Actor Hanks tweets support for church’s sign
Tom Hanks continued to ingratiate himself to Pittsburghers this week when he tweeted a photo of a local church sign with the caption “The spirit of Pittsburgh! Great town. Hanx.”
The actor, who is in town shooting a film in which he portrays Fred Rogers, apparently was touched by the sign in front of the St. Mary of the Mount rectory that reads, “Love Thy Neighbor No Exceptions.”
He tweeted on Monday: “The Spirit of Pittsburgh! Great town. Hanx.”
St. Mary of the Mount Catholic Church faces the city skyline on Grandview Avenue on Mount Washington.
“I was pretty surprised, but really excited that the sign’s doing what it’s meant to do. It moved someone,” said Holly Mohr, the church’s director of religious education.
Mr. Hanks’ tweet had gotten 5,900 retweets and 47,000 likes by Wednesday afternoon. Several Pittsburghers, from Mayor Bill Peduto to the parody account Pittsburgh Dad, retweeted the message.
“Stay here forever @tomhanks!!!” wrote Tall Cathy.
The 3-by-8-foot vinyl sign featured in Mr. Hanks’ tweet is meant to be “a gentle examination of conscience,” Ms. Mohr said.
The idea to erect the sign happened during a young adults ministry meeting June 25, just six days after the shooting death of 17-year-old Antwon Rose in East Pittsburgh.
“The city was in anguish,” Ms. Mohr said. “We were meeting to plan a prayer event that would focus on racial justice.”
Ms. Mohr’s 10 adult ministry team members, in their 20s and 30s, modeled the sign after a campaign by the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a D.C.-
based Quaker advocacy group, as well as a similar church sign in Point Breeze.
“We wanted a way to bridge the political divide without capitulating,” Ms. Mohr said.
The sign was erected Sept. 11 as a message of “repentance and solidarity” from a predominantly white parish, Ms. Mohr said.
The adult ministry group hopes to leave the sign on display for an extended period of time, or possibly indefinitely.
Ms. Mohr said she hadn’t seen Mr. Hanks’ tweet firsthand, but learned about the church sign circulating on social media only after several friends excitedly texted her.
“We were disappointed that none of us noticed him outside the building. I mean we were all in there,” she said.
As for the reaction to the tweet, Ms. Mohr was surprised by some of the comments. “It’s such a simple message, yet some comments said, ‘No I’m not going to do that.’” She even laughed at Pittsburgh Dad’s quoted tweet that read, “Do I have to?’”
“That’s a really honest reaction,” she said. “The sign is meant to help people examine themselves and how they treat others.”