Abstract
Last January we published ‘Solentiname – the end’ by the Nicaraguan poet, Ernesto Cardenal (Index on Censorship 1/1979), a personal statement by a Catholic priest who, faced with the violence offered to the people of his country by the Somoza regime, had come to the conclusion that violent struggle was the only way for an oppressed people to overthrow tyranny and create a juster society. Shortly before this, Cardenal had gone into exile in neighbouring Costa Rica and joined the Frente Sandinista, conducting a thanksgiving service on Nicaraguan soil when Somoza fell. His American friend, Daniel Berrigan – also a priest, poet and human rights campaigner – was unable to contact Cardenal directly at the time, and so replied to his statement in an open letter, expressing his belief that Catholics must reject violent forms of political and social change which require them to kill their fellow men. Below, we print a slightly abbreviated version of the letter.