Through a Glass Darkly: The U.S. Holocaust in Central America
... a book by Thomas Melville

Editor's Note: Thomas Melville came to speak at St. Joan's Sunday Mass on October 29th, 2006 sharing about his many years as a Maryknoll priest in Guatemala. He also appeared later that day at St. Joan's to give a historical seminar on U.S. - Guatemalan relationships. We did not have a reporter at the seminar, but Bob Heberle offered this review of Melville's recent book.

Thomas Melville gives a highly-charged account of a Maryknoll priest’s 34 years living in Guatemala in Through a Glass Darkly: The U.S. Holocaust in Central America. The priest, Father Ronald W. Hennessey, was raised on an Iowa farm in a faithful Catholic family and became a decorated Korean War veteran. A year after his discharge from the Army in 1953 he entered the Maryknoll seminary and was ordained in 1964. That year, on his initial assignment to Guatemala, Hennessey met the author for the first time. Melville had already spent the previous seven years there, also as a Maryknoll priest. In the early 1970s Melville wrote such books as Whose heaven, Whose Earth? and Guatemala: The Politics of Land Ownership. Now, more than 30 years later and after the death of Hennessey, he wrote about his friend’s time in Guatemala during its recent tragic history.

Melville wrote the book to “try to break the intellectual and emotional isolation of a nonacademic American readership historically protected from the anger, agony, and enervating powerlessness that flow from living at the receiving end of a U.S. historical foreign policies undertaken in the name of an ethnocentric and quasi-religious nationalism.” The biography does that and more. One example:

Meanwhile, prestigious U.S. personalities with close ties to the Reagan administration expressed pleasure with political developments in Guatemala. Among them was the Rev. Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority, and the charismatic televangelist of the Christian Broadcasting Company, the Rev. Pat Robertson. Robertson, five days after the coup, was in Guatemala City to see what he could do to help Rios Montt gain visibility and support in Washington, D.C. and across the United States. The televangelist would later write that he found the general to be “a man of humility, simplicity, impeccable personal integrity, and a deep faith in Jesus Christ.” (page 481)
Rios Montt, so lauded by Robertson, is the same man who has since become infamous for carrying out the “scorched earth” policies responsible for the deaths of thousands in Guatemala, and especially the indigenous. Melville lets the irony of this speak for itself.

Melville shows the development of Hennessy’s perceptions and political awareness as he calmly and objectively confronts the realities of Guatemala. The author skillfully and meticulously documents what went on in the country. But he also captivates the reader by making the entire 625 pages a vivid representation of Father Hennessey’s conversations with both the victims and their oppressors. Melville maintains the reading flow with gripping details of torture and pathos told in simple and uncomplicated prose. An example is an account of a visit from the trusted local village sacristan.

As the killings continued, Hennessey composed letter after wrenching letter to his family regarding the latest regional Ixcan events. . . .As he sat struggling with one such letter trying to decide what to say, Santiago Quot knocked on the door. “Padre Ronaldo,” the old man whispered, “there are three catechists from Ixcan who want to speak to you.”

The priest sucked in his breath. More of the same? he asked himself. “Ask them to come in, Santiago.”

Weary and hungry from their two-and-a-half day march, the three men gladly accepted Hennessey’s offer of coffee and some hot tortillas laced with goat’s cheese, a delicacy. Finally, their spokesman explained the purpose of the visit: “You come with us to Guatemala City, padre? We hear President Rios Montt talk on the radio as a holy man. But the soldiers continue to kill our people, to burn them alive in fire in Xalbal, Kaibil. You come with us to talk to the president to tell him the soldiers not obey him. He force his will on them.”

Hennessey’s heart went out to the three exhausted men sitting before him, actors on a stage they had never before stepped on, with a script they were unable to read.” (page 481)

Again, as at so many other times in his years in Guatemala, Hennessey knew there was little he could do to help these people. So he continued to write letters to his family and others in the United States pleading that they try to change who their government was supporting in this beleaguered country.

Bob Heberle is a longtime SJA'er with a passion for peace and justice issues. Bob is an original member of the Sister Parish Committee and has visited TNII several times. Bob can be reached at bobandjean384@msn.com.
Even though I have read lots of books about Guatemala, I especially recommend this one. For one thing, the author wrote the book for non-academics, which makes it accessible to a wide audience. In addition, though I found the book depressing, perhaps because of how compellingly the author recounted Hennessey’s encounters with the people, its style was very readable and kept me engrossed throughout. Others also endorsing the book are: Fr. Daniel Berrigan, Senator Tom Harkin, Fr. Roy Bourgeois, Sr. Dianna Ortiz and Bitter Fruit author, Stephen Kinzer.

Avis Von Eschen has been a member at St. Joan's since 1978. She has been involved in many projects. Although she is presently traveling and frequently out-of-town, she continues to write occasional articles for the web and to send pictures. She also helps out in the office on occasion and has stayed involved with the St. Joan Bridge Club.


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