The Commission

Deacon Alfred Banya (Coordinator)

Hipo Eze

John Sitaut

Events Planners: Seminars, Racial Justice Sunday, Training

Jude Onye (Coordinator)

Nana Anto-Awuakye

Robert Emejuru

Delia Jameson

Paul Cavadino

Jenifer Da Silva (Coordinator)

Fr Patrick D’Souza

Fr Fernandes Feroz

Fr Valentine Erhahon

Canon Victor Darlington

Canon Victor Darlington joined the Archdiocese of Southwark in 2006 and was Assistant Priest for the parish of English Martyrs Church in Strood until 2011, when he was appointed as Parish Priest to Sacred Heart Church in Camberwell. 

In 2021, Canon Victor was appointed Episcopal Vicar of the Commission for Promoting Racial and Cultural Inclusion in the Archdiocese, and as one of the presiding Deans of the South East area.

Canon Victor holds a bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies from the University of Ibadan, and a bachelor’s degree in Sacred Theology from the Urban University, Rome. He obtained a licentiate in Sacred Scripture from the Biblicum in Rome, and a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Angelicum in Rome. He is fluent in English, Italian, Esan, Bini and Yoruba languages. 

From 2008 to 2021 he was a part-time lecturer at St John's Seminary in Wonersh, Guildford, and he currently lectures at the Diaconate Formation Programme for England and Wales. As a Biblical Scholar, he gives talks around the country and internationally on the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles.

For many years now Canon Victor has worked to tackle the scourge of knife crime on the streets of London. He has championed a range of community initiatives to support victims and to prevent young people, especially those from deprived backgrounds, from being involved in gangs and violence. He has also worked on different parish-based and community projects aimed at de-escalating racial tensions and supporting diversity and equality through the lens of the Gospel.

Fr Feroz Fernandes

Goan Chaplaincy

Rev Banya is a Permanent Deacon at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Parish in Peckham, Archdiocese of Southwark. He was ordained deacon in July 2012 following completion of formation at Wonersh Seminary and a Pastoral Ministry degree at St Mary’s University, Twickenham. He was on the management committee of Catholic Association for Racial Justice (CARJ) for a number of years. He is presently the Diocesan Advisor on Hospital Chaplaincy, and has, since 2019, been the Head of Chaplaincy at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust overseeing the planning and delivery of pastoral and spiritual care for patients, relatives and staff by a team of chaplains and volunteers from various faith and belief backgrounds. Prior to being appointed to King’s College Hospital, Deacon Alfred Banya held a chaplaincy post at Kingston Hospital where he assisted on a project to improve the delivery of spiritual and pastoral care especially in the areas of critical care, palliative care, children’s cancer care and blood cancer.

Deacon Alfred Banya previously worked as Assistant Director of Public Health in South London, having obtained his Doctorate in Health Research from Lancaster University, with a focus on community development for health. He also holds a Masters Degree in Medical Parasitology, a discipline he taught in the Department of Medical Microbiology in Makerere University Medical School in Uganda before moving to the UK.

Jennifer da Silva

Member & Coordinator of the Chaplaincies' Racial and Cultural Integration Hubs

Fr Valentine Erhahon

John Siraut

Carmel Urbanoviez

Carmel is PA to Canon Victor Darlington.  She has worked as a medico-legal PA in a large City law firm for many years and is also a qualified nurse.  Alongside her daytime job she was also Catechist for Adults at St Peter the Apostle, Woolwich for 10 years and also started her own Bible Study Group which featured in the Bible Society website.  Carmel comes from a very culturally diverse family, including members born in Lithuania, Scotland, Ireland and Togo.  She loves animals and the environment, especially walking her dog Chester in the woods where she feels God's presence in the beauty of nature. 

Zoe Ramsammy

Zoe Ramsammy is a Library Assistant for the Lewisham Libraries and Information Service, she also is a passionate aspiring writer. At 23, she is currently the youngest member of the commission for Racial Justice and Cultural Inclusion.

Zoe graduated from university in 2021, earning a 1st with Honours and an Award for her dissertation project titled ‘Race, Culture and Art: The Representation of BAME People and its Impact on Social Attitudes.’ She continues to place a particular emphasis on exploring and highlighting her Caribbean roots, as well as representing ethnic minority identities in all of her work.

Delia Jemison

Member

Nana Anto-Awuakye

Nana Anto-Awuakye is CAFOD’s West Africa Diaspora Engagement Coordinator. She also sits on CAFOD’s Anti-Racist Communications working group, and is a member of the Racial Justice, Culture, and Inclusion Commission for the Archdiocese of Southwark. Before taking up her post as the West Africa Diaspora Engagement Coordinator in June 2022, Nana was the Head of Media at CAFOD, and before joining CAFOD worked as a BBC radio producer, producing programmes such as Woman's Hour on Radio 4, and Outlook on BBC World Service radio.

Nana is a parishioner of St Mary Magdalen, Brockley, in South East London.

Paul Cavadino

Paul Cavadino is Head Sacristan and a former Chair of the Parish Pastoral Council at St Margaret of Scotland Parish, Carshalton Beeches. He is Co-Chair of the parish’s Racial and Cultural Inclusion Group.

Paul worked for 37 years for Nacro, a national charity working to reduce crime and resettle offenders. He was Nacro’s Chief Executive for the last nine years of his career. During Paul’s time as Nacro’s Chief Executive, the organisation recruited a significantly more diverse workforce and senior management; integrated equality and diversity targets into all aspects of its work plans; developed comprehensive equality monitoring of every area of Nacro’s activity; appraised all staff against equality and diversity competences; increased lettings to BME tenants in Nacro’s housing projects; increased successful outcomes for BME tenants and BME service users in Nacro’s employment projects; provided strong organisational support for BME staff network groups; increased satisfaction rates among BME staff members; and campaigned against racial disparities in the criminal justice system. After leaving Nacro, Paul became a member of the Parole Board of England and Wales.

Jude Onye

 Member - Coordinator & Planning of Events  

Marlon Andino

Member

Robert Emejuru

Robert Emejuru is a finance professional who studied Business Studies and International Relations at university. He has been working in the banking industry for the past 5 years and is currently a Treasury Service Analyst at Bank of America and a parishioner of Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church, Tooting in South West London. Robert is passionate about his faith, finding ways to give back and has volunteered for a number of organisations since university. He joined the Racial Justice Commission in 2022 and he is currently also a member of CAFOD’s Africa Catholic Diaspora Reference Group.

Hipo Eze