Countywide : Catholic Leaders Joining in Protests

Until recently, taking part in a demonstration against anything, let alone U.S. military aid to El Salvador, would have been unthinkable for Father Christopher Smith, the Orange County Catholic Diocese’s top official for religious education.

But that was before Smith, a native of Orange County, attended a seminar where it was suggested that he “take a step out of my comfort zone.”

“For me that was a challenge because it’s increasingly important for me to take a few more bolder steps to match the kind of things I preach and talk about,” Smith said.

Last week, Smith joined Sister Sandra Williams, coordinator for adult Latino programs for the diocese, and Sister Kristin Schlichte, director of Catholic Charities in Orange County, at a demonstration at the Federal Building in Los Angeles. It was their very first demonstration of any type for each of them, they said.

In recent months, church activists, lay people, and celebrities including actors Ed Asner and Martin Sheen, have increased their Wednesday vigils at the Federal Building. Los Angeles Archbishop Roger M. Mahony personally flew to San Salvador and delivered medical supplies to Salvadoran leaders of the Roman Catholic Church.

But the action last week by Smith, Williams and Schlichte represents the first time high-ranking Catholic leaders from Orange County have demonstrated in the El Salvador issue. For several hours, they marched and chanted anti-U.S. aid slogans.

Schlichte demonstrated for two reasons, she said. Her community, the Sisters of St. Louis, recently sent a nun to El Salvador, and Schlichte felt that it was important to make a statement against U.S. military aid to the country.

When the nun returned from El Salvador, she visited Schlichte and told her that the only difference between the Marxist-led guerrilla coalition and U.S.-backed government troops was that the guerrillas represented the poor.

“She told me that whether your child is killed by a right-wing bullet or a left-wing bullet, your child is just as dead,” Schlichte said.

“I have a very strong conviction that every American person shares in a culpability for the policy for the nation that we belong to,” Schlichte said. “I just didn’t want to be judged as a perpetrator of death. I couldn’t pass the buck and say, ‘It’s not me who is doing this, but my country’s government.’ ”