Union-Tribune, March 16, 2006
Anti-war interfaith prayer service and park procession will be held Sunday
March 16, 2006. An interfaith coalition of religious leaders will lead a public peace pilgrimage to Balboa Park Sunday to mark the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and to call for an end to the war.
The event will begin at 2 p.m. with an interfaith prayer service at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Nutmeg Street. At 2:45 p.m., participants are scheduled to begin a silent procession to nearby Balboa Park, stopping at the grassy area by the Hall of Nations for a concluding program.
“It's important for religious people to claim their voice around the issue,” said the Very Rev. Scott Richardson, dean of St. Paul's and a member of Faith Leaders for Peace, which is sponsoring the event.
Faith Leaders for Peace (www.flfpeace.org) was organized earlier this year after Arvid Straube, senior minister of First Unitarian Universalist Church in Hillcrest, invited like-minded clergy to a meeting to talk about speaking out against the war.
Straube said he was moved to action by some members of his congregation, who reminded him that clergy played a major role in protesting the Vietnam War. “It hit me very hard that my people were asking me for more leadership than just yelling at the TV when the news about Iraq came on.”
Sunday won't be the end of events, he said. “We will continue to put pressure on our opinion leaders and policy-makers. We will continue to try to convert the public to understand, from their own faith traditions, why it's important to oppose the war in Iraq.”
Richardson said the group is trying to be careful not to alienate San Diego's large military population. “I would make the distinction between the personnel and the policy,” he added.
