Every year Maryknoll Sister Lelia "Lil" Mattingly pays special tribute to the four U.S. churchwomen slain Dec. 2, 1980, in El Salvador.

Last year, before she was handcuffed and arrested at a protest at the former School of the Americas, Sister Lil planted a wooden cross in tribute to the four women on the grounds of the school in Fort Benning, Ga., that is now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.

The institute, established in 2001 as a successor to the 55-year-old School of the Americas, instructs civilian, military and law enforcement leaders from throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Sister Lil, who served a six-month prison sentence for trespassing at the school, was released Sept. 12.

The Maryknoll nun was a missionary in Bolivia for 20 years and during that time she came in contact with the four churchwomen: Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel, lay missioner Jean Donovan and Maryknoll Sisters Maura Clarke and Ita Ford, who were kidnapped, raped and murdered 25 years ago by Salvadoran military personnel.

"They were just such beautiful women, " Sister Lil told the Catholic Explorer, newspaper of the Joliet Diocese. She said the women amazed her because even while they were living in danger they could be "so fun and lighthearted."

Sister Lil --- who has traveled the globe, including Iraq, gathering information on human rights abuses --- was in Chicago for an Oct. 22 panel discussion about the former School of the Americas. She participates in a yearly vigil at the school to protest the deaths of the churchwomen and for other injustices she said are linked to graduates of the school run by the U.S. Department of Defense.

According to the Defense Department, the school's curriculum teaches its students democratic principles and respect for human rights, including how to peacefully resolve border conflicts, and trains them in how to fight terrorism and combat the illegal drug trade. The institute has administered courses for 800 to 1,000 students each year since its founding.

Sister Lil said she planned to again protest at the gates of the school during this year's annual demonstration, scheduled for Nov. 18-20, but said she did not plan to get arrested.

The 64-year-old nun said that taking part in the annual protests at the school energizes her "for a whole year." She called last year's protest "an act of love ... for the people I've known in Latin America and sadness for those who (are) targeted and killed because of U.S. policies."

The Maryknoll community plans to commemorate the deaths of the four churchwomen Nov. 27 in Ossining, N.Y., the headquarters of the Maryknoll Sisters. The daylong program will include Mass, an exhibit dedicated to the women and a series of speakers who will discuss the impact of the women's lives and deaths.

Speakers will include Sister Ita's niece, Sister Maura's niece and Megan McKenna, an author and former Maryknoll Sister.

The anniversary of the women's deaths will also be marked with a four-day commemoration in El Salvador and events in Rome, Washington, Cleveland and Chicago.

---CNS