Community gathers to mark end of official mourning period for slain officer
By Lou Baldwin
Special to The CS&T
June 2 marked exactly 30 days since the slaying of Philadelphia Police Sergeant Stephen Liczbinski, whose funeral Mass was celebrated at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul on May 9.
In a ceremony reminiscent of the ancient custom of Month’s Mind Mass, Philadelphia returned to the Cathedral just 30 days after the death of Sgt. Liczbinski for an “Interfaith Service for Peace and Healing in our Community.”
“A month ago the funeral liturgy of Sgt. Liczbinski was celebrated in this sacred place. It is entirely appropriate that we gather here this morning in this house of God to pray for peace,” Cardinal Justin Rigali said during welcoming remarks.
The service was sponsored by the Religious Leadership Council of Greater Philadelphia in conjunction with the Mayor’s Office of Faith Based Initiatives. Honored guests were the members of the Liczbinski family as well as the families of Officers Chuck Cassidy and Gary Skerski, the two other most recent police officers killed in the line of duty.
The flag of the City of Philadelphia, which flew at half-staff over City Hall for the past month, was presented by Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter to Michelle Liczbinski, widow of the slain officer.
“This flag represented the city’s visual commitment to being in mourning, yet that is not where we want to keep it,” Deputy Mayor Everett Gillison said in his remarks. “We want to present this flag as a permanent way for the family to understand that the city is always going to be knitted to you.”
But the overarching message was peace, not death, as emphasized by the prayers and readings from the various sacred texts offered by the religious and civil participants in the 11a.m. service.
“God of peace, bring Your peace to our violent world. Peace in the hearts of all men and women and peace among the nations of the earth,” Cardinal Rigali asked during the opening prayer. “Turn to Your love those whose hearts and minds are consumed by hatred.”
Mayor Nutter, during his reflection, drew a parallel between the murders of the three police officers to the murders of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy a little more than four decades ago.
He read the words of Bobby Kennedy spoken the day Martin Luther King was shot: “What we need in the United States is not division. What we need in the United States is not hatred. What we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness but love and wisdom and compassion toward one another and a feeling of justice for those who will suffer within our country.”
“If you just replace the words ‘United States’ with ‘Philadelphia’ that message rings true today,” the Mayor said.
Following the ceremony, the participants gathered outdoors as the sounding of the sacred ram’s horn, the shofar, and the noon tolling of church bells officially ended the 30-day mourning period.
“This was a first-ever event of this kind and it helps the morale of the Police Department,” remarked John McNesby, president of Lodge 5, Fraternal Order of Police. “Hopefully we won’t have to do it again.”
Lou Baldwin is a member of St. Leo Parish and a freelance writer.
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