The looting and violence of the past four days comes amid important holy days for faith groups. Today is Good Friday, when Christians remember the crucifixion of Jesus, and the Jewish holiday of Passover continues.

        Pastors, priests and rabbis will take to the pulpits this weekend and preach a message of hope and reconciliation. Some of Cincinnati's faith leaders offer their suggestions on what the city needs to do to begin healing.

        • Rev. Taylor Thompson, Pastor of Quinn Chapel AME Church, Forest Park:

        “We need to change the way we hire and fire police officers ... and work on changing the city charter — for the chief and officers. The city needs to re-examine recruitment, training and the civilian review board.

        “But the broader issue is the frustration in the community. There are few jobs and not much opportunity. There are education problems. ... This is not just about the shootings — that's the tip of the iceberg.”

        • George Findley, Director of the Office of African-American Ministries, Archdiocese of Cincinnati

        “The city needs to do some great, in-depth soul-searching because in the past 10 years, we've had two to three efforts by the religious sector do something with race relations. They have made big splashes and then faded into the sunset.

        “We need to call a convocation of leaders and the "pew people' — those who sit the pews — to come together and really listen to the agony, the anguish, the anger. We need to listen with an open mind and a feeling of kinship.”

        • Rev. Thomas DiFolco, Priest of St. Martin DePorres parish, Lincoln Heights:

        “I think (the issue) comes back to: How do we respect other human beings in daily life? How do we resolve conflict in a peaceful way? How do we disagree without being disagreeable?

        “There needs to be a gathering of community leaders to ask those questions.”

        • The Rt. Rev. Herbert Thompson Jr., Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio:

        “I'm an eternal optimist. I believe people really are decent people. I don't think we have trigger-happy people. But we need to readdress training, screening and selecting of police officers. If it's not addressed, we will see this happen again. I pray to God it doesn't get any worse.

        “We must begin (work) in the area of education and keeping people in school. We can't write people off and say that's OK. Young people must have something to do. They also need meaningful work — not dead-end jobs.”

        • Sister Alice Gerdeman, Coordinator of the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center, Over-the-Rhine:

        “We must take a united stand against any kind of violence and destruction. It's not helpful. We all need to use this as a time when we're very aware racism is a part of our system. We need to look at ways to correct our own hearts.

        “We need to look at city government, the training police have and our laws and system. We need to find ways to include people in decision-making.

        In the future, we need do some kind of community action with blacks and whites.”

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