DIOCESE OF CALIFORNIA TO HOST CONTEMPLATIVE INTERFAITH VIGIL
Vigil at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, Monday, July 11 at 6:15 p.m.
On Monday, July 11 at 6:15 p.m. leaders from a variety of faiths and Christian traditions — and possibly civic leaders — will gather on the indoor labyrinth at Grace Cathedral, 1100 California Street, San Francisco, to offer prayers for peace, justice, healing, and reconciliation. This prayer vigil will be comtenplative, with deep spaces of silence between the prayers offered.
The vigil on Monday evening is being coordinated by the Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, bishop of California. In calling for this vigil Andrus said, “In addition to the shootings of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and police here in the United States, a number of horrific bombings have taken place over the last week throughout the world. We mourned when Paris and Brussels were attacked, and we should grieve just as much for at the attacks on Dhaka, Baghdad, and Istanbul.
“We must actively work through our grief and pain, to bring justice and peace not only to the United States, but to the whole world. Our work must include evaluating systemic poverty and oppression, domestically and globally. It must include participating in the shaping of policy — to demilitarize the police and curb police brutality as well as combat global terror with peace and compassion, not additional violence.”
All — regardless of faith journey, tradition, or lack thereof — are invited to mourn the violence the earth has faced this week and to join their intentions and hopes for peace with the leaders who will gather.
