National day of prayer for Katrina victims gets a mixed response

In cathedrals and state Capitols, mosques and synagogues, Americans joined Friday in a national day of prayer for the communities and lives lost to Hurricane Katrina.

However, many houses of worship did not participate or drew few people, partly reflecting disillusionment with how the federal government responded to the disaster.

President Bush scheduled the national day of prayer and remembrance as he tried to recover from his administration's early missteps. He attended a service at the Washington National Cathedral with other leaders, along with evacuees and rescue workers from New Orleans.

But in Ohio, no one attended an hourlong prayer meeting at the Statehouse in Columbus, leaving the ministers and a few organizers to pray on their own before about 180 empty chairs. An organizer said the event had been publicized only the night before.

Several other pastors around the country said the government was, once again, too late. They had already held services in honor of Katrina survivors immediately after the tragedy nearly three weeks ago or had been mentioning the disaster at regularly scheduled worship.

The Rev. Enoch Fuzz, president of the Interdenominational Ministers Fellowship, which represents about 100 Tennessee pastors, said his group was focused on finding help for victims and did not hold special services Friday.

"We need a prayer that's walking and not just talking," Fuzz said. "We need a prayer with legs right now."

Bush had called for a similar day of prayer after Sept. 11, 2001, when houses of worship were bursting with mourning Americans. Katrina, whose victims were mostly black and poor, has had a much different effect.

Wade Clark Roof, a professor of religion and society at the University of California at Santa Barbara, noted that the 2001 day of prayer was held within days of the terrorist attacks, while much more time has passed since the hurricane hit. But he did not think timing was a factor Friday. "I think the estrangement set in pretty early on in this last event," Roof said.

Yet, pastors found lessons in the suffering even in places where only a small number of worshippers appeared.

At Market Square Presbyterian Church in Harrisburg, Pa., about a dozen people prayed and listened to Louis Armstrong's "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans."

The Rev. James D. Brown said he was struck by the song's last line, "I miss the one I care for more than I miss New Orleans."

"It points to the horrible tragedy and loss on the part of so many," Brown said.

The Rev. Michael Mannion, in a service for 50 people at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Camden, N.J., recalled a story of a missionary family in China told by soldiers to gather a few belongings and leave. The missionaries simply left with their children.

Mannion said Katrina has taught the same lesson.

"The learned what's important. They learned who's important. They learned that it's each other who are important," he said.

Services in areas where displaced Gulf Coast residents fled were expected to be especially emotional. A service was planned Friday night at the Reliant Center in Houston, which had provided sheltered to about 1,500 evacuees.

Cantor Seth Warner of New Orleans, who was uprooted to Houston with his wife and 4-month-old son, planned to attend a special service at Temple Beth-El in San Antonio on Friday night, the start of the Jewish Sabbath.

"I think God is in the soul of those who have been heroes, God is in the midst of those who risked their lives for others, God is in the hearts and minds of those who have given up something so that others can have a little bit, too," he said.