeeper and her high school-age daughter by forces of a military-backed government in El Salvador. The murders provoked worldwide outrage at the U.S.-backed regime that was engaged in a civil war at the time.

The murdered priests were all members of the Catholic Church's Jesuit order; Seattle University, a Jesuit school, is one of many universities and institutions in this country and elsewhere holding commemorations. The government in El Salvador at the time regarded the Jesuits as subversives for urging a negotiated end to the conflict. El Salvador's current president, Mauricio Funes, recently said the country would award the victims the country's highest honor. A large-scale vigil was held in El Salvador over night (BBC pictures here).

Some of the soldiers involved in the murders had received training at the