Ignacio Ellacuría

Ignacio Ellacuría
Ignacio Ellacuría
Born	November 9, 1930 Portugalete, Spain
Died	November 16, 1989(1989-11-16) (aged 59) San Salvador, El Salvador
Era	20th-century philosophy
Notable ideas	"proseguir"
Influences Xavier Zubiri

Ignacio Ellacuría, S.J. (Portugalete, Biscay, Spain, November 9, 1930 – San Salvador, November 16, 1989) was a Jesuit priest, philosopher, and theologian who did important work as a professor and rector at the Universidad Centroamericana "José Simeón Cañas" (UCA), a Jesuit university in El Salvador founded in 1965. Ignacio Ellacuría was a close friend and colleague of the scholars Ignacio Martín-Baró and Segundo Montes, both of whom were assassinated with Ellacuría by the Salvadoran army, along with three colleagues and two employees (see the murdered scholars of UCA). His work was defining for the shape UCA took in its first years of existence and the years to come. Ellacuría was also responsible for the development of formation programs for priests in the Jesuit Central American province.

Ellacuría's academic work was an important contribution to "Liberation Philosophy". This school of philosophy stems from the work of Augusto Salazar Bondy (1925–1974) and Leopoldo Zea (1912–2004). It focuses on liberating the oppressed in order "to reach the fullness of humanity". Ellacuría was also a strong supporter and contributor to Liberation Theology.

The political implications of Ellacuría's commitment to his ideas met strong opposition from the conservative religious and political forces in El Salvador. This opposition led to Ellacuría's murder by the Salvadoran army in 1989 at his residence in UCA along with five other fellow Jesuit priests and two employees. Their murder marked a turning point in the Salvadoran civil war (see History of El Salvador). On the one hand, it increased international pressures on the Salvadoran government to sign peace agreements with the guerrilla organisation FMLN. On the other, it helped make Ellacuría's ideas (until then known only in Latin America and Spain) become known worldwide.