Marquette People Making A Difference

[keefe]

The photo of the contemporary Jes Res made me think of the many Jesuits I have known since I first arrived at Georgetown Prep. One name from Marquette is Fr. Peter Marchetti. I have always had questions about Liberation Theology not as a proper role for the Church, which I support whole heartedly, but where is the line for clerical activists.

In the '80's the Church was divided on this issue as photos were coming out of Central America of priests carrying weapons. Fr. Marchetti taught Theology at Marquette and I found him to be one of the most charismatic, focused, and passionate advocates of the Church taking an activist role in promoting social justice in the developing world. In particular he has championed the land rights of the campesinos with a specific emphasis on access to food against the vested interests of the state and latifundia.

Marchetti could have chosen a very different path; his PhD from Yale and excellence in research guaranteed a comfortable academic existence. But you could see Peter wasn't built to just research and teach. His fervent belief was that the Church is morally obligated to support agrarian reform for its faithful throughout the developing world. Social Justice encompasses much more than providing spiritual support.

Marchetti left Marquette in the '80's and has crusaded for agrarian reform throughout Latin America. He actually held political office until the Vatican got fed up with all the Jesuits involved in temporal governance and ordered them all to resign from office. I have not always agreed with his politics - I do not think one can be both a Jesuit and a Marxist - but Peter is far more clever than I and would argue successfully that his brand of activism is theological and not political. 

He is still in Central America, focusing his efforts on micro finance initiatives. Drug Lords have placed bounties on his head, and he has earned the enmity of both the right wing Suazo regime and the Sandinistas. It was through the actions taken against him that I realized that Peter is indeed apolitical. I am privileged to have studied with Peter Marchetti and humbled to know he is still undertaking Christ's work for the poor and desperate. He truly embodies the Jesuit tradition of service.


http://natcath.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2001d/101201/101201e.htm

http://www.sjweb.info/sjs/headlines/blogshow.cfm?PubTextID=26&pubid=32

http://www.iadb.org/micamericas/section/detail.cfm?language=English&id=4242&sectionID=leadr