ARTICLES
OCTOBER 2004 ARTICLES
Contents © 2004
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
Prayerful Tokens
Cathedral's Interfaith Service for Hate Crime Victims
BY CHARLES A. COULOMBE
Rather than as a purely Catholic place, the new Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels was specifically constructed to serve as a "sacred space" for the entire Los Angeles community, of whatever faith or none. Cardinal Roger Mahony envisioned the building as a central gathering place for the archdiocese's Catholics, the civic authorities, and other religious communities, where they would celebrate rituals marking items of interest to all. So it has proved, most notably with interfaith services marking the first anniversary of 9-11, and most recently, the outrages committed on August 10, 1999.
On that date, a self-styled "white supremacist," Buford O. Furrow, Jr., went on a rampage in the San Fernando Valley. He first attacked the North Valley Jewish Community Center, spraying the site with 70 bullets and wounding three children, a teen-age counselor, and an elderly receptionist. In search of new prey, Furrow sped off and shot postman Joseph Santos Ileto, a young Filipino, in the chest and the back of the head. Ileto, whom Furrow declared he attacked because "he looked like a chink or a spick," died of his wounds.
Understandably, Ileto's family were keen both to keep their family member's memory alive and prevent any recurrence of the atrocity which claimed his life. To this end, they formed, with friends and supporters, J.O.S.E.P.H. ("Join Our Struggle, Educate, Prevent Violence). Together with the Chatsworth post office and the Asian/Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California, on August 10 of this year, the group held a press conference at the post office, at which members of the families of Furrow's victims spoke.
I, however, attended the second event commemorating the fifth anniversary of the attack -- a 7 p.m. affair at the cathedral, titled "Tribute and Remembrance -- An Interfaith Prayer Service for J.O.S.E.P.H." The event was supported by the Asian/Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California and the Ecumenical and Religious Affairs Office of the archdiocese, as well as the Korean Resource Center, the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, the Organization of Chinese Americans-Greater Los Angeles Chapter, South Asian Network, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference-Los Angeles.
Given blue lapel ribbons to wear as we checked in, coordinators of the event encouraged us to sit in the center of the cathedral. All told, there were about three hundred of us. Cymbals and drums drew our attention to the rear of the worship space, where the dark-blue tuniced and white trousered members of the HanNuRi Korean American Cultural Troupe accompanied themselves as they danced -- at first in the round, and then down the aisle as they led the procession of attendant clergy. They did another round dance before the altar and then took their seats in the front row, as the clergy took theirs.
Father Alexei Smith, pastor of St. Andrew's Russian Catholic Church and the archdiocesan ecumenical and interreligious affairs officer, extended, with his usual dignity, a warm welcome to the attendees. He pointed out that each of the other clerics would be affixing milagritos -- prayerful tokens (in this case small silver sheets) -- to a frame in the sanctuary as symbols of prayer for the victims of hate crimes. In his introductions to each of the speakers, Father Smith mentioned that all of the participating faiths had a strong tradition against violence.
The Tinig Choir (the UCLA Filipino Choir) sang a Tagalog song, Malayo Pa ang Umaga. This wistful tune speaks of "the morning" as being far away, but that nevertheless, "hope is on the horizon."
The Rev. Dr. Cecil "Chip" Murray of the First A.M.E. Church, offered the first prayer in the "Christian Tradition." Asking God for His peace, which "passes and surpasses our understanding," the Rev. Murray emphasized that there could be no peace or justice without God's grace, and that it was human beings, not God, who are responsible for hate in the world. He prayed further that God would give us His grace.
Rabbi Harold Schulweis of Valley Beth Shalom read from the Old Testament and explained that doctrine is secondary to our shared humanity. Venerable Sumana and a monk from the Wat Thai Buddhist Temple followed him, chanting a Pali Sutra about peace and brotherhood. Then came Sarjit Singh, a member of the Gurdwara Vermont Sikh Temple, who sang to accompaniment a reading from the work of the Sikh guru, Granth Sahib. This passage told us of how "the Creation is in the Creator, and the Creator is in the Creation, totally pervading and permeating all places."
Then, the West Coast Singers, billed as "the Chorus of the Gay/Lesbian Community of Los Angeles, sang two songs. The first was Langston Hughes' "I Dream A World," with its vision of "a world where all will know sweet freedom's way, Where greed no longer saps the soul; nor avarice blights our day." The choir followed this with Karlan Judd's "My Peace I Give to You," based on John 14:27.
After Dr. Maher Hathout of the Islamic Center of Southern California informed us that violence against people of faith was a violation of the Koran, he prayed for an end to violence. Then, Lillian Ileto, mother of Furrow's victim Joseph Ileto, and the rest of his family went up to the ambo. Mrs. Ileto explained that while, as a Catholic, her religion required her to forgive, it was hard because she missed her son so much. She hoped that the work of J.O.S.E.P.H. would endure and that hatred would be stamped out.
After Mrs. Ileto left the ambo, Father Smith returned and asked us to offer a moment of silence, each in our own way and our own traditions, for all the victims of hate crimes. This was the ritual high point of the service, rather like the Eucharist in the Catholic Mass.
The congregation then sang "Let There Be Peace On Earth." After its last hopeful note died away, Father Smith announced that Bishop Gabino Zavala, bishop for the San Gabriel pastoral region, although scheduled to offer the final prayer, had taken seriously ill. Therefore the prayer Bishop Zavala had composed for the occasion would be delivered by Father Brian Casanova, assistant rector of the cathedral. Patterned after the Peace at Mass, and beginning "All Powerful and Ever-Living God," the prayer asked the Almighty to give us peace and to show us how to overcome our differences in the light of what we hold in common.
Then followed an organ instrumental, which accompanied the recession as the clergy left. We all trooped out to the reception in the social plaza, where vegetarian delights and soft drinks awaited.