Service to honor Sharon priest

SHARON -- Hundreds of Jews, Christians and Muslims will gather today in Sharon to honor the memory of the Rev. Robert W. Bullock, a popular Catholic priest who worked to bring together members of the community's diverse religions.

Bullock, who also became known as a forceful critic of the way the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston handled its clergy sexual-abuse crisis, died in June of cancer. At his funeral, so many parishioners and friends came to pay their respects that the crowd spilled outside Our Lady of Sorrows Church onto the sidewalks.

Today's interfaith service will begin at 6 p.m. at Temple Israel, which can easily hold the 400 to 500 people expected to attend, according to Rabbi Barry Starr, a longtime friend. The venue also emphasizes Bullock's efforts to unite people of different religions, Starr said.

''At the end, the entire community is going to sing a song in three languages, English, Hebrew, and Arabic, and the words are basically 'peace to you,' " Starr said. ''Everyone will participate in a way that Bob would have wanted us to participate."

MARIA CRAMER