Paying tribute to the Annunciation Parish shooting victims

 

Parish pays tribute to Annunciation shooting victims through sacred fresco

Through sacred art, a neighboring parish is paying tribute to the Annunciation parish community in Minneapolis after the deadly shooting last year.

Our Lady of Guadalupe with the unfinished fresco, left, and the completed Annunciation fresco, right. | Credit: Photo by Rámond Mitchell

By Kate Quiñones

August 27, 2026

When a deadly shooting devastated Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Aug. 27, 2025, a neighboring Catholic parish quietly provided support to the school, opening its doors for the parish school’s needs.

Now, Our Lady of Grace is memorializing that connection in a fresco by Minnesota-based artist Mark Balma.

Balma is in the process of painting two large frescoes at the altar of Our Lady of Grace. On the right, already finished, is an image of Mary and the angel at the Annunciation. Green and blue ribbons painted in the bottom-right corner pay tribute to the school and the community.

“In the centuries-old tradition of Catholic sacred art, images have always carried more than beauty — they carry the prayers, memories, and stories of the communities who create and encounter them,” Rámond Mitchell, director of liturgy for Our Lady of Grace, told EWTN News.

“Sacred art has a unique ability to hold memory, communicate faith, and invite people into prayer,” Mitchell continued.

“Because our two communities had walked so closely with one another through such a difficult time, we wanted to create a lasting remembrance within our own sacred space as a reminder of the people we accompanied, the lives that were forever changed, and the hope and faith that sustained us,” Mitchell said.

Meaning of the ribbons

Balma painted blue-and-green ribbons onto a vase within his Annunciation fresco as a tribute to the community of Annunciation Church and School.

Mitchell explained how blue-and-green ribbons were an important symbol to the community after the shooting.

“Following the shooting, people throughout the surrounding community tied blue-and-green ribbons to doors, trees, lampposts, fences, and other places as a visible sign of solidarity and remembrance,” Mitchell said.

“In the fresco, the ribbons are tied around a water jug beside Mary. We wanted the ribbons to feel integrated into the scene rather than separate from it,” Mitchell continued. “The water jug is an ordinary object, much like the ordinary details of daily life that surrounded Mary when the angel appeared to her.”

Close-up of Mark Balma’s Annunciation fresco. | Credit: Photo by Rámond Mitchell

“In that way, the ribbons become part of an ordinary moment that has been transformed by the presence of God and a reminder of the Annunciation community and of the sacredness of their lives and stories,” Mitchell continued.

Balma, who was in the Twin Cities at the time of the shooting, was asked to “find a way to honor the Annunciation community.”

“This tragedy really touched me, and I prayed for guidance at how to best honor the children and families,” Balma told EWTN News.

“As a painter I try to find within Scriptures a word or concept that might help me unlock a vision to reveal a fresh way to transform the words into images,” Balma said. “For instance, in the Annunciation fresco, the line ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord’ became the focal point of the imagery.”

“My concept for the Annunciation fresco is different than most historical depictions. They usually place an older-looking Mary in a room or cloister visited by Gabriel and the Holy Spirit,” Balma said. “As I studied the Scriptures, I found no reference to her being in a room.”

Balma pointed out that at the time of the Annunciation, Mary “was not that much older than the children” of Annunciation School.

“I imagined the 14-year-old Mary as carrying on her daily chores like going to the well for water,” Balma said. “So full of beautiful symbolism, the water vase then became the place I could attach the ribbons that were placed in the community in remembrance of the children.”

“Water is healing, and tying the ribbons around the vase seemed to be the heartfelt way to honor the children,” Balma said.

Sister communities

The community at Our Lady of Grace stepped up after the shooting; it was a tragedy that struck them deeply.

“Annunciation is not far from Our Lady of Grace, and there have long been many connections between our two communities,” Mitchell said. “Some of our parishioners attended Annunciation themselves, while others have children or grandchildren who attended the school. Our teachers knew teachers there, and some members of our parish community were neighbors or friends of students, staff, and families affected by the shooting.”

