WOLA deeply mourns the passing of Jesuit priest Father Dean Brackley who died in San Salvador on Sunday, October 16, 2011. Father Brackley will be remembered for his tireless work for human rights and social justice in El Salvador. He joined the staff of the Universidad de Centroamerica (UCA) in 1990, after volunteering to take the place of one of the six martyred Jesuits who were killed, along with their housekeeper and her daughter, by the Salvadoran Army on November 16, 1989.
At the UCA, he administered the School for Religious Education and worked at schools for pastoral formation sponsored by the UCA. Along with his academic responsibilities, Father Brackley did pastoral work in Jayaque, a poor urban community in San Salvador, met regularly with delegations that visited the UCA – including many from WOLA – and lectured extensively in the United States and Europe about the realities of poverty and oppression in El Salvador and throughout the region. He was eloquent in his ability to express the links between poverty, violence, migration, and inequality; and he was equally critical of the policies that enabled human rights violations and allowed impunity. Father Brackley was a remarkable man who will be truly missed.
