After the tragic shooting at Catholic school/church, Minnesota parents display school desks at state capitol to measure the loss

 

Empty school desks on Minnesota Capitol grounds signify children lost to gun violence

written by Joe Ruff 

Jackie Flavin, mother of Harper Moyski, who died in the Aug. 27, 2025, shooting at Annunciation Church in south Minneapolis, carries a desk she and other Annunciation volunteers were setting up on the grounds of the Minnesota Capitol Feb. 23, 2026, to signify children who have died by gun violence in Minnesota since 2021. They are part of an organization of parents called Annunciation Light Alliance, which is lobbying to protect children from gun violence. (OSV News photo/Dave Hrbacek, The Catholic Spirit)

ST. PAUL, Minn. (OSV News) — They were preparing for three days of presence and legislative testimony as they seek gun safety laws. The desks represented more than 200 Minnesota children lost to gun violence since 2021, the group said.

Jackie Flavin — the mother of Harper Moyski, a 10-year-old student who died in an Aug. 27 shooting during an all-school Mass at Annunciation Church in south Minneapolis — helped spearhead the lobbying effort through an organization of parents called Annunciation Light Alliance.

Two school desks inside Capitol

The shooting also took the life of 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and wounded more than a dozen other students and three adults. In their honor, Flavin set up two desks inside the Capitol building: one for her daughter and one for Fletcher, with their backpacks and school-related things. She included her daughter’s photo, a soccer ball, slip-on shoes, papers and a pencil cup.

Flavin’s husband, Mike Moyski, also helped set up the desks in 20-degree weather on the snow-filled Capitol grounds. The desks were expected to be in place through Feb. 26.

“My hope is that all this brings some meaning into the big decisions that are being made as the (legislative) session takes shape Feb. 17 through May,” Moyski told The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. “We hope that as legislators — Democrat, Republican, whatever it might be — as they walk in and enter the session every morning, they see … the impact” gun violence “has on communities and families and think about what they’re doing.”

‘Not just for legislators to see’

“And just one other thing,” Moyski said. “It’s not just for the legislators to see this and find some meaning. I think it’s also for all of our kids who have been through something at a young age they should never have (had) to. To see that somebody’s out here doing something about it and that there can be some light amongst all the darkness.”

Jackie Flavin, mother of Harper Moyski, who died in the Aug. 27, 2025, shooting at Annunciation church in south Minneapolis, looks at desks she set up Feb. 23, 2026, in honor of Harper and another Annunciation student, Fletcher Merkel, who also died in the shooting. Flavin and other Annunciation volunteers set up those two desks plus others outside to signify children who have died by gun violence in Minnesota since 2021. They are part of an organization of parents called Annunciation Light Alliance, which is lobbying to protect children from gun violence. (OSV News photo/Dave Hrbacek, The Catholic Spirit)

In addition to testimony, Annunciation students in grades six through eight participated in a sing-along in the Capitol rotunda Feb. 24. Another sing-along was planned for Feb. 26 with Annunciation students in grades three through five.

“We gather in song and shared humanity to bring care and presence into the space where public decisions are made,” said a flyer advertising what Annunciation Light Alliance billed as “Minnesota Sing Together” community gatherings.

Kristen Neville and her husband, Michael Burt, were among those helping set up the desks. 

Annunciation Light Alliance

Parents of five children at Annunciation, they have been involved with Annunciation Light Alliance since the effort began taking shape in the weeks after the shooting as parents concerned about gun violence contacted one another. Ideas began to solidify in September, Neville said.

“We established what our overall structure was, established a leadership team, task forces. And then we ended up determining our mission, our vision, and our values, and ultimately landed on a name — Annunciation Light Alliance,” Neville said.

The alliance has about 160 members, and its leadership team of about 20 people meets once a week, including co-chairs Neville and Brittany Haeg, Neville said. Quarterly meetings draw about 80 people in person and online, she said. People can learn more at the group’s website at annunciationlight.org.

‘Help keep our kids safe’

Lisa Shepherd, communications director for the alliance, said its members hope to “get all the right people at the right table. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you believe in, just come up with the right solution to keep our kids safe at the end of the day.”

