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The Church in the Face of Human Rights Violations

The author Francisco Goldman will give a talk in the chaplaincy about the role of the Catholic Church in the defence of human rights in Guatemala.

Goldman's book, "The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed Bishop Gerardi?", is an investigation of the life and death of Juan José Gerardi Conedera, Archbishop of Guatemala. Mons. Gerardi was Bishop of El Quiche at a time of armed conflict in which thousands of Guatemalans, the majority of Mayan ethnicity, were killed or displaced, including hundreds of catechists. Mons. Gerardi was an indefatigable defender of victims of internal war.

Mons Gerardi and the conference of Bishops of Guatemala commissioned the Report on Historical Memory (REMHI), the first of two reports on human rights violations in the war. Two days after its publication on 26 April 1998, Bishop Gerardo was assassinated.

Francisco Goldman is an award winning journalist and novelist of US-Guatemalan extraction. "The Art of Political Murder" deals with the life story of a courageous and much loved man, and of the team of investigators who eventually secured justice following his death.

At a time in which human rights are eroded the world over, this is an opportunity to discuss the role of the Church and of Christian action in the face of injustice.

Francisco Goldman's "The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed Bishop Gerardi" was short-listed for the first ever Warwick Prize for Writing. For more information, visit the Prize for Writing website.

At a Glance
Date: Thursday 11 March 2010
Time: 3:15pm
Location: Chaplaincy
Open To: Everyone
Cost: Free
Summary: Francisco Goldman talks about the role of the Catholic Church in the defence of human rights in Guatemala.