Dear Church Family,
Saint Peters Mission Ministry
Presiding Bishop sends letter of solidarity to Episcopal Bishop of El Salvador
Which Expresses Continued Support for Cristosal’s human rights work.
[Episcopal News Service] Presiding Bishop Michael Curry sent a letter expressing The Episcopal Church’s solidarity with the Anglican-Episcopal Church in El Salvador as political unrest fueled by the president’s continued consolidation of power threatens democracy and rule of law in the Central American country.
El Salvador’s legislative assembly voted earlier this month to remove the country’s supreme court and its attorney general, furthering a move by the country’s President Nayib Bukele, who took office in 2019, to consolidate power for his popular New Ideas party.
“Our fear is that just as they did it with the supreme court it’s going to happen to other government institutions, and we consider it a test of democracy in El Salvador … It’s a hard political moment for us right now,” “You have experienced firsthand the pain of violence and oppression and have chosen to reflect the love of God in a world that is in great need of that witness. In our Anglican tradition, we promise to ‘seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves, and to strive for justice and peace among all people, respecting the dignity of every human being.’ We see these same ideals lifted up in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. … We continue in solidarity with you in the mission and ministry of the Iglesia Episcopal Anglicana de El Salvador, and the larger Iglesia Anglicana de la Región Central de América,” Curry said.
In his letter, Curry also called out specifically the work of Cristosal, whose executive director Noah Bullock has lived in El Salvador and worked for the advancement of human rights there for over a decade. Bullock also is an Episcopal Church-appointed missionary. “
“Human rights work in El Salvador has always been deeply connected to a concept of human rights and dignity that comes from the biblical readings. That’s the origin of the human rights movement in Central America and in El Salvador, specifically,” Bullock told ENS. “Defense of human rights is an integral part of the church’s work in this country. It should be said that democracy here is not an abstraction. When democratic governments were installed in Central America, it put an end to the worst period of human rights atrocities in modern times on the American continent.
“Democratic governance and the democratic institutions are guarantees of human life, and if they’re undermined and weakened those protections are lost for Central Americans… That’s where our work is rooted, and the inspiration for that work has always come from the church … The best way for us to keep ourselves safe is to counter the increasingly hostile public narrative against human rights organizations and to make visible the almost universal support our cause has around the world. It puts a spotlight on us to keep us safe.”