The Same Fate As the Poor

By Judith M. Noone

Book Overview

The Same Fate as the Poor is the inspiring account of the lives of three Maryknoll Sisters who made the "option for the poor" and paid the ultimate price. In December 1980, Ita Ford and Maura Clark were two of the four churchwomen ambushed and killed by National Guard troops in El Salvador. Only a few months before, Ita Ford's best friend, Carla Piette, was drowned in a flash flood. The loss of these three lives was made more devastating by media furor and political backlash that followed the December murders.

This new edition of The Same Fate as the Poor celebrates the lives of these women. It now includes excerpts from the report of the United Nations Truth Commission that proved without a doubt the culpability of the Salvadoran government in the deaths of Ita Ford, Maura Clarke, Jean Donovan, and Dorothy Kazel.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1570750319
• ISBN13: 9781570750311
• Release Date: May 1996
• Publisher: Orbis Books
• Length: 170 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Those who make an option for the poor must be prepared to share the same fate as the poor.

The UN Truth Commission lays the martyrdom of these four holy US Churchwomen at the hands of the right wing Salvadoran dictatorship and by extension its US sponsors and advisors. Tellingly the US government never brought to justice the torturers, rapists and killers of our fellow Americans. Ragically as well the Catholic Church has not yet canonized these certain saints, confessors of the Faith and martyrs. This revised edition now includes the UN report, as well as the consoling and helpful meditations of Sr. Noone. Please receive this volume gratefully and meditate on our own failings, our national failings and the way we have to go as Church and as individuals towards taking the same option with the Poor of God.

Suffering the same fate as the poor in El Salvador

I can't believe no one has reviewed this book yet. It's an excellent book and will stir up your emotions everytime you read it. I've read this book about three times and each time, it makes me want to cry, makes me want to work for social justice. The title is from a homily from Archbishop Oscar Romero that said that those who work with the poor must ultimately suffer the same fate as the poor (which in El Salvador meant being killed, disappearing, etc). And this is exactly what Oscar Romero and these four churchwomen did. They gave their lives for the poor and this book tells their story. While I'm interested in Maryknoll as well as in Latin American History, I would recommend this book to anyone.