>> hello. on behalf of arch diocese of san francisco, welcome to mosaic. justice is an an important word, a critical word. it speaks to basic human need. it names a thing we want for ourselves and that we want to see for others. when things are right, things are fair, settled, a jury has declared guy

or innocent, punishment imposed, imposed, we would say justice has been done. what's the human story behind the word justice? e might see that justice is more n a principle on which we hope to act, deeper that discerning wrong on this side and right on that side and leaving it at that. justice involves human re. when an injustice is done, a hun relationship has been wounded. t relationship needs healing. we will talk with director of reste justice. his mission statement says we provide people affected by crimes, victims and you haves within our communities, support to heal, through prayer, preven, intervention, guidance. stay with us and after this break, we this break, we will learn about the meaning of restorative justice and what the arch diocese is doing to teach it ane it.

>> hello and welcome to mosaic.t me introduce colleague julio escobar. >> i coordinate the ministry nad restorative justice.

>> you work at the arch di sis l office. you told me a couple things. one is that your ministy of restorative justice is calle. you don't call it an office, a , a program. the second thing you insisted on informing me about this was it is a ministry of presence. help us understand those two things. >> when i say presence, i mean t we need to be present when we meet people, when we have an enr with people, whether it is an offender or whether it is a victim. we need to be present and accompany the families in the process of their journey in, whether they're in a prison or jail or whether it's a person that's lost a family member in violence. >> as i look add what you do anr

mission statement, we'll get into that, it does seem that you that you acknowledge there is ap between the offender and the victim and maybe that relationship didn't exist before. they didn't know each other. now they're in a relationship. that's the part that strikes me. i know nothing about this except what you will tell us. the relationship is there and needs some kind of act and tending. that's what you let let people understand? >> the relationship is there, bt there needs to be a bridge that brings the two parts together. s what restorative justice is about when harm has occurred and has occurred and in particular when there is a crime. that bridge needs to be connected by the two people when they agree. >> it seems it's different fromt

of our adversary justice system, justice system, used to the court and two adversaries settling something. what's different about what restorative what restorative justice tries to bring? >> the current system, what it s is it attempts to separate both. it attempts to separate both. there is nothing for the two pas to learn about what happened. re justice brings that opportunityt least listen to each other, what other, what happened in the instance, in the crime. >> your focus of your office isn the criminal justice system or civil things as well? >> our focus is to bring the bil restorative justice to people that are inside jails and prisos and to bring the same concept, the same approach to someone that's lost a family member in violence.

>> it says on your mission statt that you provide both crime victims and offenders with suppt to heal. it's clear to us, we think sure, crime victims need to heal. but you are saying criminals, people who have committed a crime, also need healing. how do you work on that? >> because how that works is crs or anyone that is in jail, most of the time, they have been a victim first. >> i have heard that said by exs too. in fact let me point this . i am using the word criminal. in criminal. in your language you refer to people as incarcerated. incarcerated. >> correct. >> that is people in jail, in p. they're incarcerated. we are not not judging that they've commitd a crime. we're saying this is the situation in which they fin. they're incarcerated. >> correct. this time we will

speak about incarcerated and people. to bring the word of god god for them to realize that harmed other people. that's the first step for people that we go we go and visit. they need to have this encounter with god first before anything else can happen. >> so you try to awaken the cons of the person who is incarcerated. i have heard this said as well many times, that people who commit offenses have been offended against before, ad they're bringing the anger theyl into another relationship where it doesn't belong. how do you meet with them and bring them to to realize that kind of thing ad look back? >> first, it is not just anger t it can be trauma. as i said earlier, it can be that they

have been victimized first. it can be they have been abused. in been abused. in this process of being harmed themselves first, what we do is we bring the faith. in the faith, our hope it god, that they will have a relap with god first and that through their conscious and realizing they have committed this harm, e going to recognize that they have hurt somebody. >> and it's not their right to t someone, god frowns on that. god on that. god wants more for them. >> correct. what we look for is that in the encounter, they find find that they have responsibility for the harm they the harm they have caused. thats one of the other steps in restoe justice. they need to be responsible in order for them to to begin the process of healing

