Louie Vitale
Encyclopedia
Fr. Louis Vitale, OFM
, (born June 1, 1932) is a Franciscan
priest, activist, and a co-founder of Nevada Desert Experience
. He has engaged in civil disobedience
for nearly four decades in pursuit of peace and justice, and has been arrested more than 200 times. Vitale says that St. Francis
, Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.
, provide him with inspiration.
Father Vitale served as the provincial superior
of the Franciscan Friars of the Province of St. Barbara, from 1979 to 1988. Then he served as the pastor at St. Boniface Catholic Church in the tenderloin
of San Francisco, California
. He has a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles
.
Recently, Father Vitale has been involved in trying to raise awareness about issues of torture and the US involvement in it. To that end, he was arrested alongside Fr. Stephen Kelly, SJ, at Fort Huachuca
in Arizona
in Nov 2006 in protest to torture. His legal defense team included William P. Quigley
.
Fr. Vitale, Kathy Kelly
, Stephen Kelly, John Dear
, Eve Tetaz
, and others were also arrested at Creech Air Force Base
on Wednesday April 9, 2009, while engaged in protesting to UAV attacks in Pakistan
.
Fr. Vitale registered to join the Gaza Freedom March
– a non-violent political campaign to end the blockade of the Gaza Strip – at the end of December.
In November 2009 Fr Vitale crossed the line at Ft Benning to protest the U.S. army's School of Assassins aka Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. He served 6 months in U.S. federal prison for that action.
In December 2009, Vitale joined fellow pacifist and writer Jesuit Father John Dear
on a trip to Cairo, part of a journey through the Sinai Peninsula into Gaza. Their plan was to join over 1300 people from 42 nations who were in Cairo for a Gaza Freedom March on December 31, but after being stopped by the Egyptian government from making the trek, Vitale and Dear joined 22 others in a fast and protest, vowing to walk to Gaza. They were surrounded and detained by police. Father Vitale plans a presentation about his Gaza experience on January 22 at St. Boniface Church in San Francisco.
In November 2010 Fr Vitale again crossed the line at Ft Benning to protest the U.S. Army's Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. He is currently serving 6 months at FCI Lompoc for that action.
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
, (born June 1, 1932) is a Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
priest, activist, and a co-founder of Nevada Desert Experience
Nevada Desert Experience
The Nevada Desert Experience is a name for the movement to stop U.S. nuclear weapons testing that came into use in the middle 1980s. It is also the name of a particular anti-nuclear organization which continues to create public events to question the morality and intelligence of the U.S. nuclear...
. He has engaged in civil disobedience
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
for nearly four decades in pursuit of peace and justice, and has been arrested more than 200 times. Vitale says that St. Francis
Francis of Assisi
Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...
, Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
, provide him with inspiration.
Father Vitale served as the provincial superior
Provincial superior
A Provincial Superior is a major superior of a religious order acting under the order's Superior General and exercising a general supervision over all the members of that order in a territorial division of the order called a province--similar to but not to be confused with an ecclesiastical...
of the Franciscan Friars of the Province of St. Barbara, from 1979 to 1988. Then he served as the pastor at St. Boniface Catholic Church in the tenderloin
Tenderloin, San Francisco, California
The Tenderloin is a neighborhood in downtown San Francisco, California, in the flatlands on the southern slope of Nob Hill, nestled between the Union Square shopping district to the northeast and the Civic Center office district to the southwest...
of San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. He has a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
.
Recently, Father Vitale has been involved in trying to raise awareness about issues of torture and the US involvement in it. To that end, he was arrested alongside Fr. Stephen Kelly, SJ, at Fort Huachuca
Fort Huachuca
Fort Huachuca is a United States Army installation under the command of the United States Army Installation Management Command. It is located in Cochise County, in southeast Arizona, about north of the border with Mexico. Beginning in 1913, for 20 years the fort was the base for the "Buffalo...
in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
in Nov 2006 in protest to torture. His legal defense team included William P. Quigley
William P. Quigley
William P. Quigley is a law professor and Director of the Law Clinic and the Gillis Long Poverty Law Center at Loyola University New Orleans. He was named the Pope Paul VI National Teacher of Peace by Pax Christi USA in 2003...
.
Fr. Vitale, Kathy Kelly
Kathy Kelly
Kathy Kelly is an American peace activist, pacifist and author, a three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, one of the founding members of Voices in the Wilderness, and currently a co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence. She has been described as "probably the most respected leader in the...
, Stephen Kelly, John Dear
John Dear
John Dear is an American Catholic priest, Christian pacifist, author and lecturer. He has been arrested over 75 times in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience against war, injustice and nuclear weapons.-Studies:...
, Eve Tetaz
Eve Tetaz
Eve Tetaz, 78, is a retired Washington, D.C. public-school teacher and a peace and justice activist. Tetaz was arrested 11 times in 2007 for nonviolent civil resistance during protests against the war and occupation of Iraq...
, and others were also arrested at Creech Air Force Base
Creech Air Force Base
Creech Air Force Base , formerly known as Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field, is a United States Air Force base located one mile north of the central business district of Indian Springs, in Clark County, Nevada, United States. It is about northwest of Las Vegas and northwest of Nellis Air...
on Wednesday April 9, 2009, while engaged in protesting to UAV attacks in Pakistan
Drone attacks on Pakistan by the United States of America
The United States government, led by the Central Intelligence Agency's Special Activities Division, has made a series of attacks on targets in northwest Pakistan since 2004 using drones . These attacks are part of the US' War on Terrorism campaign, seeking to defeat Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants...
.
Fr. Vitale registered to join the Gaza Freedom March
Gaza Freedom March
Gaza Freedom March was a non-violent political march to end the blockade of the Gaza Strip., planned to depart on 31 December from Izbet Abed Rabbo, an area devastated during Operation Cast Lead, and head towards Erez, the crossing point to Israel at the northern end of the Gaza Strip.More than...
– a non-violent political campaign to end the blockade of the Gaza Strip – at the end of December.
In November 2009 Fr Vitale crossed the line at Ft Benning to protest the U.S. army's School of Assassins aka Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. He served 6 months in U.S. federal prison for that action.
In December 2009, Vitale joined fellow pacifist and writer Jesuit Father John Dear
John Dear
John Dear is an American Catholic priest, Christian pacifist, author and lecturer. He has been arrested over 75 times in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience against war, injustice and nuclear weapons.-Studies:...
on a trip to Cairo, part of a journey through the Sinai Peninsula into Gaza. Their plan was to join over 1300 people from 42 nations who were in Cairo for a Gaza Freedom March on December 31, but after being stopped by the Egyptian government from making the trek, Vitale and Dear joined 22 others in a fast and protest, vowing to walk to Gaza. They were surrounded and detained by police. Father Vitale plans a presentation about his Gaza experience on January 22 at St. Boniface Church in San Francisco.
In November 2010 Fr Vitale again crossed the line at Ft Benning to protest the U.S. Army's Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. He is currently serving 6 months at FCI Lompoc for that action.