In 1986, Sister Peggy O’Neill left behind her life in the U.S. to work in El Salvador. The Central American country was in the grip of a brutal civil war. Even nuns and priests had been murdered by government death squads. But she stayed, working with the poor in the town of Suchitoto. O’Neill, a nun with the Sisters of Charity, will be in Albuquerque this evening to talk about the center she created for young people. Centro Arte Para la Paz promotes peace through the arts, creativity, imagination and cultural exchange.
The center’s location was first used by Dominican nuns for a school, starting in 1914. But in 1980, the civil war intruded and the sisters found mutilated body parts on their property.
Sister Peggy O’Neill will speak this evening at 7 p.m. at a benefit for her center in Suchitoto. It will take place at the Friends Meeting House, located at 1600 5th St. NW in Albuquerque.