Racial tensions tackled

AT a healing service following the murder in the United States of a recent high school graduate in a racial clash, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua of Philadelphia has said people have a moral responsibility to fight the spread of bigotry and ignorance.
"It is hard to know what to say to a community that has witnessed an explosion of hatred so violent and so shocking, that its echo reverberates long after the police have come and family and friends have begun to make peace with their loss," said Cardinal Bevilacqua.
The cardinal was speaking at the Good Shepherd Church in Southwest Philadelphia, a week after David Reilly, aged 18, a 1991 graduate of Philadelphia's West Catholic High School, was slain during a late night racial confrontation between white and Asian youths.
Among those in the congregation were Kathy and Dan Reilly, David's parents. The Reillys had urged the community to remain calm following the tragedy.
"I don't like what happened to my son," Dan Reilly said before the service. "I can't justify what happened to my son and I don't want it to happen to anybody else. David wouldn't have wanted violence and you have to respect that," he said.
During the service, Cardinal Bevilacqua said that in addition to praying for community healing area residents had a responsibility to act to end bigotry on the streets of Philadelphia.
"Each one of us has an ethical and spiritual obligation to take positive action to see that racism, intolerance and all forms of bigotry are abolished from our society," he said.
The cardinal suggested that "we must do more than tolerate the differences between God's children. A fundamental belief in the equality of all peoples and
an active devotion to his word are a defence against the spread of ignorance and violence," he said.