Pittsburgh Interfaith Community Warns Against Ethnic Bigotry

March 21, 2003

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

On March 21, 2003 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that "with war under way it is no longer time for debate but for prayer, Bishop Donald Wuerl told Catholics gathered for noon Mass at St. Mary of Mercy Church, Downtown... Later in the day, flanked by Muslim, Jewish and Protestant religious leaders, he would issue an interfaith statement with similar themes, which also warned the community against falling into religious or ethnic bigotry... About 350 people attended the noon Mass, slightly more than usual but not enough to fill the pews. Wuerl, who was vested in Lenten purple, recalled that two weeks ago he had asked them to make Lent a season of prayer for peace... Then he had echoed the statements of the U.S. bishops, who said that the situation in Iraq did not appear to meet the church's standards for a 'just war.'"