Saint Mary’s speaker to give first-hand account of Brother James Miller’s life, death

WINONA, Minn. — Guest speaker Brother Paul Joslin, FSC — a colleague and friend of Brother James Miller — will present “Witnessing to Nonviolence” Thursday, Oct. 7, at Saint Mary’s University.

This year marked the 28th anniversary of the death of Brother James, a member of the De La Salle Christian Brothers and a 1966 graduate of Saint Mary’s. Brother James was doing “God’s work” of bringing education, faith and hope to marginalized Guatemalans when he was shot and killed on Feb. 13, 1982 by four masked gunmen while mending a wall outside the De La Salle Casa Indigena where he worked.

The La Crosse, Wis., Diocese has presented cause for his canonization and the Church is currently investigating cause for his sainthood. He has been named a Servant of God.

Brother Paul, also a De La Salle Christian Brother, teaches at St. Raymond High School in Bronx, N.Y. Between 1976-1988, Brother Paul ministered in Guatemala, and in 1982, Brother James and Brother Paul formed the staff of the De La Salle Casa Indigena in Huehuetenango. Consequently, Brother Paul’s presentation will include first-hand information about the happenings of Feb. 13, 1982 — the day of Brother James’ martyrdom.

“Brother James took young people from the hills that had no chance and gave them a combination of hope and life. Are we, too, willing to rise up like Brother James to take the young by the hand and lead them to freedom?” asked St. Paul-Minneapolis Archbishop John R. Roach in 1982.

The event, part of SMU’s Lasallian Week of Peace, will run from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Salvi Lecture Hall, located on the third floor of Saint Mary’s Hall.

For more information, contact Dennis M. Gallagher, SMU’s dean of Campus Ministry, at (507) 457-6936 or e-mail dgallagh@smumn.edu.