“Because of those relationships, the tragedy was felt very deeply at Our Lady of Grace,” Mitchell said. “In the aftermath, our parish and school community was able to offer a place of safety, hospitality, prayer, and support. Our campus became a place where members of the Annunciation community could simply be together when so much of their world had been disrupted.”

The principal of Annunciation was present at the live painting session when Balma painted the ribbons into the fresco, which was a particularly significant moment, Mitchell said.

“Having members of the Annunciation community participate in and witness the creation of the work has made the memorial even more meaningful,” Mitchell said.

USCCB President calls for Holy Hour in wake of the violence in Minneapolis

Catholic bishops' conference president calls for Holy Hour after Minneapolis DHS killings

(RNS) — ‘The current climate of fear and polarization, which thrives when human dignity is disregarded, does not meet the standard set by Christ in the Gospel,’ wrote Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley.

People gather during a vigil for 37-year-old Alex Pretti, who was killed by U.S. immigration agents earlier in the day, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Aleja Hertzler-McCain

January 28, 2026

(RNS) — Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, called for bishops and priests in Catholic churches across the country to hold a Holy Hour of prayer for peace as killings by federal agents have caused national concern about the Trump administration’s mass deportation effort. 

Elected to lead the bishops’ conference in November, Coakley made his most robust remarks thus far on the impact of the administration’s agenda in the Wednesday (Jan. 28) statement, signaling growing discomfort among Catholic leaders with current immigration policy and Department of Homeland Security tactics in carrying it out. In the past week, the archbishops of Los Angeles and Minneapolis have also spoken out.

“The recent killing of two people by immigration enforcement officers in Minneapolis and that of a detained man in Texas, are just a few of the tragic examples of the violence that represent failures in our society to respect the dignity of every human life,” Coakley wrote, referring to the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti and the death of Geraldo Lunas Campos while he was detained in a facility near El Paso. Lunas Campos’ death, after agents held him down and he stopped breathing, has been ruled a homicide. “We mourn this loss of life and deplore the indifference and injustice it represents.”

The suggested Holy Hour will involve prayer in front of the Eucharist, often also called the Blessed Sacrament, in which Catholics believe Jesus is present in the consecrated bread and wine.

Coakley called on Catholics to pray “for reconciliation where there is division, for justice where there are violations of fundamental rights, and for consolation for all who feel overwhelmed by fear or loss,” whether they gather in a parish or chapel or pray privately.

“The current climate of fear and polarization, which thrives when human dignity is disregarded, does not meet the standard set by Christ in the Gospel,” he wrote.

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A relatively conservative member of the bishops’ conference, Coakley serves as an ecclesiastical adviser to the Napa Institute, an influential group of conservative Catholics whose co-founder last year called the Trump administration “the most Christian I’ve ever seen.” On Jan. 12, Coakley met with President Donald Trump, marking the first time a USCCB president had met with a U.S. president in nearly a decade. Two days later, the administration proposed a change to a current rule that requires foreign priests and other religious workers on an R-1 visa to leave the U.S. for a year before it will be renewed.

Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, meets with President Donald Trump at the White House on Jan. 12, 2026. (Official White House Photo)

In Wednesday’s statement, Coakley praised Catholics and other “people of good will” for working for peace and justice. “While proper laws must be respected, works of mercy, peacefully assembling, and caring for those in your community are signs of hope, and they build peace more surely than anger or despair ever could,” he wrote.

On Tuesday, Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, the country’s largest archdiocese, called for Congress to pass bipartisan immigration reform through the Dignity Act, which was first introduced in the House in 2022. “Right now our government seems to be treating undocumented immigrants — men, women, and children — as if they have no rights,” Gomez said in a statement. “The root cause of the current crisis is the country’s broken immigration system.”

Saying that U.S. residents’ “rights do not depend on the decisions of government officials or law enforcement officers; we do not lose our rights based on the color of our skin, or the language we speak, or for not having the proper documents,” Gomez argued that lawmakers should limit deportations to “violent criminals or those guilty of other serious offenses” and that it is not in the national interest to deport people who contribute “to the good of our society.”

He objected to the many deportations that leave children without their parents. “Surely, we can find another way to hold these men and women accountable for breaking our laws,” he wrote.

