Louis Vitale, OFM, (June 1, 1932 – September 6, 2023) was an American Franciscan friar, peace activist, and a co-founder of Nevada Desert Experience. His religious beliefs led him to participate in civil disobedience actions at peace demonstrations and acts of religious witness over 40 years. In the name of peace, Vitale has been arrested more than 400 times. Vitale stated that Francis of Assisi, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. provided him with inspiration.

Early life and education

Louis Vitale was born on June 1, 1932, in San Gabriel, California. His family operated a lucrative fish processing business. After graduating in 1954 from Loyola University, now Loyola Marymount University, Vitale enlisted in the US Air Force. Vitale's main role in the Air Force was that of an intercept officer, in charge of radio communications. Vitale took his vows as a Franciscan friar in 1960 when he was 28 years old. He was awarded a PhD for original research in sociology in September 1972, from University of California, Los Angeles. From 1979 to 1988, Vitale served as the provincial superior of the Franciscan Friars of the Province of St. Barbara. He served as the pastor at St. Boniface Catholic Church for 12 years in the Tenderloin of San Francisco, California.

Pace e Bene

Louis Vitale was one of the founders of Pace e Bene, a nonviolence service, in 1989. The name means Peace and all good. Other founders included: Sr. Rosemary Lynch, Alain Richard, Peter Ediger and Julia Occhiogrosso[ ], who were all experienced peace activists. Pace e Bene developed educational programs for nonviolent living with an emphasis on spirituality. In 2005, Pace e Bene published a book, Engage, which described Pace e Bene's programs. The programs, as described in the book, were designed to encourage "the discovery, internalization and use of the power of nonviolence for personal and social change". Hundreds of nonviolence study groups were organized by Pace e Bene between 1989 and 2010.

Nevada Desert Experience

In 1981, Vitale received a letter from Rome asking Franciscans to do something creative in 1982 to honor the 800th anniversary of the birth of St. Francis. Vitale took this to heart. The First Nevada Lenten Experience was held at the Nevada test site, a series of witness and protest actions held at the atomic bomb test site near Las Vegas, Nevada. This was the precursor to the Nevada Desert Experience. Louis Vitale with Anne Bucher, Michael Affleck, Duncan MacMurdy, and two Franciscan friars, Ed Dunn and Terry Symens, founded the Nevada Desert Experience in 1984. Over the years, Corbin Harney and the Shundahai Network worked with NDE, holding many protests of the government's continued nuclear weapons work. NDE worked with Corbin Harney in protests against establishing a repository for radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, 100 mi (160 km) from Las Vegas.

Arrests and protests

Vitale participated in numerous protests and was arrested hundreds of times. Examples include:

Death

Louis Vitale died in Oakland, California, on September 6, 2023, at the age of 91.

Awards and recognition

Books

Wittner, Lawrence S, Confronting the Bomb 2009 Stanford University Press