ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. It is a pleasure to welcome everyone this morning for this Interfaith Prayer Service for Peace and Healing in our Community. On behalf of the other members of the Religious Leaders Council of Greater Philadelphia, and in particular with my fellow co-conveners, Bishop Claire Schenot Burkat, Rabbi David Straus and Imam Anwar Muhaimin, we welcome all of our guests this morning. We are grateful for the Mayor’s Office of Faith Based Initiatives for their co-sponsorship of this prayer service. In particular we welcome the family of Sergeant Stephen Liczbinski, whose period of mourning after his slaying we conclude today.

Of course there is no real end to the period of mourning for Sergeant Liczbinski’s family, nor is there for any victim of violence. We remember not only Sergeant Liczbinski, but also Officer Gary Skerski, and Captain Charles "Chuck" Cassidy, police officers who have recently given their lives in service to the people of Philadelphia. Their passionate commitment to do what is right comes as no surprise when we look at their lives: They were men of strength, men of love. They loved their neighbors by trying to protect them. They loved this City of Brotherly Love by making the ultimate sacrifice, themselves victims of the criminal acts they worked so hard to prevent. They lived the motto of the Philadelphia Police Department: "Honor, Integrity, Service." Their example forces all of us to look at ourselves and ask how we can be more vigilant in preventing crime, more active in volunteering to build up our communities, more committed to prayer to Almighty God, and more respectful and loving of our fellow residents.

A month ago, the funeral liturgy of Sergeant Liczbinski was celebrated in this sacred space. It is entirely appropriate that we gather here this morning in this house of God to pray for peace and healing. We come together as people of faith to pray for peace. We gather together respectful of what divides us, and celebrating what unites us, joined in our love of God and neighbor. We, as leaders of distinct faith communities, offer prayers of peace for our city and region. Only by changing hearts can we live together in true peace. Peace is not just the absence of war of the absence of violence, but true peace is achieved by changing the hearts of men and women by turning to the source of true peace—Almighty God.