Gomez’s advocacy for comprehensive immigration reform echoed an op-ed by St. Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop Bernard Hebda that appeared earlier in The Wall Street Journal, though Hebda lauded 2013 immigration reform legislation that ultimately failed, while Gomez specifically pointed to the Dignity Act, which has also been supported by prominent Latino evangelical groups.

While providing support for border enforcement, the Dignity Act would require asylum cases to be decided within 60 days and provide “humanitarian campuses” managed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the border where asylum-seekers would await their court dates. It would also allow immigrants without legal status who have been in the country at least five years to earn legal status by paying a fine, passing a criminal background check and being employed or going to school.

Gomez wrote: “There is much to improve in this legislation, but it is a genuine, good-faith starting point. And we need to start somewhere. And we need to start now.”

The Los Angeles archbishop noted Congress has not yet held hearings on the Dignity Act, but “I hope that changes soon.”

Gomez, who in a 2021 speech called “new social justice movements” “pseudo-religious,” described the current conflicts arising from immigration enforcement as involving “all sides.”

“I hope all sides in this conflict — federal authorities, city and state officials, and those protesting the enforcement actions — will take a step back in the interests of the common good,” he wrote. “We are caught in a dangerous pattern of angry rhetoric, provocations, and violence. It needs to stop.”

Some U.S. prelates have put the responsibility for recent violence more squarely on federal agents. Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, called for members of Congress to vote against a bill that includes new funding for the Department of Homeland Security. El Paso, Texas, Bishop Mark Seitz wrote that the U.S. had become “a bully state.”

Each bishop is confronting unique immigration conditions in his own diocese, potentially shaping how each responds. Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski held a press conference Tuesday with several Catholic and secular groups to warn against the planned expiration of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians on Feb. 3. Miami has a significant Haitian population.

“We should not force Haitians into a crisis in Haiti, or create a crisis here forcing them out of their jobs,” Wenski said. “They’re not violating the laws, they’re documented.”

So far, beyond their November statement opposing the “indiscriminate mass deportation of people,” the Catholic bishops’ organized response to Trump’s immigration policy has been relatively decentralized and their rhetorical approaches have varied. And with Coakley weighing in and offering nationwide action that can be taken by each parish, it remains to be seen whether the bishops’ approaches will converge. He expressed hope that the Holy Hours held across the U.S. would be “a moment of renewal for our hearts and for our nation.”

“Entrusting our fears and hopes to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, let us ask the Lord to make us instruments of his peace and witnesses to the inherent dignity of every person,” Coakley wrote. “Let us pray together, confident that God hears the cry of his people and remains close to all who seek him.”

Catholic leaders call for peace, prayer, respect as Minneapolis struggles

 

Catholic leaders call for peace, prayer after second person killed in Minneapolis by federal agents

written by OSV News 

People gather at a makeshift memorial in Minneapolis Jan. 25, 2026, at the site where a man was fatally shot by federal agents trying to detain him Jan. 24. Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis, along with other Church leaders, have called for peace amid growing tensions. (OSV News photo/Tim Evans, Reuters)

(OSV News) — Catholic leaders are calling for peace the day after a second person was killed by federal agents this month in Minneapolis. The deadly shooting of Alex Pretti, 37, comes amid increased federal immigration enforcement actions in the Twin Cities metro area; the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has referred to this activity involving the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as “Operation Metro Surge.”

The shooting also comes 17 days after a shooting in Minneapolis involving an ICE agent — identified by media reports as Jonathan Ross — left 37-year-old Renee Good, of Minneapolis, dead.

USCCB president, echoing pope, calls for peace and respect for all

In a statement released Jan. 25, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, echoed the words of Pope Leo at the Angelus this morning, calling for peace and respect for all peoples.

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, seen in a file photo, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued a statement Jan. 25 urging calm, restraint and respect for human life in Minneapolis after a second person was killed by federal agents this month in the city. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)

“Today, Pope Leo XIV reminds us that ‘the Gospel must be proclaimed and lived in every setting, serving as a leaven of fraternity and peace among all individuals, cultures, religions and peoples,'” Archbishop Coakley said. “It is with this in mind that I prayerfully urge calm, restraint, and respect for human life in Minneapolis, and all those places where peace is threatened. Public authorities especially have a responsibility to safeguard the well-being of people in service to the common good. 

