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May 8 , 2006 • VOL. 44, NO. 9 • Oakland, CA
East Bay Sanctuary
Covenant
honors several leaders in human rights
Father John
Maxwell and Franciscan Father Louis Vitale are among five human rights
leaders being honored by the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, May 18, at St.
John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Avenue in Berkeley.
The other honorees are Mark Silverman, Uwe Jacobs, and Faith Cheng.
Father Maxwell, pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish in El Cerrito since
1994, has promoted senior housing, opened the West Oakland Health Clinic,
and connected with the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant as an advocate for
asylum seekers in his parish. He has also formed a strong relationship
with Haiti through a sister parish in Fond Tortue.
Father Louis Vitale, former pastor of St. Boniface Church in San Francisco,
has just completed a six-month sentence in Crisp County Jail, Georgia,
for his nonviolent action in protest against the School of the Americas/Whinsec
at Fort Benning, Georgia. A Franciscan friar who served as the provincial
of the California Franciscan Friars from 1979 to 1988, he co-founded the
Nevada Desert Experience to end nuclear testing.
Mark Silverman is director of Asylum Policy at the Immigrant Resource
Center (ILRC) in San Francisco. He has been involved in legal trainings
for attorneys and immigrant communities throughout Northern California.
Uwe Jacobs is founder and director of the Homeless Assessment Program
through the Wright Institute in Berkeley and has implemented a variety
of programs for survivors of torture.
Faith Cheng currently works as a community activist in the Contra Costa
County Homeless Youth Program. A native of Nahuru, Kenya, Cheng worked
for 13 years with the National Council of Churches of Kenya.
Father John Maxwell
Father Louis Vitale