On Feb. 24, Gov. Tim Walz, who urged a special session to address gun violence shortly after the shooting at Annunciation, announced what he called a comprehensive gun violence prevention package.

The proposals included banning military-style assault rifles and high-capacity magazines; requiring safe storage and reporting of lost or stolen firearms; not allowing Minnesotans to possess guns without serial numbers; implementing a firearm insurance requirement; establishing a firearm and ammunition tax; and expanding early intervention resources, including school resources, to prevent gun violence.

Three-tiered approach to gun violence

The Minnesota Catholic Conference — the public policy arm of the state’s Catholic bishops — has suggested a three-tiered approach to gun violence in this legislative session.

Its proposals include banning high-capacity ammunition magazines and expanding safe schools funding to at least $100 per student in state aid while extending eligibility to nonpublic, charter and tribal schools. 

The Catholic conference also suggests increasing state aid and school-board approved levy authority to ensure school districts have sustainable resources to meet safety needs; and stopping the harms of addictive social media by requiring parental consent for children under 16 years old to join social media platforms. If consent is given, the legislation would prohibit targeted advertising and addictive features and require privacy settings for children that help parents monitor and limit use.

Annunciation eighth-grader’s story

During a Feb. 24 news conference to announce Walz’s gun violence prevention package, Annunciation Catholic School eighth-grader Lydia Kaiser spoke to those assembled, describing being in church for “the first school Mass of the year when a gunman fired 116 rounds of bullets through the stained-glass windows.”

“Two students were shot and killed. Two students survived gunshot injuries to the head. I’m one of them,” she said. “Many more students were injured by bullets and flying glass. We all hid under the pews. The older students covered the younger students to protect them.”

Lydia was taken to the hospital “and rushed into surgery.” “The doctor moved a large piece, almost half of my skull, to let my brain swell, and to remove bone and bullet fragments from my head,” she said. “I had a second surgery three weeks later to put the piece of my skull back in my head.”

“All children have the right to live free from gun violence in schools, churches and in our communities,” Lydia said. “Elected officials have a duty to protect us from guns. No one should have to go through what we went through at Annunciation. Thank you.”

Joe Ruff is editor-in-chief of The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Contributing to this story was Rebecca Omastiak, the news editor at The Catholic Spirit. This story was originally published by The Catholic Spirit and distributed through a partnership with OSV News.

First Sunday Mass at Annunciation Parish after the tragic shooting

 

Annunciation pastor: First parish Mass after church shooting is a ‘humble beginning’

• Joe Ruff
• August 31, 2025

Father Dennis Zehren, pastor of Annunciation in Minneapolis, and Archbishop Bernard Hebda talk with the media at the parish school Aug. 30, before the first Mass for the parish since the Aug. 27 shooting at an all-school Mass at the now-desecrated church next door. The Aug. 30 Mass was held in the school auditorium. JOE RUFF | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Recalling the fear and the cries from students, parents and school staff to “get low, stay down, stay down, don’t get up” as bullets tore through Annunciation church at an all-school Mass in Minneapolis, Father Denniz Zehren, the pastor, said it marked a new beginning.

Four days after the now-desecrated church remained closed, the auditorium in the parish school next door was filled with more than 400 people on Aug. 30, hugging, talking, crying and even smiling.

They were celebrating the first weekend Mass since the attack Aug. 27 that killed two students at the elementary school, wounded 15 others and three adults, as Father Zehren was presiding. The suspected shooter was found dead at the scene of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda concelebrated the Mass, and Deacon Kevin Conneely, who ministers at the parish and also was at the all-school Mass, assisted and read the Gospel. It drew people not only from the parish, but from other parts of the archdiocese, including Paul and Maggie Wratkowski and their three children of St. Cecilia in St. Paul.

“We’re here to support the Catholic community, the people that are here,” Paul Wratkowski said. “God wants us to thrive in community and support and love one another.”

But at this Mass, members of the congregation were not in the pews to which they had grown accustomed, Father Zehren said. They were in folding chairs, with the sanctuary on the auditorium’s stage. And they were still wrestling with the tragedy that had unfolded.