themselves. >> i would guess that's difficu. do the incarcerated seek you ou? what is the means by which you t them? >> our goal is first to bring tm god. >> yes. >> it is a point that we realizt they have to take responsibilit. for example, when we visit somee one time and don't see this person again, our hope is they meet god somehow and by the time the time they're going to have this realization that they have to take responsibility. it can be two years, three years. it can be the same day we meet the. and the way we speak with them,y realize i need to take responsi. that's a process. >> let's take a break. when we come back, we will ask more about the process by which this.

>> welcome back. we are talking with julio escobar about restorative justice. i understand that you initiate mes or mediations between offenders and victims, survivors and so on. you have a sort of agenda ih you help open everybody's mind to what their practice is. do you meet these people through tr case manager, parole officer? hw does that work? >> we work with partners and onf the partners, probation departmt and probation officers. also they refer their cases to a socl

worker or a case manager. that time is when minor crimes are delegated to me. in other cases, cases, preventive. >> so there is also focus on fa. >> mediation for families. for example, we may have a family that needs to speak with their son. the relationship is brokeny come to us seeking help, mediatg the situation that they have. fr example, it can be the use of drugs or it can be a teen that is misbehaving and entering into entering into gangs or violence or is escaping at night. differt situations that the families bring, as long as they both

agree to come and meet with us, then we can hold a meeting. >> so these personal meetings, u have small personal meetings, but your department also does activities that i think involve many partnerships and is sort of of an educational program as well. >> yes. we work with former incarcerated people. when they come out, how do they reintegrae into society? how do they re-enter the community? how are they able to get back to the workforce and so on? what we do is we have re-enter conference and we have many partners who offer from housing to education, education, employment, job read, and so forth. >> okay. these partners are important. let me ask a few thi. we have photos to show of some f your activities. i would like to would like to ask them to run tm so you can let us know what's h.

tell us what we are seeing in te first set if you don't mind. >> yes. in this photo we have the archbishop and of course my. we are holding a prayer servicen the street where this mother was mother was killed. we held a prayer service. we contacted the contacted the family and asked if it is okay for us to come and and do a prayer service. they agree. wherever the homicide oc, that's where we have the servic. >> you do these often. those arn the streets of san francisco reclaiming the spot of the murder. everyone is welcome to come. >> for every homicide in marin , san francisco, we do the prayer

service. we bring a priest and we hold the prayer services. >> for the next set of slides, e are a couple that have a differt look. oh a photo of your group of volunteers. who are these people? >> we have missionaries of chary from mother theresa and voluntes that belong to ministry group that goes into the county jails and juvenile facilities. >> okay. >> this meeting, this photo wasm a meeting that we took after we had one of our meetings at the arch diocese. we have father john jimenez in the back. >> the next photo is also a grop of volunteers. i think this is san quentin prison. >> this is. this is california s

with sister helen. we went there there to look at the facility and the different aspects. >> the next set i believe is cae light vigil. this is for crime survivors. >> we did a prayer service at n. this is a vigil. that's a photos shown there where people in they are invited to come, family members. regardless of what happened. >> you are gathered at a churchn the next photo. >> this one was in sacramento ie cathedral there. we had a large, large, large group of people come. we did a prayer service t. >> the next service, it shows ag man's funeral, memorial. this is

is picture of a victim of a cri. >> i did. this was east palo alto. it was killed in a drive by shooting. we did this in east east palo alto a few years ago. >> this next one shows young mey in detention of some kind. >> we have detention facilitiesr youth. i have seen as young as d young people incarcerated specifically in san francisco. s is a sample of what the facility the facility may look like. bece they're under age, we are not able to show actual pictures. bt this is what it looks like insie of a facility. >> a small sample of some of ths you do. i can read a list of the the other activities that you do

do when we come back in our nex. i know you will be asking for vs as well. i want to make clear t, tell them what skills they shoud bring if they're volunteers or if you can take people without particular special skills. it seems like a special ministry, would like as many as possible to be involved. we'll talk about about that in our next segment and we'll be back after this br.

