Martha Zechmeister CJ is a member of the Congregation of Jesus (Congregatio Jesu). Born in Austria in 1956, she studied theology in Vienna, writing her doctoral thesis in 1985 and her habilitation thesis in 1977.

She has been professor of systematic theology at the Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas, San Salvador/El Salvador since 2008, serving as the director of the teología latinoamericana (Latin-American theology) master program since 2012.

She is also responsible for the “casa Dean Brackely,” a residence for scholarship students coming from extremely poor areas.

Prior to her work in El Salvador she was Professor for fundamental theology at the University of Passau, Germany from 1999 till 2008.

Her main areas of research and interest include political theology, Latin-American liberation theology, and Ignatian spirituality.

Selected articles:

Doctoral thesis:
„Mystik und Sendung. Ignatius von Loyola erfährt
Gott“ (Mysticism and mission. Ignatius of Loyola´s experience of God), Würzburg 1986.

Habilitation thesis:
„Gottes-Nacht. Erich Przywaras Weg Negativer
Theologie“ (Night of God. Erich Prywara´s way of negative theology), Münster 2000.

Essays about religious life:
“Passion for God: Compassion for the other. The essence of religious life”, http://www.cori.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/conference-talk-by-martha.pdf

„The authority of those who suffer“, http://vd.pcn.net/en/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_details&gid=235&Itemid=12

The Secret of Romero: Passion for God and Com-passion for the Poor http://www.romerotrust.org.uk/sites/default/files/MarthaZechmeisterCJMarch2017SMITF.pdf