“We have gathered today to celebrate the Easter of our parish priest, friend, confidant, companion, Father Tojeira. Chema. He left suddenly, without warning. As the Gospel says: they call us when we least expect it. We have to have our bags packed, and I think he did in the end, defending the right to justice, the rights of the poor, of women, of the environment,” said Father Rodolfo Cardenal at the beginning of the first funeral Mass in El Salvador in honor of José María Tojeira Pelayo, a Spanish Jesuit priest and naturalized Salvadoran, academic, and former rector of the José Simeón Cañas Central American University (UCA).
The Central American province of the Society of Jesus announced his death in Guatemala City on September 5. He was there to give a lecture at Rafael Landívar University. “He passed away just before reaching the podium,” confirmed Father Cardenal. José María Tojeira, “Padre Chema,” as he was popularly known in El Salvador, was a religious figure well known for his constant denunciation of human rights violations that occurred in the country during the armed conflict and the postwar period. He was also known for promoting transitional justice, environmental protection, and his criticism of the religious and academic persecution initiated by the Daniel Ortega regime in Nicaragua, particularly its attack on the UCA in that country in 2023.
Tojeira arrived in Central America in 1969. He was assigned by the Society of Jesus to Honduras to support the religious community. He was parish priest of Sulaco between 1975 and 1976, and served as director of Radio Progreso between 1976 and 1980, where he did social work with campesino groups.
Father Tojeira had lived in El Salvador since 1985. He moved to the country to serve as superior of theology students at the Central American University and was appointed provincial of the Jesuits for Central America from 1988 to 1995. Following the on-campus assassination of the rector of the UCA, philosopher and Jesuit Ignacio Ellacuría; five other priests; and two collaborators, Tojeira assumed the rectorship of the institution. At the time, he was living 200 meters from the scene and heard the shots. Nine hours after the crime against his colleagues, he informed the then right-wing president Alfredo Cristiani of the strong evidence he had that the Army was responsible for the massacre. Since then, he had been constantly involved in the search for clarification of the facts and justice.
In 1989, prosecutors investigating the massacre of the Jesuits consulted Tojeira at a time when the prosecutor’s office was facing sabotage of its investigation. The priest convinced the state’s attorneys to become private prosecutors on behalf of the victims. On July 9, 2020, Tojeira testified in the trial in Madrid against one of the perpetrators of the murder of his colleagues, Colonel Orlando Montano, about his multiple meetings and encounters with authorities and investigators to clarify the case. He always denounced the impunity and cover-up that the Salvadoran state guaranteed from day one after the massacre.
In August 2017, Tojeira appeared before the Legislative Assembly to propose a General Water Law. Before the media, he made clear his position on the use and management of natural resources: “Water is like air, it is a public good. We cannot manage air privately.” Since December of last year, Tojeira has spoken out on social media against the government’s initiative to reactivate metals mining in El Salvador.
Tojeira’s critical and active stance in public interventions during Bukele’s first presidential term earned him attacks by allies of the ruling party, including the president himself. In September 2020, during a press conference in which he lashed out at human rights defenders, Bukele pointed to Father Tojeira on national television as a member of the opposition, pointing to an interview in which he differentiated the responsibility of the military from that of former President Cristiani in the case of the Jesuits.
After his death in Guatemala, the first of the funeral masses was held on September 8 at Rafael Landívar University, the center of study where he was to give a lecture on theology. He was repatriated to El Salvador on September 9, and the following day his funeral began at El Carmen Parish until his burial on the 11th at the UCA. Four funeral masses were held over the days his remains were laid in honor in both Guatemala and El Salvador. During that time, various international organizations and diplomatic agents publicly expressed their condolences to Father Chema’s family and friends, as well as to the religious and university community of the UCA. Among them were the embassies of Spain, Chile, Palestine, and the United States; the Regional Office for Central America of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights; and Massachusetts Congressman James P. McGovern. As of the date of publication of this photo essay, the government of El Salvador has not issued any official condolences or statement regarding the death of Father Tojeira. At the request of Claudia Ortiz, an opposition deputy from the Vamos party, the Legislative Assembly observed a minute of silence.
On the last day of his funeral and subsequent burial, hundreds gathered at the UCA throughout the day. Teachers, religious figures, students, members of the media, workers, and campesinos witnessed his burial in a slow and solemn procession. There were floral arrangements, shirts with Monsignor Romero’s image, popular songs, prayers, and applause to bid farewell to the priest. Father Chema’s final pilgrimage to the Jesucristo Liberador parish, where his six Jesuit companions murdered in 1989 are also buried, was accompanied by hundreds who knew him.
Return of Mining to El Salvador Awakens a Quiet Catholic Church
“Release everything! The Jesuits were killed in 1989, for Christ’s sake”
*Additional reporting from Gabriel Labrador