From The New York Times:
“We are stronger together.” “We are spirit strong.” “A future filled with hope!”
Messages of support and unity covered the grounds of Annunciation Catholic Church in south Minneapolis as dozens of people filed into a nearby school auditorium for Saturday Mass. There were bouquets, teddy bears and shared embraces. A memorial filled with candles, handwritten messages and drawings. A statue of the Virgin Mary, Joseph and Jesus that was punctured by bullet holes, but also adorned with flowers.
It was the church’s first Mass since an assailant gunned down worshipers during a back-to-school service on Wednesday, killing two children and injuring 18 others. When the attacker opened fire, schoolchildren inside ducked for safety between the wooden pews and tried to get as low to the ground as possible.
Three days later, it is difficult for members of this tight-knit community to feel like they have emerged at all from that lowest place, said the Rev. Dennis Zehren, the pastor at Annunciation, recalling the sound of gunfire raining down on the church Wednesday morning.
“That first bullet came through the window and the voices cried out, ‘Down. Down. Get low. Stay down. Stay down. Don’t get up,’” Father Zehren said at the Saturday evening Mass, his voice breaking. “My good people of Annunciation, my good people of Minneapolis and beyond, we are in a very low place. We are in a lower place than we could have ever imagined.”
In remarks to reporters before the Mass, Father Zehren and Archbishop Bernard Hebda acknowledged that some may have been surprised to see they were holding a Mass so soon after the tragedy. But both stressed the importance of providing a space where the community could grieve and heal together.
“I was speaking to one school family, and they said, ‘People here are just eerily restless to come together again,’” Father Zehren said. “They just want to be together. They want to pray.”
Archbishop Hebda said he had visited Hennepin County Medical Center, where many injured children were being treated, and medical workers stopped him to ask if the congregation could pray for them. He recalled one young girl he met at the hospital, who is expected to be released soon, telling him that on the day of the shooting, she held the hand of another student in an ambulance and the two prayed together.
“It’s that return to those things that are so familiar to us that I think is important,” Archbishop Hebda said. “We’re hoping that in this familiar context, that it might be a source of healing.”
Continue reading (gift article.)
UPDATE: Pope Leo addressed this subject — in English — following his Angelus prayers Sunday.
From Vatican News:
As Russia intensifies its attacks on cities across Ukraine, Pope Leo XIV has reiterated his appeal for an immediate ceasefire and serious efforts on behalf of dialogue.
“The voice of weapons must fall silent, and the voice of fraternity and justice must prevail,” said the Pope.
Speaking at the Sunday Angelus, the Pope renewed his closeness to the Ukrainian people, lamenting the continual destruction and death the war has caused.
He urged everyone to avoid succumbing to indifference but instead to draw near in prayer and concrete actions of charity, reiterating his call for a ceasefire.
“It is time for those in power to abandon the logic of weapons and to take up the path of negotiation and peace, with the support of the international community,” he said.
Switching to English, Pope Leo then prayed for the victims of the shooting at a Catholic school in the US city of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
“We include in our prayers the countless children killed and injured every day around the world,” he said. “Let us plead with God to stop the pandemic of arms, large and small, which infects our world.”
The Pope turned to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace, asking that she help humanity fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah: “They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks.”