(~) Saying What We Believe

We believe in God, who created us free and walks with us in the struggle for liberation.

We believe in Christ, crucified again in the suffering of the poor, a suffering which calls out to the conscience of people and nations, a suffering which ends in resurrection.

We believe in the power of the Spirit, capable of inspiring the same compassion which has led our brothers and sisters to martyrdom.

We believe in the Church, called forth by Jesus and by the Holy Spirit. We believe that when we gather, Jesus is with us.

We believe in the Christian community where we proclaim our ideals, through which we practice our Christian faith.

We believe in building a Church where we pray and reflect on our reality, and share in the prophetic, priestly and pastoral mission of Jesus. In this way we make the Kingdom of God present on earth.

We believe in unity in the midst of differences.

We believe that Christ calls us to communion and to live and sisters and brothers.

We believe that we need to love one another, to correct one another compassionately, to forgive each other’s errors and weaknesses.

We believe that we need to help one another, recognize our limitations, support each other in the faith.

We believe that the poor, the illiterate and the sick, the persecuted and tortured, are closest to the Gospel of Jesus. Through them, Christ challenges us to work for justice and peace. Their cause is our cause.

We believe that Christ is also present in those who are slaves to their passions, to lies, and injustice, to power and money.

We commit ourselves to never give up hope in the possibility of their conversion, to love them even though they slander, persecute and kill us; to pray for them and to help them so that one day they may live simply and humbly in the way that the Gospel calls all of us to live.

( This affirmation of faith comes from Christ the Saviour Church in the Zacamil district of El Salvador. It was written for the 15th anniversary of the Christian base communities in 1984. The church was bombed in 1980 and again desecrated by army troops in 1989.)