Parishes of the Santa Barbara Region are reaching out to families of murder victims and families of the incarcerated in order to seek and create paths towards restorative justice and healing.

A Mass for families of murder victims will be held Oct. 31, 2 p.m. at Holy Cross Church in Santa Barbara. The special liturgy is a first for the region, said Marciano Avilla, Catholic chaplain.

A new grief support group for families of murder victims, called "Pathway to Hope: Healing the Spirit of the Family," will hold its first meeting Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. and will meet on the second Tuesday of each month at the Bishop Garcia Diego Pastoral Center in Santa Barbara. The center is located at 4032 La Colina Rd.

And on Oct. 15, Mission Santa Barbara will host the play "Cruel and Unusual," a compilation of five vignettes of stories about families with relatives in prison under the California "Three Strikes" law. The play, put together by Families Against California Three Strikes, also offers information about Proposition 66, the measure that would reform Three Strikes by requiring that second and third strikes be violent or serious felonies.

Holy Cross Church is located at 1740 Cliff Dr., and Mission Santa Barbara is located at 2201 Laguna St., both in Santa Barbara.