MIAMI | Hundreds of religious leaders � about a third of them Catholic � raised a collective cry both for justice and compassion in the latest Nehemiah Action Assembly, an annual rally by People Acting for Community Together (PACT).

Held at the New Birth Baptist Church March 31, the rally drew about 1,500 people from 40 churches and other organizations, 16 of them Catholic. Their goal was to get commitments from local leaders to address problems of crime, policing and juvenile justice.

The rally drew its name from the Old Testament story of Nehemiah, said Rachel Ramjattan, special projects coordinator for the archdiocesan Catholic Charities. "We're tackling injustice by gathering people, studying a problem, developing solutions and speaking truth to people with the power to make a change," she said.

The assembly brought people from a half-dozen denominations, including Baptists, Methodists and Episcopalians. Catholic parishioners came from churches as far flung as St. Philip Neri in Miami Gardens and Christ the King in Perrine. Barry and St. Thomas universities sent students as well.

Anthony Vinciguerra, of St. Thomas' Center for Community Engagement, said the university has been active with PACT for years. "They're doing Bible studies on social justice," he said of the students. "This is a way of putting their studies into action."

The assembly itself was part pep rally, part town hall meeting. It opened with a gospel sing-along, propelled by the rhythmic island-style music of Anointed Men of Prophecy from Love Fellowship, Miami Gardens.

Clergy of several traditions took turns with prayers and welcome speeches. Then came a procession of community leaders � civic, police, educational � to answer questions.

Consulting a 10-page program they had been handed at the door, the participants went through an agenda of three big concerns that had been researched over the previous year.

Violence was a big item, especially in Miami Gardens, where arrests more than tripled to 9,608 from 2008 to 2012. PACT urged police officials to set up Neighborhood Resource Offices � a kind of combination police station and social service office � in public parks. Such offices are already in the neighborhoods of Goulds, Perrine, Naranja and South Miami Heights.

Second item was youth arrests. Citing FBI data, PACT said 94 percent of youth arrests in Florida in 2012 were for non-violent offenses, giving young people criminal records even as children. PACT asked officials to help develop prevention and diversion programs to spare young offenders from criminal records that would handicap them for life.

Third item was out-of-school suspensions, which PACT has spotted as a major cause of juvenile crime. Of the 25,506 suspensions in Miami-Dade in the 2012-2013 school year, 95 percent were for minor reasons like tardiness or not wearing a uniform. PACT asked school officials to "research and address the lack of accountability" in the 10 county schools with the highest suspension rates.

Giving the latter presentation was Msgr. Chanel Jeanty, pastor of St. Philip Neri and chancellor and vicar general of the archdiocese, who said PACT's work falls firmly within Catholic social justice principles. He said the most vulnerable � people who are poor, black or Hispanic � are disproportionately affected by a legal and social system that isn't "checking itself."

"People feel like they're not treated fairly by those who are supposed to be representing them," he said in an interview. "We're looking for the common good, and we're wondering how common it is."

After each presentation, the relevant officials � such as Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert or Dorothy Bendross Mindingall of the Miami-Dade School Board � came to the lectern to answer some questions, which were projected onto big overhead screens. Whenever the official said "Yes," a red check appeared next to the question �and the crowd shouted "Let Justice Roll!"

The response was an echo of the prophetic Bible verse Amos 5:24: "But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."

Since the officials knew the questions in advance, the products of months of research and meetings, they usually gave a "Yes." Among the few exceptions was J.D. Patterson, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department. When he was asked to commit to publicizing schedules for police at the neighborhood centers, he said "Yes and No," causing murmurs in the audience.

Patterson explained that security concerns would make it risky to publish the names of officers and their hours at the offices. "We don�t want to limit ourselves," Patterson said. But he did promise to staff the offices as requested.

Nehemiah Action Assemblies try to balance mercy and justice, said Joan Lyons, co-president of the PACT executive committee. She cited another Bible verse, Micah 6:8: "What does the Lord require of you, but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God?"

"We do mercy well, but not justice," remarked Lyons, also a member of Christ the King Catholic Church in Miami. "We need all the faith communities and institutions to work together on this."

Although many parishioners are unaware of it, PACT and its causes have long enjoyed Catholic support. Since 1997, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development has given the organization more than $500,000 in grants.

PACT's counterpart in Broward County is BOLD Justice (Broward Organized Leaders Doing Justice), which also has received funding from the Campaign.

CCHD gets the funds it distributes by taking up a national collection each Sunday before Thanksgiving. In the archdiocese, it's used as seed money for small, promising community organizations that don't yet have the capacity to qualify for national grants, Ramjattan said.

As the assembly ended, some PACT members said they were happy about the turnout, but kept a skepticism about what they heard.

"Why did some officials come when they didn�t have authority (to make decisions)?" said Larry Winebrenner, a Miami Gardens resident who attends First United Methodist Church of Miami. "It was like saying they cared about us but didn�t want to commit. That was disappointing."

Keith Davis, a teaching minister from St. Peter's Missionary Baptist Church in Perrine, said he would have preferred more detail on what constituted preventive services for troubled children. "It could have been more in-depth and explanatory on what services do. If I have a child in trouble, who do I go to?"

Sheldon Vickers, a deacon at St. Peter's, was more philosophical. "We got some answers we were looking for. Now we've got to hold them accountable."