Religious Leaders Meet With Pope To Bring Hope, Healing To Baltimore
BALTIMORE (WJZ)--Baltimore's top religious leaders are en route to Rome on Monday.
This historic two-day trip to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican is part of a pledge to bring hope & healing to our city following the Freddie Gray riots.
Mary Bubala has more.
"Healing Baltimore in the Year of Mercy" is the title of a pamphlet to be handed to Pope Francis when a group of interfaith leaders from Baltimore meets face-to-face with the pontiff Wednesday.
Pope Francis will be briefed on how these faith groups: Baptist, Catholic, Jewish, Lutheran and Muslim, are working together to heal the city following the Freddie gray riots.
"The one thing that I would want him to know is that we are standing together," said Archbishop William Lori, Baltimore Archdiocese. "In a culture that is so often dis-unified this is an instance that people of faith are coming together and that we are committed for the long haul to address not only the temporary problems, but also the deep systemic problems."
Rabbi Steven Fink tells me it will be one of the greatest honors of his life to talk with Pope Francis.
Bubala: "What do you want Pope Francis to know about the state of Baltimore City?"
"That there are good people in Baltimore City and that we are not just about riots and disorder, that there are so many people who care who want to make Baltimore a healthy, invigorated and lively place," said Fink.
As the unprecedented pilgrimage of Baltimore's faith leaders heads to Rome they are also focused on recommitting themselves to the work at hand when they return.
"We will come back making a statement that we've turned to each other not on each other, and as we turn to each other solutions will emerge from that," said Rev. Frank Reid, Bethel AME Church.
The group will stay inside the Vatican at the Casa Santa Marta, where Pope Francis resides.
Many hope there will be a chance for more interaction with his holiness then.
The group will also pray together at St. Peter's Basilica before they return on Thursday.