“It’s clear to us all here at Annunciation that we will be sitting in a different pew for a long time to come because of what happened,” Father Zehren said in his homily, as the church remained close and must be reconsecrated before it can be used again for worship.

The Scriptures for the day point to humility, Father Zehren said. Jesus encourages his listeners in the Gospel passage from Luke to avoid taking the seat of honor at a banquet feast. Rather, take the lowest place.

“My good people of Annunciation, my good people of Minneapolis and beyond, we are in a very low place,” the pastor said. “We are in a lower place than we could have ever imagined. We can look around and see that this is not our normal seat. This is not where we usually gather, not in our usual worship space.”

At the same time, they were seated in the high school auditorium where Masses had been held for decades before the new church was built in 1961, Father Zehren said.

“Jesus speaks about humility, so we come back to our humble beginnings,” Father Zehren said. “That’s what this day represents. It’s a humble beginning. … It’s a call to begin again. The tricky part about the virtue of humility is that we don’t always get to choose the seating chart.”

At times, people get the seat of honor, or a seat where they are comfortable, with “all sorts of nice cushions,” the priest said.

“But sometimes we have to sit in the dust,” he said. “It’s a very humbling seat. I know the best thing we can do is just sit there for a while. … Jesus says, ‘Can you just sit with me here, in the dust? Because that’s where he is. It’s the same dust that Jesus fell in when he was carrying the cross. It’s the same dust that he bled in. Jesus said, ‘Can you just come sit with me and sit in this humble place?”

“That was the very first message we heard on Wednesday morning, when the first bullet came through the window, and the voices crying out, “Down, down. Get low, stay down, stay down, don’t get up,” Father Zehren said, his voice breaking with emotion.

“But when we were down there, in that low place, Jesus showed us something,” he said. “He showed us, ‘I am the Lord even here. I am the one who descended into hell. I am the one who had taken on all the darkness and evil in this world, all the forces of darkness and death and evil.’ Jesus pointed and he said, ‘Can’t you see how weak it is? Can’t you see how desperate it is? Can’t you see that this can never last? Can’t you see that this is not why God created us?’

“Then he showed us. He began to show us a light. It’s a new light. The light of a new day is breaking,” Father Zehren said. “We watch for that light of a new day. … That light of the world is Jesus Christ.”

“It reminds us, when death and darkness have done their worst, that’s when God says, ‘Now see what I will do,’” Father Zehren said.

From left, Mallory O’Brien and her family, Mollie, Finley, Conor, Emmett, and husband, Sean, at Annunciation school’s playground after the Aug. 30 Mass. The O’Briens said the parish will recover after the Aug. 27 shooting. JOE RUFF | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Annunciation parishioners Sean O’Brien, his wife, Mallory, and their four children were at the Aug. 30 Mass. Sean O’Brien was at the all-school Mass as well, with their 2-year-old daughter, when the shooting occurred. Their fourth grader and first grader were in the pews. Their preschooler was in the church basement. None of them were injured.

“I think capturing how we all felt in such a strong way from the pulpit, it’s really meaningful to have a leader (Father Zehren) who can speak to that emotion,” said O’Brien, a lifelong member of the parish, where his late grandparents were members and his mother attended school. His grandfather, Tom Dolan, was a deacon in the archdiocese.

“I came in here optimistic that this community would rebuild, and I now have never been more certain of anything in my life,” he said. “I can’t wait to see what the Lord will do now.”

Archbishop Hebda asking for prayers and action after the Annunciation School shooting

 

Archbishop Hebda after Catholic school shooting: We ask for your prayers and action, rooted in hope

written by Maria Wiering 

Families and loved reunite following a shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis Aug. 27, 2025. A shooter opened fire with a rifle through the windows of a the school's church and struck children celebrating Mass during the first week of school, killing two and wounding 17 people in an act of violence the police chief called “absolutely incomprehensible.” (OSV News photo/Dave Hrbacek, The Catholic Spirit)

ST. PAUL, Minn. (OSV News) — Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda told media Aug. 27 that prayers offered from around the United States and world, including from Pope Leo XIV, have been “a source of hope” following that morning’s school shooting during Mass at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis that left two children dead and 17 other victims injured.

