Song of the Poor

Tommy Greenan was a young Scottish priest who chose to live and work among the poorest of the poor in civil war-torn El Salvador in the 1980s and early 1990s, shortly after the altar assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero, whose ministry to the victims of state repression had greatly inspired him. Tommy shared the poverty, fears and grief of the communities in which he lived. Death was an everyday reality, and priests who sided with the poor were considered subversives, enemies of the regime. Amid the danger and his pastoral duties, he wrote hundreds of reflections, stories and meditations that gave true witness to the daily life of his friends and neighbours. Together they represent a passionate voice for the voiceless, a memorial to short lives that would otherwise have been unknown and unseen. Following Tommy s death, The Song of the Poor collects an exceptional selection of his writings from El Salvador, presented in beautiful, often shattering, short chapters. They are intense and moving, yet often humorous, ranging from colourful human encounters to profound meditations on personal, political and religious matters. They provide an unforgettable chronicle of the life of the poor and of a remarkable individual in a time of conflict and terror.