After 18 people were shot and killed by a gunman across multiple locations in Lewiston, Maine, late on Oct. 25, Bishop Robert Deeley of Portland, Maine, is calling for prayers for the victims of the attacks and the law enforcement officials who’ve responded.
Two North Carolina pastors told OSV News their parish security plans were put to a real-life test when an active shooting unfolded nearby — and safety and mental health ministries are serving as a model for other churches, said lay leaders.
A Florida Catholic bishop condemned a racially motivated shooting that took place late Aug. 26 at a Dollar General store Aug. 26 in Jacksonville, saying, “Violence and bigotry have no place in our hearts or our society.”
Following a July 2 mass shooting in which two people were killed and another 28 injured at a block party in the South Baltimore community of Brooklyn, Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori asked for prayers for the victims and the city.
On the one-year anniversary of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio, standing at the pulpit of the town’s lone Catholic church, reminded the community that faith and unity are essential to move forward.
Bishop David Konderla of the Diocese of Tulsa has requested prayer for all involved in a mass shooting at a medical office building near the city’s Saint Francis Hospital, which has left five dead, including the gunman.
San Jose Bishop Oscar Cantú urged prayers for the victims and their families after a gunman opened fire the morning of May 26 at a rail yard operated by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, or VTA, north of downtown San Jose.
Bishop Oscar Solis of Salt Lake City gets the sense that people want to “shortcut” the result of eliminating and eradicating racism, and don’t put in the effort necessary to create change.
Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver, Colorado, said “senseless acts of violence” have become far too common in the country and his state.
According to a study from Harvard University’s School of Public Health, since 2011, public shootings in the U.S. have tripled in their frequency. More than three-quarters of the guns used in the rampages were acquired legally.