“Brothers and sisters, we have to be men and women of hope,” said the archbishop, who leads the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. “It’s through prayer and that ‘prayer of the feet’ — through action — that we can indeed make a difference.”

Archbishop Hebda joined Annunciation Catholic School Principal Matt DeBoer and other city and state leaders in a media briefing outside Annunciation Catholic School and the adjacent Annunciation Catholic Church. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara were present and also spoke at the afternoon press conference.

Speaking as the church bells tolled, Archbishop Hebda noted that “the bell in a Catholic church is always a call to prayer. … It’s a reminder to be praying.”

He commended DeBoer, Annunciation’s pastor Father Dennis Zehren, and Deacon Kevin Conneely for “how valiant” they and their staff were in responding to the tragic school shooting.

“How sad it is … not only for the families who are directly involved, but indeed for families everywhere who feel the threat that comes from an event, a tragedy like today’s,” he said.

Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis is pictured in a 2019 file photo. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)

Archbishop Hebda read in full that day’s message from Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, that expressed Pope Leo’s prayers and “spiritual closeness” to the victims.

“We know that the Holy Father, Pope Leo, did his hospital training right here in Minneapolis, so he knows our community, and he’s been reminding anybody visiting from Minnesota that he spent some time here,” he said. “We’re very grateful for his blessing, but I … ask that you would continue to look for those ways of supporting those who have been impacted today, not only with your prayers, but also with your action.”

A 23-year-old gunman shot from the outside of the church through windows at the Mass attendees with a rifle, shotgun and pistol, killing two children, ages 8 and 10, before committing suicide. Among the 17 injured were 14 children, all expected to survive. Three adults who were shot were parishioners in their 80s.

School shooting could have been worse

Speaking immediately before Archbishop Hebda, DeBoer commended his staff for their actions during the school shooting and told his school community, “I love you.”

“You’re so brave, and I’m so sorry this happened to us today. Within seconds of this situation beginning, our teachers were heroes,” he said. “Children were ducked down. Adults were protecting children. Older children were protecting younger children, and … it could have been significantly worse without their heroic action.

“This is a nightmare,” he continued, “but we call our staff the dream team and we will recover from this. We will rebuild from this. … We as a community have a responsibility to make sure that no child, no parent, no teacher ever has to experience what we’ve experienced today.”

Condolences, prayers, solidarity mixed with grief; reactions to yesterday's shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School Mass

 

Shooting at Annunciation Church, which is also home to an elementary school, in Minneapolis (Tim Evans

Church

• United States
• violence
• children
• catholic church

Church in US in mourning following Minneapolis tragedy

The church in the United States expresses its grief and condolences following Wednesday's tragedy in Minneapolis, where a young man opened fire during Mass at Annunciation Catholic School. The attack resulted in the deaths of two children and around seventeen injured before the shooter took his own life.

Vatican News

Messages of condolence, solidarity and prayer have poured into the community in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the United States where a young man opened fire on Wednesday during Mass before the start of classes at Annunciation Catholic School. Two children died in the attack and seventeen others sustained injuries, according to initial reports, while the shooter took his own life.

Cardinal de Mendonça offers heartfelt condolences

Read also

27/08/2025

Pope Leo expresses sorrow over shooting at Catholic school in Minneapolis

Upon hearing the terrible news, Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, sent a telegram to Minneapolis Archbishop Bernard Hebda, expressing his “heartfelt condolences" over the deaths of the two children during the celebration of Mass.  The message assured the community of "fervent prayers for the victims and their families" and "spiritual closeness to the entire community affected." Cardinal de Mendonça noted how this heartbreaking incident shows the need for Catholic education to renew its efforts in the face of today’s challenges "in order to continue building a culture of fraternity, founded on a peace that is both unarmed and disarming.”