>> we are talking about the very

the very serious prospect of justice and a special kind called restorative justice as practiced by julio escobar. your escobar. your ministry does lots lots of activities. prayer, prevention, guidance, mediation, guidance, mediation, all kinds of things. you have a list of your recent passed events. you had your community awards for the people that help. people are are invited to come to understad what they're doing. i think you would not mind having volunteerr most of these. you have reentry conference and resource fair in september. >> september 7 is a day confere. what we have is over 40 nonproft organizations that offer services for people coming out of jails and prisons for them to to reintegrate into society. we

also have discussions going from going from different topics where people can attend. that goes parallel. executive directors that offer services to to people coming out of jails can come and table. this is a restorative justice conference, we also invite crime survivors to come to the table. so we have have both at the same location on the same day. we have people formally incarcerated and people people that are crime survivors, survivors, specifically homicid. >> you have retreats for familis and friends in october. >> we have retreats for crime s, for families who have somebody in prison, and a retreat for volunteers. >> i wanted to ask about that. i that. i have no experience withs

or criminal justice system thank thank goodness, i guess. if i wanted to volunteer are there opportunities for somebody with professional skills, zero skill, just a good nature. can you use somebody like that? >> certainly. our ministry base really is made of volunteers, whether clergy or lay people. he what's important is the time and and the heart. no special skillf course you need to be catholic, believe in the faith, because that's what we share with the people when we come into the jails. outside if you want to help in a retreat or want to help in a conference or event that we have, you don't necessarily have to be catholict you need to have the time and the heart to help. >> we talked about this a bit. t seems to me this kind of mediatn technique, those can be used in

a secular way of course. but you you are saying you see as a chrn a deeper layer. that is, the soul of the person and love relationship in which we are supposed to dwell with each other. that's been broken or damaged. you are trying to make people aware of that. i think it's really good. in the corporal works of mercy, jesus says i was in prison and you came to visit me. i have never quite understood that. he says i i was hungry, you fed me. i was naked, you clothed me. when i hear that about being in prison, in prison, i think what does that mean? you are in prison because you belong there? i should visit you? i am not sure about that. i think i see it more clearly in that that is a damaged, broken person who is my my brother and that needs that.i see that in the christian tradi. of course jesus was a prisoner d condemned to death. for first

300 years of church, christians weren't conventional law abiding abiding people. they were law breakers and in prison frequently. we have a long tradition of being among prisoners. >> so if you are in prison, jess says when did you visit me? thas a question. when? the answer there is it is when we are called to do these and we are called to do this because when you are in prison, you need somy to talk to. you need someone you you can share your conscious. yu need someone that you can say id a crime. i need to have someone that i can go back to. that goes goes in relation to the question the question when. that's when e

answer being present. being present in the heart is most difficult time when people are alone and isolated and want to transform themselves. they need maybe a word of encouragement. y need some direction. that's whether he we become present in people's lives. >> tell me briefly about this, w yesterday you welcomed a group of high school students from out out of town. they're in town foa week or two with you doing some work. can you tell me in 30 seconds what they're doing for e justice. >> young neighborhood action isa national that has mission trips for young catholic teens. the group is from washington and hae come to learn about restorative justice and the practice through through videos and the principls which use. they're doing greeting cards for father's day, day, mother's day, christmas for for prisoners as well as crime survivors. >> thank you for being here. i t to urge everyone who is interesd

to contact arch diocese of san francisco, restorative justice web page, and volunteer. thank you very much for being with use you on the next mosaic.

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