In Solidarity with Fr. Louie Vitale

Today we made a request to visit Fr. Louie Vitale who is presently being held on a federal contract at a county jail in El Centro, CA. He has been sentenced for five months along with his brother priest Steve Kelly for non-violent tresspassing at Ft. Huachuca. They were sentenced on Oct 17th, the first anniversary of signing into law the Military Commission Act of 2006 which makes torture legal by United States military. They were arrested in November 2006 while attempting to deliver a request to the commander of Ft. Huachuca to stop the training. This is where torture training manuals were developed to be used at the SOA. The commander at the time was the former commander at Abu Graib. For more information please visit: http://www.tortureontrial.org/.

Today, Monday, was a busy day for the caravan group. Our last day in Los Angeles, we visited students and faculty at Loyola High School LA. Carlos spoke during the second and third class periods of the day, and again during the lunch break. Between the three sessions, over one-hundred students attended the lectures. We were pleased to learn that Loyola is sending 24 students, 6 faculty members, and 3 parents to protest the School of the Americas at the gates of Ft Benning later this month. Incidentally, Fr. Louie is an alumni of the school... class of 1950! That's right, do the math. Pictures of the school and some of the students we visited are posted below.

Later we met with Frankie Flores, who will be joining the tour when we leave town Tuesday morning. A four-year veteran of the Journey for Justice tour, Frankie is a well-respected social activist and human rights advocate in Los Angeles. Like Carlos, he is also a Salvadoran torture survivor. He brings a great amount of experience and knowledge to our caravan, and we are happy to have him. Frankie is pictured below.

In the evening we visited the Dolores Mission Church, which is also in East LA, not too far from the Catholic Worker where we are staying. Carlos relayed his story of being abducted in El Salvador, and spoke to the political and military history that has lead to the immigration of millions of Salvadoran people to the United States. A group of about 25 guests at the mission attended the event, along with several local community members. Many in the group are Salvadoran refugees... it was a powerful evening. Some from the group are pictured below. Many beautiful murals grace the walls of the mission, and I have included two pictures I snapped on the way in.

Finally, I would like to say a big "Thank You!" to the wonderful tenants and staff of the LA Catholic Worker. We have been treated extremely well by all and are very grateful for the company our new friends have provided... not to mention invaluable driving directions, good food, and lively conversation. I would advise anyone travelling through LA to stop by... the house is just off the I-5, near Cesar Chavez Avenue. These are some really wonderful people: They keep a clean house, run a program that feeds the homeless every day of the week (1,000 plus plates served), and find time for a multitude of other social activities that benefit the underserved communities of Los Angeles. I snapped a picture of some of the staff members:

From left to right: Emily, Margaret, Allison, Faustino, and Patty.

Please visit their website: http://www.lacatholicworker.org/