Page 48 - Historical Memory News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

‘Evzones are the Custodians of our Historical Memory’, Greek President says Greek President of the Republic in front of Evzones. Credit: Office of the Presidency “The Evzones of the Presidential Guard are the custodians of our historical memory,” said President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou on Sunday. Sakellaropoulou spoke during the ceremony celebrating of Patron Saint of the Presidenctial Guard, new martyr Agios Georgios from Ioannina. “The Evzones connect the past with the present and our future. Our heritage, with our dynamic course, towards tomorrow” stres...

A banner depicting slain bishop Juan José Gerardi, displayed at an April 26, 2010, rally to mark the 12th anniversary of his murder. (AP Photo / Moises Castillo) A new HBO documentary on the legacy of Guatemalan Catholic bishop Juan Gerardi, who was murdered in the aftermath of the country’s long civil war, highlights the role of Catholic clergy in the fight for democracy in Central America. “There are a lot of negative stories, films, and documentaries about the Catholic Church that get made. I was attracted to the idea of this not being that,” said director Paul Ta...

Copy to Clipboard (HBO) In April 1998, Guatemala's Bishop Jose Juan Gerardi Conedera was attacked in his garage and beaten to death -- just two days after he announced a report, 'Guatemala: Never Again', that detailed the atrocities of the army during the Guatemalan civil war, comprised of testimonies from communities that were ravaged by army massacres, aerial bombardment, kidnappings, rapes, torture, secret detentions, and public executions. Bishop Gerardi was so disfigured by the attack that he could only be identified by his ring. Three army officers – Colonel Byron Disrael Lima Estrada...

The funeral of Bishop Juan José Gerardi Conedera (photograph courtesy of HBO) On Jan. 31, 1980, machetes and guns drawn, activists hid in the ambassador’s office of the Spanish Embassy, locked from the inside. The exasperated group of campesinos—farmers and peasants—had come to Guatemala City from the Quiché region to seek justice for a decade of suffering. Their struggle began in the early 1970s, when the government of Guatemala started taking oil-rich land from indigenous Mayan families.  In 1976, Father Bill Woods, an American priest and pilot who tried to help the resettled group...