Coordinated by the community organizing group Inland Congregations United For Change (ICUC), the walk included representatives of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths.
Sergio Luna, an ICUC organizer, said the interfaith group offered a simple message to those who they encountered in the tough San Bernardino neighborhoods.
“We wanted to let people know that we love them and we want them to be alive and free,” he said.
Among the Catholic leaders who participated in the walk were Father Henry Sseriiso, I.M.C., Pastor of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish, Father Zbigniew Fraszczak, S.V.D., Pastor of St. Anthony Parish, Marciano Avila, Director of the Diocesan Office of Restorative Justice, and Anna Hamilton, Associate Director of the Office of Restorative Justice.
The Restorative Justice Ministry seeks to help families who have been impacted by murder and violence to find healing and reconciliation. Hamilton said it wasn’t hard to recognize signs of the toll of violence during the Jan. 28 walk, including a memorial to a high school student who had been shot to death on Date Street last year.
“This is uniting families to bring peace into the community,” she said.
The night walks are part of “Common Ground for Peace,” a proposed larger effort to reduce gun violence in San Bernardino. It is based on a partnership model between faith organizations, service providers, mental health professionals and law enforcement that has helped to reduce murder rates in cities around the country. Dialogue between ICUC members and San Bernardino police leadership continues about the possibility of implementing it here.
Eventually, Luna said the walks will involve reaching out directly to those involved in gun violence and presenting them an opportunity to receive job training and placement, housing and food assistance in exchange for a pledge to leave behind their life of violent crime.
Avila said he hopes the night walks will sound a wake up call to the community.
“This is to start a conversation in these neighborhoods,” he said. “People see that others are interested and then the violence abates.”
The next night walk will take place on Thursday, March 17 at 4 pm. It will begin at St. Anthony Catholic Church (1640 Western Ave.) and end at St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church (2050 N. Mt. Vernon Ave.).