WASHINGTON -- By breaking his silence after weeks of media attacks, Sen. Barack Obama's former pastor may open the door for a needed dialogue on race and faith, said two noted Virginia ministers who heard him speak here yesterday.

A media blitz by the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. could prevent further misconstruing of the black religious experience, said the Rev. John D. Kinney, dean of the Virginia Union University theology school in Richmond.

"It was definitely to the point that unless he confronted the lies, the lies were going to continue to parade as truths," Kinney said.

At the National Press Club yesterday, Wright called criticism of his past sermons an attack on the black church and repeatedly accused the media of taking his words out of context.

"How long do you let someone talk about your faith tradition before you speak up?" Wright asked, referring to weeks of criticism and videos showing clips from some of his controversial sermons.

For instance, in one clip replayed frequently, Wright quoted a U.S. ambassador to Iraq as saying Sept. 11 was America's "chickens . . . coming home to roost."

Wright, who is retiring from Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, said he hoped a new dialogue would help people better understand the black religious tradition.

Wright's speech before reporters and a supportive audience of black church leaders beginning a two-day symposium at the press club was "a good educational moment," said the Rev. James Forbes, who was a pastor at St. John's United Holy Church of America in Richmond from 1965 to 1973 and campus minister at Virginia Union before moving to New York's Riverside Church.

"As we get ready to make selections of the leaders of our country, it's an important thing to see the context to know what the reality is," Forbes said.

Wright "views that there's never a bad time for the truth," Forbes said. "There could be an inconvenient time from the perspective of those who are running campaigns."

Rabbi Ben Romer of Congregation Or Ami in Chesterfield County, who heard some of Wright's remarks on television yesterday, said he would like to believe that the attacks on Wright's comments would lead to honest discussions about race and faith.

"Those who have attacked Reverend Jeremiah Wright have taken just about everything he has said out of context intentionally," Romer said.

"If you listen to what he has said from a religious standpoint. . . . it almost demands we sit down and talk about such issues."

The Rev. Ben Campbell, pastoral director of Richmond Hill Retreat Center in Richmond, said: "We need to pray that people find this as an opportunity to learn.

"How is it that a man who was a Marine that volunteered to be a medic . . . the most dangerous duty there is. . . . that folks would not give this man the credit he has earned?" Campbell said.

"And then really ask honest questions about who he is and what the church is doing? It's amazing how few people have bothered to find out." Contact Neil H. Simon at (202) 662-7669 or nsimon@timesdispatch.com.

Staff writer Robin Farmer contributed to this report.