Philly Archdiocese Details Its MLK Day Plans

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Archdiocese of Philadelphia will conduct an interfaith prayer service and send out volunteers to work on community projects for the Martin Luther King holiday this coming Monday.

Cardinal Justin Rigali will lead the service on Sunday at 3 PM at St. Malachy Church, 11th and Master Streets, in North Philadelphia (above). Religious and lay people from the archdiocese will join with Christian ministers, an imam, and a rabbi to reflect on the life and legacy of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Father Stephen Thorne, director of the archdiocesan office for Black Catholics, says the prayer service has an important theme:

"The oneness of the human family to come together to give witness to Dr. King.  And Cardinal Rigali will speak, as he always does, the message of peace, the message of nonviolence, and the message of trying to work together to build a beloved community."

On Monday, Thorne says, student volunteers, teachers, and their families will be fanning out across the city to offer service at various shelters, parishes, and even hospice centers.

Thorne says that in addition to cleanup work and painting projects, volunteers will be serving lunch and interacting with people in need, with the goal of making their lives a little better.

Reported by Mark Abrams, KYW Newsradio 1060.