Pasadena Minister Speaks at Mosque Service Honoring Victims of San Bernardino Shootings

A Pasadena minister spoke Wednesday at a service in a San Gabriel mosque which honored the victims of the December 2 mass shooting in San Bernardino.

“As people of faith, together, we mourn. God bless this mosque, God bless America. And, God bless the world – no exceptions,” Rev. Hannah Petrie of Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church told the gathering of about 80 at the Masjid Gibrael.

Organized by Masjid Imam Nisar Hai, the event saw Rev. Petrie joined by Pastor Scott White of Pasadena’s Lake Avenue Church, Rev. Austin Doran of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in San Gabriel and the Rev. Tony Diaz of San Gabriel Mission Catholic Church with Abu Khair, imam from the Glendale Islamic Center, and Najim Nooruddin, imam from Monrovia’s Masjid Qurtubah.

“Yours is a faith of compassion and peace, generosity and integrity,” Reverend Petrie said. “ You, along with all your fellow Americans, mourn the loss of so many innocent people, and what this means to their families. Over half of the victims leave behind children, including the shooters, and such a cruel and base act can only be attributed to an ideology of hatred. Not religion. Not any of the Abrahamic faiths. Not the beautiful and dignified faith of Islam.”