Saturday: Peggy O'Neill, SC Accepts Peacemaker Award

On the last day of Gathering One, Saturday, August 2nd, we continued to work hard, but we also put on our party clothes to have our formal portrait taken, we shared a beautiful Eucharist and we celebrated in a banquet, highlighted by the presentation of the Peacemaker Award to Peggy O’Neill, a Sister of Charity who has been accompanying the people of Suchitoto, El Salvador, for more than 20 years.

The award and a check for $5000, given in recognition of an outstanding contribution to peacemaking in the spirit of Margaret Anna Cusack, was presented in Spanish by Terry Donohue (with help from Amalia Camacho on the translations). “Peggy embodies a commitment to peacemaking,” she said, citing her untiring work to create the Centro Arte para la Paz in Suchitoto as a place of healing to nurture the culture of peace among people who have suffered so much from war.

Peggy has long collaborated with CSJPs, from Margaret Jane Kling and Andrea Nenzel in the 1980s to Eleanor Gilmore today, and many in the room had met her during the two Congregational Experiences she and Eleanor led or during a PazSalud brigade.

In accepting her award, Peggy shared with us some wonderful stories from her time in El Salvador. Once in the war years she was with a group that had to hide out overnight. She found herself with two women, one a mother with a young child who had brought along a stack of tortillas. No one else had any food. Peggy told the mother she should save the tortillas for the child, but the mother said no. “Tonight we share the bread,” she said, “tomorrow we will share hunger.” Those shared tortillas were Eucharist, said Peggy, and that spirit of courage and giving is why she hopes to spend the rest of her life with the people of El Salvador. Congratulations, Peggy, y gracias!

Peggy, Lelia Walsh & Laurette Bergin

Peggy & Eleanor Gilmore