“As a nation we must come together in dialogue, turning away from dehumanizing rhetoric and acts which threaten human life. In this spirit, in unity with Pope Leo, it is important to proclaim, ‘Peace is built on respect for people!'”

Pope Leo, during his Angelus address Jan. 25, said, “…let us pray for peace: in Ukraine, in the Middle East, and in every region where, unfortunately, there is fighting going on for interests that are not those of the people. Peace is built on respect for peoples!

Minneapolis’ archbishop calls for prayer

Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis also released a statement Jan. 25 calling for prayer and a restoration of peace. 

Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis, pictured June 7, 2025, issued a statement Jan. 25, 2026, calling for prayer and a restoration of peace after a second person was killed by federal agents this month in Minneapolis. (OSV News photo/Dave Hrbacek, The Catholic Spirit)

“Following Saturday’s tragic shooting in Minneapolis, I ask all people of good will to join me today in prayer for Alex Jeffrey Pretti, for his parents, and for his loved ones,” said Archbishop Hebda. “The loss of another life amidst the tensions that have gripped Minnesota should prompt all of us to ask what we can do to restore the Lord’s peace. 

“While we rightly thirst for God’s justice and hunger for his peace, this will not be achieved until we are able to rid our hearts of the hatreds and prejudices that prevent us from seeing each other as brothers and sisters created in the image and likeness of God,” he said. “That is as true for our undocumented neighbors as it is for our elected officials and for the men and women who have the unenviable responsibility of enforcing our laws. They all need our humble prayers.”

Eucharistic adoration, Masses in Minneapolis

The Cathedral of St. Paul will be open Jan. 25 with extended Eucharistic Adoration “for those seeking a quiet place for prayer and reflection,” he said. 

Archbishop Hebda will also celebrate a Votive Mass for the Preservation of Peace at 5 p.m., he announced. A Mass will be offered for Alex Pretti, his family, and for the Twin Cities community at the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis, at 5:30 p.m.

“Wherever you find yourself this afternoon, I hope you will take a few moments to join us in prayer,” Archbishop Hebda said.

Catholic and other faith leaders have previously called for prayers and peace during the enforcement effort. A multifaith prayer service Jan. 23 at Temple Israel in Minneapolis included Auxiliary Bishop Kevin Kenney.

Reparation, remembrance and rebirth in Minneapolis

 

3 months after fatal shooting, Minneapolis church is restored for worship

written by Joe Ruff 

The faithful gather with Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis and Auxiliary Bishops Kevin T. Kenney and Michael Izen, Father Dennis Zehren, pastor of Annunciation, Father Tom Margevicius, master of ceremonies, and Deacons Kevin Conneely and Eric Cooley in front of the main doors to Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis Dec. 6, 2025, for the "Rite of Reparation After the Desecration of a Church." (OSV News photo/Joe Ruff, The Catholic Spirit)

MINNEAPOLIS (OSV News) — On a cold, wintery day, with the congregation gathered around Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis and Auxiliary Bishops Kevin T. Kenney and Michael Izen outside the main doors of Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, the rite of reparation began Dec. 6 that restored the space for worship.

The special Mass was held more than three months after an Aug. 27 shooting during an all-school Mass killed two students — 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski — and injured 18 students and three adults. The suspected shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene, police said.

“My brothers and sisters, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead proclaims that evil and death do not have the final word; God does,” the archbishop prayed outside the church, with temperatures in the low 20s.

“An Easter preface of the Eucharistic prayer proclaims, ‘By dying, he destroyed our death, and by rising, restored our life,'” the archbishop prayed. “As our archdiocesan patron St. Paul asserted, ‘Where, O death, is your victory: Where, O death, is your sting?’

“Our Blessed Mother lived this faith and cooperated with God’s plan for her life, despite the difficulties it would occasion. We profess that our souls now will rejoin hers in proclaiming the greatness of the Lord in this church, dedicated in her honor, and now reclaimed for the glory of God.”

