Interfaith Prayer Service on Staten Island Seeks to Bring Healing

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At an interfaith prayer service on Staten Island last week, attended by members of the New York Police Department as well as the family of Eric Garner, Cardinal Dolan said it was only natural the gathering would take place in a church.

On the day Garner was killed last July, the cardinal visited St. Patrick’s Cathedral, only to find many more people than he expected praying and lighting candles there. He said he had not yet heard about the death of the Staten Island man who had been placed in a chokehold by an NYPD officer attempting to arrest him for selling loose cigarettes.

Speaking of those at the cathedral, Cardinal Dolan said their response to his question about why they had gathered spoke volumes to him.

“Where else would we go?” they asked as they relayed the news of Garner’s death.

And so, the cardinal added, it was fitting to gather now at another church, this one, Mount Sinai United Christian Church, just blocks from where Garner had died. Speaking of a role shared by churches, temples, mosques and other places of worship, Cardinal Dolan said, “This is where we count on a ready welcome, a sense of belonging and security.”

The cardinal delivered the homily during a long and often poignant interfaith prayer service on the evening of July 14 dedicated to “healing and reconciliation.”

“Could the grief that began a year ago just down the street from here and seemed to ooze like a toxic oil spill to places like Ferguson, Baltimore, Charleston, and Brooklyn and beyond…be an occasion of repentance and renewal?” Cardinal Dolan asked.

“Could our yearlong trial be an opening for God to transform us, from death to life, from despair to hope, from winter to spring?”

The cardinal suggested it could, but that we must first acknowledge God’s supremacy in our lives and place our faith and hope in him as we love one another.

He was joined at the altar July 14 by Bishop Victor Brown, the church’s senior pastor, and the Rev. Dr. A.R. Bernard, who orchestrated the service’s program of prayer, Scripture readings and musical selections.

Participation included a number of clergy members from Catholic and other Christian churches as well as from the Jewish and Muslim religions. Many are members, along with the cardinal, of the Commission of Religious Leaders (CORL) of the City of New York, which Mayor Bill de Blasio convened last summer in the aftermath of Garner’s death. One of them was Msgr. Kevin Sullivan, executive director of archdiocesan Catholic Charities. Also in attendance was Brother Tyrone Davis, C.F.C., executive director of the archdiocesan Office of Black Ministry.

Several Catholic pastors and other priests from the Staten Island Deanery participated in the opening procession.

In outlining the purpose of the evening’s prayer service, Rev. Bernard told the congregation that “our faith speaks of pursuing peace.”

“Blessed are those who pursue the path of peace,” he said. “That is the path we choose tonight.”

Bishop Brown, in his remarks of welcome, also noted “a renewed commitment to build a bridge between the community and police that will never be torn down.”

Later, after members of the Garner family had been escorted to their seats by the Rev. Al Sharpton, a particularly moving moment occurred when Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, joined NYPD Staten Island Borough Commander Edward Delatorre in a candle-lighting ceremony at the front of the church. They lifted their respective candles to light a single candle in an expression of unity and reconciliation.

It was an emotional week for the Garner family, as the first anniversary of his death would be marked three days later. A day before, the family had accepted a settlement from New York City of $5.9 million in a wrongful death claim.

A number of political leaders, including Mayor de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, spoke near the end of the service.

The mayor, in his remarks, cited a Scripture reference to “Be Not Afraid” and offered it as a way forward. “It takes courage to believe we can walk a path together. It takes courage to overcome division…It takes courage to believe something new.

“You can see it around you tonight. You can see the possibilities.”