To the leadership and community members of the Islamic Center and the Citizens of Ventura,

This letter comes to you from ministers, pastors and rabbis of many congregations, representing many faiths, which co-exist in the City of Ventura. We have struggled with how best to express to you our horror at the murderous rampage that recently took the lives of Muslim worshippers in Christchurch, New Zealand. At a time of profound loss, extreme hatred and violence such as this, it is easy to know the message we wish to send to you.

But how best to ensure that the members of your community take our words to heart, and that the community-at-large takes to heart this message from all-faiths: that religious intolerance, bigotry, racism, and fear of those who practice a different religious faith has no place in a worthy world. We simply struggle with how to amplify our voices for good, and against evil. And so we send you this letter, so that you might add our voices to the many you have undoubtedly heard from good people condemning unthinkable, ungodly violence.

How best can we stand with you? Know that we are ready to stand side by side, to connect our faith communities, to be public in our affirmation. After Temple Beth Torah was vandalized in January, Rev. Dr. Matthew Hoyt of Orchard (Presbyterian) Community Church wrote to Rabbi Lisa Hochberg-Miller of Temple Beth Torah, “We understand our calling to a better way of living with one another, one that can see in the command given in Leviticus 19:18 for us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Our hope is that together we can model this better way, this way of love, for our community. We believe love will prevail over hate, and for this we pray.”

This is the message we send to you and your congregation, as we send you prayers of healing, love and support at this time of loss. Our communities, our countries, our world, must be better than this.

In peace-Shalom-Salaam,

Ventura Interdenominational Ministerial Association

Peace Prayer of Saint Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy. 

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive, 
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, 
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

Pope Francis letter fto US Bisops on retreat, Janaury 1, 2019.

The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People is a comprehensive set of procedures originally established by the USCCB at the June 2002 meeting in Dallas for addressing allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy. The Charter also includes guidelines for reconciliation, healing, accountability, and prevention of future acts of abuse. It was revised in 2005, 2011, and 2018.

The Charter directs action in all the following matters:
 Creating a safe environment for children and young people;
 Healing and reconciliation of victims and survivors;
 Making prompt and effective response to allegations;
 Cooperating with civil authorities;
 Disciplining offenders;
 Providing for means of accountability for the future to ensure the problem continues to be effectively dealt with through the Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection and the National Review Board.

Click Here to read the Chartedr in English

Oprima  Aqui por leer el Charter en espanol

USA Impliments Ethics Reporting Process for non-compliant Bishops and Cardinals March 2019

Janaury 9, 2019: The PA grand-jury report: Not what it seems. Former Commonweal editor Peter Steinfels read the 1,300-page report closely, examining its contents and scrutinizing its findings. His conclusion: The stomach-churning abuse documented in the report is real and unconscionable, but the sweeping accusation that the church only sought to cover up the crimes of priests is contradicted by material found in the report itself. 

Pope Francis Issues  Mandate on Reporting Clergy Abuse in Vatican City, March 26 , 2019

EXPLORE VENTURA'S SISTER: CITY, MISSION and NATIONAL PARKS: LORETO, MEXICO

The Ventura/Loreto Sister City Committee invites Venturans to travel our Sister City to explore Loreto in Baja Sur.  Watch "Our Ventura" to learn more: http://ourventura.com/tv-shows/

October 2017 travel orientation meeting on Thursday, May 18 at 5:30 pm at O'Brien Hall, Mission San Buenaventura.

Click here for October 2017 Travel Application

Biannual visits to Loreto including hotel and non-stop flights from LAX, are meant to promote and strengthen the sister city relationship between the cities, and the cost of the trip includes a donation to support the Ventura/Loreto Sister City Committee whose objectives include collaboration on tourism, culture, education, environment, and business initiatives. The committee brings together representatives from the City of Ventura, Ventura Visitors & Convention Bureau, San Buenaventura Mission, Santa Cruz Island Foundation, Consulate of Mexico, City of Loreto, Mision Nuestra Senora de Loreto, Eco Alianza, and Sister Cities SOCAL among others.

Loreto is a small city of approximately 17,000 people that sits on the east coast of Baja California, facing the Sea of Cortez. It was the first Spanish settlement on the Baja California Peninsula and is the starting point for the historic El Camino Real corridor that follows north along the ancient route of the Spanish missions from Mission of Our Lady of Loreto to Sonoma, California. From Loreto, Father Junipero Serra, who established the Mission San Buenaventura, planned his journey north to Alta California. Part of our tour will be of the mission, the first developed on the El Camino Real corridor going north along the ancient route to Sonoma, California. Where the past meets the future, this tour not only offers a peek into history, it also offers the opportunity to meet community leaders, learn more about the government and politics of Loreto and the Sister City relationship.

Loreto is also home to Loreto Bay National Park where Coronado, Del Carmen, Danzante, Montserrat and Santa Catalina Islands are home to over 800 species of marine life. With breathtaking cliffs, spectacular beaches and dramatic rock formations, these islands are a perfect landscape for the ecologically-minded or those who delight in a vast array of marine life. There are efforts to create a sister park relationship between Channel Islands National Park in Ventura and Loreto Bay National Park, that will provide extensive opportunities to share science, research conservation and eco-tourism programs, and sustainable growth efforts.

Trip inquiries should be directed to Stephen Joyce with Ventura Travel Professionals at 805-218-1962.

For more information on or to join the Ventura/Loreto Sister City Committee contact Fiorella Calderoni at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit visitventuraca.com/sistercity.

About Ventura Visitors & Convention Bureau
Ventura Visitors & Convention Bureau (VVCB) is a non-profit organization designed to increase visitor expenditures, tourism revenues and local employment opportunities through the promotion of Ventura as a travel destination. For travel and accommodation information or a free copy of the Ventura Inspiration Guide, the public can write to the Ventura Visitors Center, 101 S. California Street, Ventura, CA 93001; call (800) 333-2989, or (805) 648-2075; visit www.visitventuraca.com; email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow VVCB on Twitter @VisitVentura or become a Facebook fan at www.facebook.com/visitventura.