Litany materials suggested prayers related to rite of reparation

Accompanied by chanting of the Litany of the Saints, servers entered the church carrying incense, the cross and candles, followed by the bishops, vested in purple, deacons, and priests of the archdiocese in white vestments, other liturgical ministers and all the assembly.

The parish asked that the media not be allowed inside for the Mass. Materials prepared for the rite suggested that part of the litany would include prayers related to the rite of reparation, including the faithful praying “bring healing to those who were injured,” “bring healing and comfort to those suffering the harm done to their children,” and “restore the sanctity of this church, dedicated to your glory and the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”

Inside the church, the altar was bare, unadorned with candles, altar cloths, flowers or other displays of joy, the materials stated. Archbishop Hebda, Bishop Kenney and Bishop Izen processed to their chairs.

A deacon filled two vessels with water and the congregation joined the archbishop in prayer as he blessed the water “which will be sprinkled on us as a memorial of our baptism; it was used when this sacred space was first consecrated, and will now be used in reparation for the evils which have occurred.”

Escorted by deacons, Archbishop Hebda and Father Dennis Zehren, pastor of Annunciation, sprinkled the altar and sanctuary, the church walls and the congregation with the holy water.

Readings from the first Saturday of Advent included verses from Isaiah proclaiming, “O people of Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem, no more will you weep; He will be gracious to you when you cry out, as soon as he hears he will answer you.”

The Gospel from Matthew recounted Jesus visiting towns and villages, teaching in synagogues, proclaiming “the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness.”
After the readings and Archbishop Hebda’s homily, the altar was prepared for the celebration of the Eucharist, and the Mass proceeded.

In notes prepared for his homily, the archbishop began by recounting the “blustery day in March of 1963, as the church universal was engaged in the renewal brought about by the Second Vatican Council, this church was formally dedicated by Archbishop (Leo) Binz.”

The parish had been in existence for more than 40 years, and the building had been in use for a few months, the archbishop wrote.

“As part of that ritual, Archbishop Binz would have anointed the altar and walls of the church with sacred chrism,” he continued, “the same chrism that is used to claim an infant as a child of God in baptism, the same chrism that is used at confirmation to seal us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the same chrism with which the hands of a priest are anointed, the same chrism that is poured on the head of a bishop on the day of his ordination.

“The anointing with sacred chrism is a sign of being set aside for God, of being claimed by God,” the archbishop wrote. “If there was any question about that in the case of Annunciation Church, one would only have to look at the inscription on the facade: ‘This is the house of God and the gate of heaven.'”

People of the community as living stones

The readings at a Mass of dedication don’t focus on the building, the archbishop noted. “But rather on the people who make up the community that will worship there, the living stones, who, being nourished by the Eucharist and strengthened by the other sacraments, are called to go out of the church, out of the sacred space, and renew the world.”

Still, the building is important in part as “an architectural recognition of the truth that we’re all created to give God praise.”

“We know all too well what happened here, however, on the morning of Aug. 27. This safe haven, this place of refuge, this foretaste of the order of the heavenly kingdom, was disturbed by a chaos that no one could have imagined,” the archbishop wrote. “It’s for that chaos that we’ve come together to engage in this act of penance and reparation this day.

A cross with the name of 10-year-old shooting victim Harper Moyski stands amid flowers in a makeshift memorial outside Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis Sept. 3, 2025. The shooter opened fire with a rifle through the windows of the church Aug. 27 and struck children from the parish school who were attending Mass during the first week of school, killing two and wounding 21 others. (OSV News photo/Alex Wroblewski, pool via Reuters)

“This community will never forget what happened that day and will forever remember with great love Harper and Fletcher, whose beautiful and inspiring lives were cut short as they and fellow students gathered for the Eucharist,” he added.

The archbishop expressed gratitude for Father Zehren and Matt DeBoer, principal of Annunciation Catholic School, and for the children and parishioners of Annunciation, for reminding the faithful that Aug. 27 wasn’t the end of the story.

“I’ve never seen such an outpouring of love and mutual support as I have witnessed here these last three months,” the archbishop wrote. “The sorrow understandably lingers, but there’s a Christ-centered resilience here that is remarkable — and praise God — it’s been contagious.

