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This week’s missionary hero is Sr. Dorothy Kazel, O.S.U.
Dorothy was born on June 30, 1939 in Cleveland, Ohio.
In 1960, she joined the Ursuline Sisters and took the name Sr. Laurentine in honor of an Ursuline Sister who had been martyred during the French Revolution. However, during the 1960s, she went back to her baptismal name as was known as Sr. Dorothy.
In 1965, after completing her bachelor’s degree and novitiate, Sr. Dorothy taught for 7 years in Cleveland and did some mission work with the Papago tribe in Arizona. After earning her master’s degree in counseling in 1974, Sr. Dorothy joined the Diocese of Cleveland’s mission team that was working in El Salvador.
Sr. Dorothy worked in La Libertad in the parish of the Immaculate Conception. In the parish, she trained catechists, carried out sacramental preparation programs, and oversaw the distribution of Catholic Relief Services aid and food supplies. She also worked with refugees from the Salvadoran Civil War that was raging at the time. Often, Sr. Dorothy found herself searching for food, shelter, and medical supplies for those in need. She also helped transporting the sick and injured to healthcare facilities.
On December 2, 1980, Sr. Dorothy and Jean Donovan, a lay missionary from the Diocese of Cleveland team, drove to the San Salvador airport to pick up Maryknoll Sisters Ita Ford and Maura Clarke who were returning from a Maryknoll Sisters conference in Managua, Nicaragua. The Sisters had no idea that they were being watched by National Guardsmen.
After picking up the Maryknollers, the four women began driving to their destination. Unfortunately, they were stopped by soldiers, taken to an isolated spot, raped, beaten, and murdered, and buried in shallow graves.
As news spread across El Salvador and the United States of their murder, they became known as the Four Women Martyrs of El Salvador. Today, these women are remembered by Catholic Christians around the world as true missionary heroes.
In Reitoca, F.M., Honduras, the main house on the Holy Cross campus is called the Four Martyrs House in honor of the four women.
There are many books available on the lives of these four women, and all are available on Amazon.
