Cardinal Tobin calls for prayers to ‘end gun violence now’
Bishop Mark Spalding of Nashville is calling for prayers for the victims and families of the latest school shooting in the U.S. The shooting, which occurred on Monday, March 27, resulted in the death of three children, three adult staff, and the 28-year-old shooter at Covenant Presbyterian school in Nashville, Tenn.
Bishop Spalding celebrated a 5:30 p.m. Mass on March 27 at the Cathedral of the Incarnation to pray for the victims of the school shooting in the city’s Green Hills neighborhood where it happened. Nearly 150 people attended, according to reports by OSV.
In his homily, Bishop Spalding noted that the word ‘lament’ had been a frequent one on his mind throughout the day.
“Lament is a prayer or a poem or a song in which we cry out to God in our suffering and in our pain,” he said, “and we tell him, ‘Here is my hurt, here is my anger, here is my frustration, here is my woundedness and my weakness. Help me God. Help me in this moment.’
“And God will,” he concluded. “So, let us go through this Mass offering up our prayers, asking God to pour even more love into our hearts so that we can, in so many ways, embrace this hurting community around us.
“God, through the gift of your Son, you have brought life to the world. Send him into our hearts at this time, and as we pray for those family and friends of the lost, may they never forget our love for them that we show in the name of Jesus, Lord, Savior, victor over sin and death.”
Following the Mass, Pope Francis sent a telegram to Bishop Spalding published by the Holy See Press Office today, March 29.
The telegram, sent by the Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin on behalf of Pope Francis, stated that the Pope is “deeply saddened to learn of the recent shooting at the covenant school in Nashville. His holiness Pope Francis asks you to convey his heartfelt condolences and the assurance of his prayers to all affected by this senseless act of violence. He joins the entire community in mourning the children and adults who died and commends them to the loving embrace of the Lord Jesus. He likewise invokes the consolation and strength of the Holy Spirit upon the grieving families and prays that they will be confirmed in their faith in the power of the risen Lord to heal every hurt and to bring good out of unspeakable evil.”
Not long after the Pope’s statement, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, tweeted, “The Catholic community in northern New Jersey joins Pope Francis in offering our prayers for all our sisters and brothers in Nashville. We deplore the senseless actions that have once again taken the lives of innocent children and adults. We pray for an end to gun violence now.”
The shooter, who the police identified as Audrey E. Hale, was an ex-student at the private Pre-K-6th grade Christian school. Police later said Hale was transgender.
The victims include three 9-year-old students: Evelyn Dieckhaus, William Kinney, and Hallie Scruggs, the daughter of the lead church pastor Chad Scruggs.
Also killed were Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute teacher; Katherine Koonce, the 60-year-old head of the school; and Mike Hill, a 61-year-old custodian.
According to the police, Hale was armed with three guns, including a semi-automatic rifle. The suspect drove to the school and got in by firing through one of the school doors, which were all locked. She had drawn detailed maps of the school, police said, including the entry points to the building.
According to police, Hale was under a doctor’s care for emotional disorder and bought seven firearms legally. Her parents have stated that they felt their daughter should not own weapons, police said.
Last summer after multiple mass shootings, including at a school in Uvalde, Texas; a supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y.; a church in Laguna Woods, Cali.; and hospitals in Dallas, Texas, and Tulsa Okla., four U.S. Catholic Conference Bishop chairmen wrote to Congress expressing their grief and calling on members of Congress to “unite in our humanity to stop the massacres of innocent lives.”
“There is something deeply wrong with a culture where these acts of violence are increasingly common. There must be dialogue followed by concrete action to bring about a broader social renewal that addresses all aspects of the crisis, including mental health, the state of families, the valuation of life, the influence of entertainment and gaming industries, bullying, and the availability of firearms. Among the many steps toward addressing this endemic of violence is the passage of reasonable gun control measures. In this, we implore you to join the Holy Father who, in his continued expression of grief over the tragedy in Texas, declared, ‘It is time to say “no more” to the indiscriminate trafficking of weapons.’”
The attack was the 19th shooting at an American school or university in 2023 in which at least one person was wounded.
Katie Peterson of OVS contributed to this article.
Featured image: Signs placed by children from St. Paul Christian Academy are displayed along the street in Nashville, Tenn., March 28, in remembrance of the victims of a deadly shooting at the Covenant School. Three adults and three children, all age 9, were fatally shot March 27. (OSV News photo/Austin Anthony, Reuters)
