NYPD officers tour Holy Land, Egypt, to enhance
understanding
By CLAUDIA McDONNELL
 Photos Courtesy of Sgt. Brian Reilly |
JOURNEY OF PEACE—New
York City police officers' trip to Holy Land and Egypt included
outdoor Mass, above, celebrated by Father Richard Roemer, C.F.R.,
on Mount of Olives overlooking Old City of Jerusalem. In
background is Dome of the Rock, holiest Muslim shrine after
Mecca. Together at Beit Hagefen Arab Jewish Center in Haifa,
right, are Sgt. Brian Reilly, Detective Lawrence Wein and
Detective Ahmed NasserÑleaders, respectively, of NYPD Holy Name
Society, Shomrim Society and Muslim Society.  |
For a group of New York City police officers, interfaith understanding is more than just a sentiment or a goal to strive for. It's what they already practice, and it grew stronger on their recent trip to the Holy Land and Egypt.
Forty-seven Catholic, Jewish and Muslim officers went on the trip from May 20 to June 3. Now they're bringing what they learned and experienced into their daily work for the good of the people they serve.
"It's one thing to be respectful of something," Sgt. Brian Reilly said in an interview. "It's another thing to understand it."
Underlying the officers' commitment to interfaith understanding is their volunteer service at St. Anthony Shelter for Renewal for homeless men, operated by the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal in the Bronx. Officers of the three faiths serve there each Monday evening, and that ministry has forged a bond among them, Reilly said.
Reilly is the president of the New York City Police Department's Holy Name Society and commanding officer of the Chaplains Unit. The Holy Name Society sponsored the tour with the department's Jewish organization, the Shomrim Society, headed by Detective Lawrence Wein, and the Muslim Officers Society, led by Detective Ahmed Nasser.
The three leaders spoke with CNY last week at the Chaplains' Unit headquarters in Manhattan. All described the trip as a rich spiritual experience made richer because officers of the three faiths shared it.
Reilly had been to the Holy Land previously on police trips, but it was the first visit for Wein and Nasser.
"For me, this was all about unity and togetherness," Wein said. "It was great that we all went together to an area where all religions started....I'm so happy that my first time was with my brothers and sisters from the Holy Name Society and the Muslim Officers Society."
Nasser said, "It gave me a better understanding of the three religions, and what we have in common." All three, he remarked, "come from the same God."
The officers were especially moved by the experience of visiting sacred places together.
"It made me feel very humble to walk from Jewish to Christian to Muslim holy sites," Nasser said.
The New York officers also met with Israeli and Arab police and firefighters.
"They were very accommodating," Reilly said. "They were very interested in who we are and what we do. We all share the same goals; we want to live in a peaceful land...
"With cops, internationally, nationally, we understand each other," he continued. "It's a camaraderie that crosses all international lines. There was a real esprit de corps amongst the police officers there."
Reilly is a parishioner at Our Lady Queen of Peace on Staten Island. He recently was elected Grand Knight of the Father John C. Drumgoole Council, Knights of Columbus.
The Shomrim Society has been sponsoring trips to Israel for police since 2005, and Reilly went on the first one; he was the only Catholic in the group. The itinerary focused on Jewish sites, but it was changed for a day as a courtesy to him.
"We went to Catholic sites that whole day, and everybody who was on the trip went along with me," he said. Because of that "open-arms feeling," he added, he got the Holy Name Society involved the next year, and it has participated every year since.
The Muslim Officers Society, founded in 2008, participated for the first time this year. Egypt was added to the itinerary to give all of the officers an opportunity to experience a Muslim culture.
Also on the trip were three Franciscan Friars of the Renewal: Father Richard Roemer, C.F.R., Brother Nicholas White, C.F.R., and Brother Dismas Kline, C.F.R. Their congregation runs St. Anthony Shelter, where the police officers volunteer, and Father Richard is its executive director. He told CNY that the police officers cook and serve dinner to the men there.
"It's excellent," he said. "It really expands the sense of brotherhood for the men—the different faiths working together, but also the fact that some of the guys have been on the other side of the law, and it's really good for them to see police officers serving them as brothers. It breaks down some of the hostility there."
In Jerusalem, Father Richard celebrated Mass for the officers on the Mount of Olives on Pentecost Sunday, with Brother Dismas and Brother Nicholas as servers. The congregation, facing the altar, looked out over the Old City of Jerusalem bathed in sunshine, and Reilly remarked that a strong breeze was blowing.
"For me, as a Catholic," he said, "I could feel the Holy Spirit alive on that hill...And looking to my right and seeing a Muslim guy, and looking to my left and seeing a Jewish guy, I said, 'This is what it's all about. We have to bring this home and spread it around.' "
It was his peak experience on the trip, Reilly said, along with "the feeling of bonding" with fellow officers that he experienced throughout.
Among Wein's top experiences were praying at the Western Wall and seeing Masada, a deeply significant site in Jewish history. Nasser was moved by the holy sites in Jerusalem, and the way that people of various faiths mingled together. But Wein and Nasser said the entire trip was outstanding, and like Reilly, they stressed the need to use what they've learned.
"All the things we've done, all our experiences, will help us to serve the people much better...All of this is about serving the people, helping people," Wein said.
Reilly stressed that the police themselves initiated the trip."This whole event was self-motivated," he said. "We're learning from each other, and we want to do that as an example to others of how to deal with and understand each other, how to deal with differences. I would like the public to know that they can rely on us to be understanding of their needs, because we're doing what it takes to understand the city we live in, too...by learning from each other, by traveling and discussion."
Nasser said that the by participating in the trip, police officers showed that they "care greatly" about the community they serve. He said that New York City police officers serve all the people, "no matter what religion, what creed, what race."
"We intend to learn about these communities to make us better people and better police officers," he said, "and with God's help we'll continue to do so."