Ellacuria 101
By Ron Leonhardt
Ellacuria is a small community in northern El Salvador, named after Father Ignacio Ellacuria who was martyred in 1989, along with other Jesuits and their staff. After the civil war in the country, Ellacuria was repopulated by refugees who had fled to Honduras. The violence led Good Shepherd to adopt Ellacuria as a sister parish.
The Ellacuria ministry is dedicated to building people-to-people relationships. Besides funding projects, such as the building of a church and a water storage tank and purchasing a new corn mill, the ministry focuses on getting to know the people. We have hosted Ellacuria residents and have had numerous delegations visit Ellacuria, the last in 2019. The ministry encourages parishioners to be involved through prayer, purchasing Fair Trade Sale products, visiting Ellacuria, and joining the committee which needs new members to sustain its work.