Sanctuary Cities

Standing in solidarity with our immigrant sisters and brothers, Multifaith Voices for Peace & Justice encourages efforts to become Sanctuary churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and campuses. 

Offering sanctuary - a safe place that honors dignity and worth - is a tradition drawn from many of our faiths. 

Local communities of all faiths can be sanctuary congregations. If you are interested in learning what it means to become a sanctuary congregation for your own place of worship, visit the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity website, or contact us by emailing info@multifaithpeace.org

Historically, several congregations in Palo Alto have given sanctuary.  In the 1960's, some churches gave sanctuary to conscientious objectors during the Vietnam War.  In the 1980's many congregations gave sanctuary to Central American refugees.  During the First Gulf War (1991), First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto gave sanctuary to conscientious objectors. While in the past giving sanctuary has been seen as a faith-based act of civil disobedience, today's understandings of sanctuary have widened and there are many ways of being a Sanctuary Congregation that are clearly within the bonds of civil law.