Advent the appropriate time for rite of reparation

“Today we gather penitentially for this rite of reparation in the hope of restoring the order that Christ desires for his Church, his family. We cannot undo the tragic loss of Fletcher and Harper, but we can communicate to the world that we recognize that the power of God is far in excess of any evil; that where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more,” he wrote.

“We cannot let Satan win, and we, by God’s grace, reclaim this space today for Christ and his Church.”

The light that illuminates and reminds the faithful of Christ’s presence in the tabernacle and in the community must be shared with others, the archbishop said.

Advent is an appropriate time for the rite of reparation as the church prepares for Christmas and the reality that Jesus came into the world, took on weak human flesh to be with sadness and grief, to be with the Moyskis and the Merkels, and with all those impacted by the tragedy of Aug. 27, the archbishop wrote.

“I thank you for being with me this morning,” the archbishop wrote, “for praying with me for God’s blessing on this space and this community. May it be a moment of true renewal for our Church, here at Annunciation and throughout our archdiocese. Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.”

She survived that horrific school Mass shooting; finally Sophia comes home

 

Prayers Answered: Annunciation Shooting Survivor Sophia Forchas Finally Comes Home

'Each step she takes is a living testament to the boundless grace of God and the miraculous power of prayer.'

Shooting survivor Sophia Forchas in a photo before the incident and then posing with neurosurgeon Dr. Walt Galicich at Gilette Children’s Hospital on a very happy day as she goes home to be with her family. (photo: Forchas Family / Forchas Family )

Alyssa Murphy October 24, 2025

Twelve-year-old Sophia Forchas is finally home — after spending 57 days in the hospital with severe injuries sustained from the deadly shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis during the first school Mass of the year that claimed the lives of two students. 

Sophia received a fond farewell outside the hospital on Oct. 23. 

In a statement posted to the family’s GoFundMe page, Sophia’s parents, Tom and Amy Forchas, wrote: “Today marks one of the most extraordinary days of our lives! Our beloved daughter, Sophia, is coming home!!”

Speaking with gratitude for the team of doctors that worked diligently to save their daughter, the couple wrote, “We thank you from the depths of our hearts. We will never forget your world-class care that sustained her. Your commitment carried us through.”

Sophia still has a long road ahead with “outpatient therapy,” but her parents said that “our hearts are filled with indescribable joy as we witness her speech improving daily, her personality shining through once more, and her ability to walk, swim, and even dribble a basketball. Each step she takes is a living testament to the boundless grace of God and the miraculous power of prayer.”

In a news conference Sept. 5, neurosurgeon Dr. Walt Galicich of Hennepin County Medical Center told reporters that in treating Sophia’s injuries he would attempt to “go through the normal brain to get there” and potentially cause more damage. Given the pressure in her brain, Sophia’s survival was extremely low. 

The neurosurgeon led a team in performing a decompressive craniectomy, which removed the left half of her skull to allow the pressure in her brain to be relieved.

“If you had told me at this juncture that, 10 days later, we’d be standing here with any ray of hope, I would have said, ‘It would take a miracle,’” Galicich said tearfully to reporters back in September.

Sophia’s mother, who works as a pediatric nurse in the critical care unit at the hospital where the victims were taken, had no idea that it was her child’s school that had been attacked that fateful day. She initially had no idea that one of the three patients was her own daughter.

Sophia’s younger brother also witnessed the school shooting that day; and by the grace of God, he was left unscathed, though he is still suffering from the trauma, given the horrific event and his sister’s dire injuries.

After Sophia’s 57-day stint in the hospital, Galicich gave his young patient a big hug as she walked out of the Hennepin County Medical Center to cheers and applause from her family and classmates. Even the city’s police chief was present, taking her on a ride through the city in a stretch limo to mark the occasion. 

Speaking to The Minneapolis Star Tribune, Police Chief Brian O’Hara called Sophia’s homecoming “nothing short of a miracle.”

Ecstatic parents Tom and Amy also noted how crucial prayer was in their daughter’s healing, writing in their statement, “Those prayers came from family, friends, and countless souls around the world; many of whom have never met Sophia, yet lifted her spirit with unconditional love. Your prayers have been a wellspring of comfort, hope, and healing for our entire family. We are certain that God heard every single one.”

