Norwich — More than 70 people who joined in a prayer vigil to remember the “Emanuel Nine” put the festive July 4 holiday weekend on hold for an hour Thursday evening in a solemn gathering outside City Hall, vowing to remember the victims and to work for unity in the future.

Father Nicholas Dellermann, pastor of St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Greeneville, said it would be easy to say that the horrible act of hatred and racism brought the people of Norwich out to pray Thursday.

“But that's ugly,” Dellermann said. “That's an ugly thing, and ugly things don't gather people together … it's because the ugliness of what happened was deleted by something beautiful.”

Dellermann, followed by several other speakers, stressed the response by relatives and friends of the nine church members murdered June 17 at the Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.

Shooting suspect, Dylann Roof, 21, is in custody, and during his first court appearance, several family members of the victims through tears and cries of anguish publicly said they forgave him for his actions.

Rabbi Julius Rabinowitz, rabbi of Beth Jacob Synagogue, prayed for God's help for everyone in the audience to respond to acts of hatred aimed at people because “of the color or lack of color” of their skin.

He emphasized that to forgive does not mean to forget either the victims or the hatred that led to the act.

The vigil was co-sponsored by the Norwich NAACP branch, the Norwich Area Clergy Association and Sankofa Education Leadership Inc.

The Norwich NAACP branch unveiled an engraved paver stone at the base of the city's Freedom Bell — commissioned for the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation in 2013 — dedicated to the nine church victims.

NAACP President Jacqueline Owens recalled church bombings, murders and arson fires of the 1960s in southern cities. “Somebody asked me: 'Is the NAACP still relevant today?' … I said 'yes.'”

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, was the first to quote Martin Luther King's sentiment that “the ultimate tragedy” is not the cruel acts of the “bad people” but “the silence of the good people.”

“This evening, people from all walks of life, public and private, religious and secular stand united behind the message 'we will not be silent,'" Courtney said.

The “Emanuel Nine” memorial service was not the only solemn event to honor the victims of racial hatred this weekend.

Friday night, the Connecticut Sikh Temple at 1610 West St., Southington, will hold a vigil at 8:30 p.m. to remember the six victims of the shooting massacre at the Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., Aug. 5, 2012.

c.bessette@theday.com

Twitter: @Bessettetheday