Cardinal Cupich prays for victims, urges action

In a statement issued on Wednesday 27 August, Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, said "we join our prayers with others that those injured in body and spirit will heal and that the murdered children will be received into heaven, we must also cry out for action to prevent even one more such tragedy." Noting sadly that such shootings and violence have become commonplace, this incident "hits close to home" since it occurred at a Catholic school and the gunman shot through the windows of a church where the children and their teachers were at prayer to mark the start of the school year. He writes: "If any place should have been safe, it should have been there. If any time should have been safe, it should have been then. Tragically, we know no place or time when Americans – even children – are safe from the curse of gun violence."

Cardinal Cupich encouraged offering prayers for "those who hold the power to make the safety of our people a national priority," and for "God to give them the courage to take the steps they know will alleviate if not eliminate the fear parents must feel sending their children off to school...surely they must be moved by these shootings. We pray that they will not see them as inevitable because then we will have certainly surrendered our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Cardinal Tobin prays for comfort to the grieving

Cardinal Joseph Tobin, Archbishop of Newark, urged the faithful to join him in prayer for all those affected by the tragic shooting at Annunciation Catholic School, noting how "what should have been a joyful beginning to a new academic year was instead shattered by senseless violence." In a a message posted online, he said, "we hold close in prayer the children, families, teachers and parish community of Annunciation" and that "no child should ever face fear in a place of learning and worship, and no parent should endure the loss of a child to violence." In conclusion, he writes, "May Christ our Redeemer bring comfort to the grieving and peace to all who mourn."

Cardinal Dolan, solidarity with the victims

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, in a social media post, expressed profound sadness over the attack, writing, "once again, we are shocked and horrified by the news of another senseless shooting, this time all the more disturbing because it happened at a Catholic church and school, which should always be sanctuaries of peace. We mourn the two innocent children whose lives were cut short by this dreadful tragedy and hold in our intentions the seventeen wounded." He added, "we join in compassionate solidarity with the countless families of the city of Minneapolis, Annunciation Catholic school, and beyond who have been touched by an unthinkable grief caused by mind-numbing gun violence which has become all too common. We pray for an end to all violence in our hearts, in our communities, and in our world."

Breaking tragic news: shooting at Minneapolis Catholic Church; 2 children killed, multiple injuries; Pope Leo XIV informed

 

Shooting at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis, USA  (ANSA)

World

• United States
• violence
• catholic church

Pope Leo expresses sorrow over shooting at Catholic school in Minneapolis where two children killed

Pope Leo expresses profound sorrow over the murder of two children and the injuring of 14 others at the Annunciation Catholic church and school complex in Minneapolis, USA.

Vatican News

Pope Leo XIV has expressed his profound sorrow upon learning of the loss of life and injuries following the shooting that took place at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the US. In a telegram sent to Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Minneapolis, the Pope, expressed "his heartfelt condolences and the assurance of spiritual closeness to all those affected by this terrible tragedy, especially the families now grieving the loss of a child."

The telegram, sent in the name of Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, continues, "while commending the souls of the deceased children to the love of Almighty God, His Holiness prays for the wounded as well as the first responders, medical personnel and clergy who are caring for them and their loved ones. At this extremely difficult time, the Holy Father imparts to the Annunciation Catholic School Community, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and the people of the greater twin cities metropolitan area his Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of peace, fortitude and consolation in the Lord Jesus."

A man opened fire on worshippers gathered at the Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, the largest city of the state of Minnesota in the United States. The attack occurred at 8:30 in the morning local time during a back-to-school mass. The complex also houses a school attended by children from preschool to middle school.

Only several hours after the shooting did police report that at least two children, aged 8 and 10, were killed, and another 14 were injured. The shooter is believed to have committed suicide. According to local media, at least six of the injured children were taken to hospitals.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz in a post on X said, "I’ve been briefed on a shooting at Annunciation Catholic School and will continue to provide updates as we get more information. The BCA and State Patrol are on scene. I’m praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence."

Speaking on Truth Social media, US President Donald Trump said, "I have been fully briefed on the tragic shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota...the FBI quickly responded and they are on the scene. The White House will continue to monitor this terrible situation. Please join me in praying for everyone involved!"

The motive behind the attack that took place is still unknown.

In the 12 hours preceding the shooting at Annunciation School in southwest Minneapolis, there had been 12 other shootings in the city, resulting in eight people injured and three killed, according to the local police department. “The level of gun violence in the city in recent hours is deeply disturbing,” the department commented.

