News Release #316

Released to Media on April 16, 1999

New Ulm – Bishop Raymond A. Lucker of the Catholic Diocese of New Ulm, Minnesota, has been invited by three international organizations to be present at the commemoration of the assassination of Bishop Juan José Gerardi, formerly the auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Guatemala. In solidarity with the rural Mayans of Guatemala, Bishop Lucker agreed to send his personal delegate, Reverend Anthony Stubeda to participate in the commemorative activities marking the first anniversary of the martyrdom of Bishop Gerardi.

Bishop Gerardi was bludgeoned to death on April 26, 1998, two days after the public presentation of the final report of an interdiocesan project, "Recovery of the Historical Memory." The report, Guatemala: Never Again! contained four volumes of over 6000 testimonies from victims and perpetrators of human rights abuses in Guatemala over the past 40 years. One year after the brutal assassination of Bishop Gerardi no one has yet been brought to justice and there has been very little progress on his case. According to EPICA (Ecumenical Program on Central America and the Caribbean), witnesses have been intimidated, evidence has been destroyed, and the most important leads related to a possible political motivation for the crime have not even been pursued. EPICA is calling for international outcry over the handling of Bishop Gerardi’s case.

The Diocese of New Ulm has had an active presence in the Mayan communities of the rural highlands of Guatemala for 30 years. The parish of San Lucas, Toliman and 20 surrounding communities have been a mission of the New Ulm diocese where diocesan priests, religious women, and thousands of volunteers have strived to relieve the immediate effects of poverty and its underlying causes. Pastors of San Lucas have experienced first hand the reality of death squads, kidnappings, tortures, and murders during their service to the people of Guatemala.

In his letter to Bishop Rios of the Archdiocese of Guatemala, Lucker expressed his deep solidarity with the Catholic leaders and the people of Guatemala during this commemorative anniversary. "During the year I have closely followed the story of Bishop Gerardi’s death in the daily press and discussed with Father Gregory Schaffer, pastor of San Lucas parish in Guatemala, the unbelievable way in which the police and government officials have handled this investigation. I pray with you for the healing of the terrible wounds which have been suffered by the people during the past forty years." Bishop Lucker’s representative, Reverend Anthony Stubeda, director of Hispanic Ministry for the New Ulm diocese, will participate in the assassination observance on behalf of the Bishop and the people of the New Ulm diocese. Bishop Lucker will travel to Guatemala in May to confer personally with Archbishop Penodos, Archbishop of Guatemala City and with Bishop Rios who succeeded Bishop Girardi in the Human Rights Office.

Reverend Stubeda directs the diocesan Migrant Ministry program, coordinates diocesan Hispanic programs and services, and founded the Crossroads of Friendship, a youth cultural exchange project. He has received national recognition, being twice elected president of the Catholic Migrant Farmworker Network. Recently, Stubeda served as a delegate to Rome for the Office of the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees of the United States Catholic Conference, Washington, D.C. He participated with 81 other countries in a synod devoted to the concerns of migrants and refugees as we approach the new millennium.

In March this year, The National Security Archive, a Washington-based, nonprofit group, released thousands of U.S. documents relating to Guatemala’s 36 year civil war, which ended with a 1996 U.N. negotiated peace settlement. The U.S. documents reveal Washington’s awareness of the Guatemalan military abuses against civilians and its policies to continue to support the ongoing conflict that killed 200,000 people. Recently President Clinton expressed regret for the U.S. role in Guatemala’s 36 year civil war, saying that Washington was "wrong" to have supported Guatemalan security forces in a brutal counterinsurgency campaign that slaughtered thousands of civilians.

President Clinton’s statements marked the first substantive comment from the administration since the National Security Archive commission reported that the U.S. backed security forces committed the vast majority of human rights abuses during the war killing thousands of rural Mayans.