Father Jayson Landeza is currently the Pastor of St. Benedict Catholic Church in Oakland. The second child of Daniel and Frances O’Sullivan Landeza, he was born and raised in Berkeley, California. His parents, natives of Hawaii, reflect the ethnic and cultural diversity of the Islands, and Jayson is Filipino, Chinese, Hawaiian, Irish, Spanish and Chamorro by ancestry. Jayson attended Saint Joseph Elementary School (where he served as Student Body President) and Saint Mary's College High School (serving as Student Body President and Valedictorian), both in Berkeley. Graduating in 1983 from the University of California at Davis with a degree in Political Science/Public Service, he entered St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park, California, where he earned his Masters of Divinity degree (M.Div.), and was ordained a Roman Catholic priest for the Diocese of Oakland in 1987. While in seminary, Jayson was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army Reserves as a chaplain candidate, and served in the U.S. Army Individual Ready Reserves.

Jayson has served in a variety of parish assignments throughout the Diocese of Oakland since 1987. He has been the Associate Pastor at the following parishes: St. Leander, San Leandro; St. John Vianney, Walnut Creek; St. Joseph/Mission San Jose, Fremont; St. Felicitas, San Leandro; St. Joan of Arc, San Ramon. He was the Pastor of Saint Columba Catholic Church in Oakland from 1999 to 2009, and the Parochial Administrator of St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church, Berkeley, from 2005 - 2006.

Jayson served on the Editorial Board of the Oakland Tribune (the daily metropolitan newspaper for Oakland, CA), and served as a blog writer for the San Francisco Chronicle’s SF Gate website “City Brights” section. He was on the Board of Directors of the National Catholic Reporter Publishing Company in Kansas City, MO, and the Council of Consultors of the National Federation of Priests' Councils in Chicago, IL. Jayson was a member of the Board of Directors of two affordable senior housing corporations in Oakland (Sr. Thea Bowman Manor and Percy Abrams, Jr. Senior Apartments), and was the Canonical Pastor of the local Catholic elementary school, St. Martin de Porres in West Oakland. Jayson was also a member of the Public Policy Committee of Catholic Charities of the East Bay and the Executive Committee of the Diocesan Ministry to Survivors of Clergy Sexual Abuse.

Jayson is currently a member of the clergy caucus of Oakland Community Organizations (OCO); the Pastors of Oakland, an interfaith group of Oakland flatland clergy; the Advisory Board of the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir. He is also a member of the Diocese of Oakland's Presbyteral (Priests') Council (an advisory board to Bishop Michael Barber, S.J.). Jayson is also on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development Committee of Catholic Charities of the East Bay. He served on the Board of Directors of the Oakland Military Institute.

Jayson has served as a member of the following: Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland College of Consultors; the Oakland Diocesan Presbyteral Council; Board of Directors of Catholic Charities of the East Bay; Diocesan Lay Ecclesial Ministers' Council; Alameda County Human Relations Commission; the Diocesan Reorganization Committee; the Diocesan Cristo Rey School Formation Committee; Diocesan Mediation Team; Diocesan Priestly Life and Ministry Committee. He has served as the Spiritual Advisor to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul District Council for Alameda County; as chaplain of the Italian Catholic Federation (East Bay District); the chaplain to the Diocesan Delegation to World Youth Day 2000 in Rome, Italy; and as the Diocesan Scouting Chaplain.

Jayson represented the priests of Region XI (California, Hawai'i and Nevada) as their Official Observer at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' General Meetings in 2001 and 2003. From 2005 to 2009, Jayson served as the Chairman of the Region 11 Conference of Presbyteral Senates (RECOPS), and he officially represented the Roman Catholic priests of California, Nevada and Hawai'i to the California Catholic Conference in Sacramento, CA and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C., attending their national General Sessions/Meetings as the Official Priest Observer for Region XI.

Jayson serves as a chaplain for the following departments and agencies: Oakland Fire Department; Oakland Police Department; Alameda County Sheriff's Office; Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Police Department, San Leandro Police Department; Public Safety Division of the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD); U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), San Francisco Field Division; U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), San Francisco Division.

Jayson previously served as a chaplain to the Fremont Fire Department and the Berkeley Fire Department. He serves as a member of the Critical Incident Stress Management team for OFD and the Peer Support Team for OPD. Jayson is a Board Member of Crime Stoppers of Oakland, which distributes reward monies for the reporting of crimes in Oakland. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Oakland Firefighters Random Acts and previously served on the Board of Directors of the Oakland Police Foundation and the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Oakland Fire Department. Jayson is a certified Master Police Chaplain through the International Conference of Police Chaplains (ICPC) and a certified Master Fire Chaplain through the Federation of Fire Chaplains (FFC). He has also completed coursework through the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, the American Red Cross, the Concerns of Police Survivors and the National Organization for Victims' Assistance. Jayson serves on the Clergy Emergency Response Team for San Francisco International Airport, responding to aviation incidents at SFO. He worked with the Crisis Response and Support Network of Catholic Charities of the East Bay, a homicide response team in Oakland. Jayson also worked with a support group called Family and Friends of Murder Victims (Oakland chapter), and he was a member of NIA (Network for Interfaith Action), former Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums' committee of religious / interfaith advisors.

