Edgar Palacios

Edgar Palacios is an American Baptist pastor and peace activist during the Salvadoran Civil War.

Rev. Edgar Palacios
Alma materLatin American Social Sciences Institute[1]
OccupationPastor
EmployerCalvary Baptist Church (Washington, D.C.)
Spouse(s)Amparo

Peace Activism

Palacios was a Baptist pastor in El Salvador during the Salvadoran Civil War. He was pastor of Shalom Baptist Church in San Salvador.[2] In this capacity, he helped found the National Council of Churches in El Salvador, of which he served as the Executive Director for three years[3] and served as the President of the National Debate for Peace. In this capacity, he was involved in voter registration drives, for which he was fined by the government.

Palacios and his wife Amparo fled to Washington, DC in the United States under United Nations protection in 1989.[3] There they founded the Permanent Commission of the National Debate for Peace, from which they continued their peace activism. Their activism took many forms, including testifying to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on February 6, 1990.[4]

According to Amnesty International, Palacios, among other church leaders, was targeted for "termination" by a death squad led by Roberto D'Aubuisson.[5]

When the peace agreement was signed in 1992, the Palacios were present at the signing of the peace accords at the United Nations.[6]

In 2012, the Baptist World Alliance awarded Palacios their Denton and Janice Lotz Human Rights Award.[7]

On September 3, 2016, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador, Hugo Martinez announced that Palacios had been appointed as Ambassador of El Salvador to the Government of Canada, replacing Professor Oscar Mauricio Duarte.[8]

Pastoral positions

Palacios now serves as an Associate Pastor of Christian Education at Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, DC. Calvary is now a sister church that supports Shalom,[9] where he pastored in El Salvador. Calvary has an annual mission trip to El Salvador where, among other things, participants met with the Vice President of El Salvador, who recognized Calvary for college scholarships.[10]

Palacios served on the board of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America.[11]

References
  1. "Rev. Edgar Palacios, Associate Pastor for Christian Education". Calvary Baptist Church (Washington, D.C.). Archived from the original on 2012-03-21.
  2. Stone, Jon (1996). "Protestant Ecumenism in El Salvador: A field report". In Joanne Marie Greer; David O. Moberg; Monty L. Lynn (eds.). Research in the social scientific study of religion. 7. JAI Press.
  3. "Religion in El Salvador" (PDF). Programa Latinoamericano de Estudios Sociorreligiosos (PROLADES). 2009.
  4. "El Salvador". C-SPAN. February 2, 1990.
  5. "El Salvador: Rev. Victoriano Jimeno, Rev. Medardo Gómez, and nine other members of the National Council of Churches". Amnesty International. 1992.
  6. Allen, Bob (December 15, 2008). "Baptist peace activist lobbied to end El Salvador's civil war". Associated Baptist Press. Archived from the original on January 30, 2012. Retrieved March 8, 2012.
  7. Dilday, Robert (March 7, 2012). "Washington Minister to Receive BWA human rights award". Associated Baptist Press. Archived from the original on 2012-03-10.
  8. "Nombran a reverendo Edgar Palacios embajador de El Salvador en Canadá". El Salvador News. November 2, 2016.
  9. Butler, Amy (November 16, 2011). "El Salvador mission trip teaches powerful lessons". Washington Post.
  10. "Vicepresidente se reúne con delegación estadounidense". Vice President of El Salvador. October 16, 2009. Archived from the original on April 18, 2013.
  11. Edgar Palacios (September 3, 2010). "Opinion: Christians for Immigration Reform". Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America.


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