New Bishop Appointment in Minnesota

 

Pope Francis Names Next St. Paul – Minneapolis Auxiliary Bishop 

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (OSV News) — Pope Francis named Father Michael John Izen, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis who has ministered in parishes and as a pastor in his nearly 18 years of priesthood, as the next auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese.

Bishop-elect Izen, 55, will serve with Archbishop Bernard Hebda and Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Williams to lead the church in a 12-county metropolitan area that encompasses the Twin Cities and is home to about 725,000 Catholics.

His ordination is scheduled for April 11 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.

“I was surprised, humbled, and a little terrified when I received the call from the Apostolic Nuncio (Archbishop Christophe Pierre), informing me that Pope Francis had appointed me as an auxiliary bishop,” Bishop-elect Izen said. “Archbishop Hebda has been very supportive and reassuring since I first received the news — very fatherly. I look forward to being an extension of him to our archdiocese and serving and being present to the people of God.”

Archbishop in Minnesota calls for prayers for justice & peace

 

Archbishop Hebda encourages prayers, peace after fatal police shooting

Joe Ruff April 13, 2021

Family members, friends and other members of the community gather at a memorial put up at the site in Brooklyn Center, Minn., April 12, 2021, where Daunte Wright was shot by a Brooklyn Center police officer and died April 11 during a traffic stop. (CNS photo/Dave Hrbacek, The Catholic Spirit)

ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) — After a night of protests and vandalism April 11 in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, following the police shooting of Daunte Wright, Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis urged prayers for justice and peace.

“I hope that as a community, we might be able to pause and pray, particularly during this time of already heightened tension due to the Chauvin trial,” the archbishop said in an April 12 statement referring to the current trial in Minneapolis of former Police Officer Derek Chauvin over the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd while he was in police custody.

“I am encouraged and inspired by the pleas for peace that have continued to come from the family of George Floyd” over the Wright shooting, he added.

At a news conference April 12, Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said it appeared from police body camera video the officer accidentally fired her gun while intending to use her Taser. The officer was later identified as Kim Potter, a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center Police Department.

Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was hit by a single bullet after officers stopped him for a traffic violation because the car he was driving had expired registration tags but officers then discovered that he had an outstanding warrant.

According to news reports, a struggle ensued as an officer on the driver side of the vehicle began to handcuff Wright, who jumped back into the driver’s seat and was shot.

The local medical examiner said Wright “died of a gunshot wound of the chest.”

Potter has been placed on administrative leave.

The incident triggered confrontations April 11 and 12 with police and looting in the city. The Minnesota National Guard and State Patrol were called to assist Brooklyn Center police officers. A dusk-to-dawn curfew was ordered April 12 in four surrounding counties.

St. Alphonsus Church, about three miles away from the incident, and its immediate neighborhood was largely peaceful, but vandals hit a mini-mall about two blocks away, causing some damage, said Redemptorist Father John Schmidt, pastor.

The parish school was closed April 12, following the direction of the Brooklyn Center public schools, said the principal, Kari Staples.

A pastoral council meeting scheduled for the evening of April 13 is to include discussion of the parish’s response to the shooting and resulting violence, Father Schmidt told The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. He added that he would really like the parish to “spend some time in prayer.”

In his statement, Archbishop Hebda offered his condolences to Wright’s family and friends “for the loss of their son, father, brother and friend.”

“I have also been praying for his eternal repose, for his family and for all those who loved him. Daunte was created by God in his image and likeness and for a ‘definite purpose,’ as St. John Henry Newman wrote, and we grieve the loss of his young life.”

The archbishop said he also is “praying for the Brooklyn Center Police Officer involved in the shooting, and for her family and friends. I suspect that they are grieving in a different way.”

He said early indications point toward the shooting being accidental, but he encouraged people to allow investigators to complete their work before coming to any personal judgments as to what occurred.

“As I did last month when the (Chauvin) trial began, I ask that all of us take time daily to pray for justice, but also for peace in our families and in our communities,” he added.

Ruff is news editor of The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.