Jayson was an adjunct faculty member of the Chaplaincy Institute for Art and Interfaith Ministries in Berkeley, CA, and he annually guest lectured at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley (JSTB) and the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS) in Berkeley on issues related to multicultural ministry and emergency response chaplaincy. He attended the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, and other programs related to African American Catholic pastoral ministry. Jayson attended Spanish language study programs in Cuernavaca (1986 & 2010) and Guadalajara (2005), Mexico, and studied Portuguese (in 1988 at Chabot College, Hayward) while assigned to St. Leander Parish in San Leandro.

Jayson also serves as chaplain to St. Mary’s College High School in Berkeley, and assists at Holy Names High School in Oakland, as well as an occasional priest-presider at Bishop O'Dowd High School and Saint Elizabeth High School in Oakland and Carondelet High School in Concord. Jayson is also a member of the Board of Trustees of St. Mary’s College High School, Berkeley.

In February 2005, Jayson was appointed by Oakland Bishop Allen Vigneron as Parochial Administrator of Saint Joseph the Worker Catholic Church and Elementary School in Berkeley, where he was in residence. Jayson led St. Joseph the Worker parish until a new pastor was named in May 2006. This was in addition to his responsibilities as Pastor of St. Columba and while the St. Columba-sponsored, $8 million Percy Abrams Senior Apartments was under construction.

On March 21, 2009, Oakland Police officers Mark Dunakin, John Hege, Erv Romans and Dan Sakai were slain in the line of duty. Jayson functioned in his role as a department chaplain during that difficult time. Four days later, he presided over a citywide candlelight vigil held at the scene of the shooting, which was attended by hundreds. On March 27^th, Jayson officiated at their funeral services, held at the Oakland Coliseum, with over 22,000 law enforcement personnel and civilians in attendance. Portions of the service were broadcast nationwide.

The Oakland City Council declared July 21, 2009 as Father Jayson Landeza Day in the City of Oakland in honor of his years of dedicated and distinguished service as a chaplain to the Oakland Police and Fire Departments, as well as Pastor of St. Columba. The Oakland City Council also cited Jayson’s participation in the Crisis Emergency and Response Network of Catholic Charities of the East Bay and his service to Mayor Ron Dellums’ Network of Interfaith Advisors.

On August 8, 2009, Jayson was awarded the Oakland Police Department Medal of Merit by acting Chief of Police Howard Jordan. This was the first time in the history of the department that the Medal of Merit was presented to a non-sworn (non-police officer) member of the force. This was in recognition of his outstanding service as a chaplain to the Oakland Police Department.

From August 2009 to August 2010, Jayson was on a 12-month sabbatical, which included rest, theological updating and language studies at the following schools: Washington Theological Union, Washington, D.C. (August – December 2009); St. Augustine by-the-Sea Catholic Church, Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii (December 2009 – January 2010); The Pontifical North American College (the American seminary at the Vatican), Rome, Italy (January 2010 – April 2010); Instituto de Idioma y Cultura, Cuernavaca, Mexico (May – August 2010).

Jayson returned to pastoral ministry in the Diocese of Oakland in September 2010, and was assigned as the Associate Pastor of St. Felicitas Church, San Leandro.

On October 16, 2010, Jayson was the homilist at the Mass for ON FIRE NorCal, a gathering of over 3500 Catholic youth and young adults from the dioceses of Northern California at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo. The Mass was celebrated by Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, and concelebrated by the bishops of Santa Rosa, Stockton and San Jose.

In May 2013, he was assigned as the Associate Pastor of St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in San Ramon, assisting the pastor while he was on sabbatical. In May 2014, Jayson was assigned by Oakland Bishop Michael Barber, S.J., to work full-time as a chaplain to emergency, first-response agencies, specifically with the Oakland Police Department. He was living in residence at St. Leander Church, San Leandro.

In December 2014, Bishop Barber appointed Jayson as the Pastor of St. Benedict Catholic Church in East Oakland, effective February 2, 2015. He succeeded Fr. Jay Matthews, the long-time pastor of St. Benedict, who was assigned as the Rector and Pastor of The Cathedral of Christ the Light in downtown Oakland.

His interests include Hawaiian and California (especially local East Bay) history; listening to "old school" R & B & "classic" soul, traditional and Brazilian jazz, ‘70's soft-rock, and "territorial era" Hawaiian music; following local high school sports (especially basketball); and rooting for the A's, Raiders, Warriors, and Cal (UC Berkeley).