The Forchases expressed condolences to the families who lost their children during the shooting, saying, “We continue to pray for those whose lives were tragically lost on that heartbreaking day. May their memory be eternal.”

“We also hold close those who were injured and bear lasting scars, and the families and loved ones forever changed,” the Forchas continued. “May God grant healing, consolation and His peace to all who grieve. To those whose hearts are hardened in despair, may the grace of the All-Holy Spirit soften them. We pray that the Trinity fill the world with compassion and love.”

One month after the shooting and death of two innocent students, Annunciation Church gathers in prayer to remember and heal

 

Hope, healing highlight prayer service and Mass 1 month since Annunciation shooting

written by Joe Ruff 

Harry Kaiser, center, prays the Our Father with his daughter, Lydia, second from right, and wife, Leah, right, during a prayer service at Annunciation in Minneapolis, Minn., on Sept. 27, 2025, the one-month anniversary of a shooting at the church. (OSV News photo/David Hrbacek, The Catholic Spirit)

(OSV News) — Sharing hugs, tears and smiles, more than 150 people gathered on the lawn outside Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis for a morning prayer service Sept. 27.

Led by Principal Matthew DeBoer, as well as the pastor, Father Dennis Zehren, and teachers and others in the Annunciation community, the 40-minute gathering at 8:30 a.m. marked exactly one month since a shooting at the church during an all-school Mass killed two students and wounded 21 other people.

Memorial Mass

At 10 a.m., Archbishop Bernard Hebda presided, and Bishop Michael Izen and numerous priests concelebrated a Memorial Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul for the two students who lost their lives — 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski — and their families, and to pray for healing for the students and families of Annunciation school and parish.

“A special word of welcome to our Annunciation community,” Archbishop Hebda said in opening remarks. “I realize there are so many things going on in your lives. I am delighted that you would take time to join us as we offer this holy Mass, as we mark 30 days, this one month’s time, (since) the tragedy. … You know the whole archdiocese has been praying fervently throughout these days. In many ways, people might say they’re all prayed out. I see many of you who (have been) at the daily Rosary at Annunciation at 9 p.m. I know you’ve been offering your prayers.”

At the prayer service, DeBoer spoke about the Merkel home as a place of hope and joy, and a day in August that Fletcher’s mother, Mollie, told him about. DeBoer described girls from the school with their “softball arms” flinging water balloons at boys from the school who were playing basketball in the Merkel’s backyard, “shooting hoops, probably shooting a lot of bricks, if I know those boys as their former coach.”

“It turned into this beautiful back and forth,” DeBoer said. “She shared a video with me this week. The end of the video is Harper and Fletcher breaking open the balloons right over their heads to see who is more wet. We have to remember that joy. We have to remember that light,” the principal said.

Many at the prayer service and at the Mass wore one of two recently made Annunciation T-shirts, one bearing the word “Hope” on the front with the words “Together we heal” on the back, the other with “Joy” on the front and “Be the light” on the back.

Support for victims

Lydia Kaiser, 12, who suffered a gunshot wound on the left side of her head, was at the prayer service with members of her family. Harry Kaiser, her father and Annunciation’s gym teacher, said his daughter passed all cognitive, speech and physical tests so she was discharged from the hospital without any therapy referrals, though the family will continue to monitor her recovery.

Lydia said she was back in school at Annunciation, which has been resuming classes in stages since Sept. 16.

Many in the Kaiser family, including Lydia, also attended Mass at the cathedral. Her mother, Leah, spoke through tears afterward about the support her family has received.

“I am just incredibly grateful that I am part of this Catholic community that is called Annunciation,” Leah Kaiser said. “It has brought this community together in prayer with the archbishop and all of his loving words. Our beautiful pastor, Father Zehren, and his just amazing homily. …

“There are no words to express how much hope and love has just covered this whole dark event in our family and our community, in our daughter,” Leah Kaiser said. “All of us are suffering. But it is very clear that the light and the love are dominating everything.”

In his homily, Father Zehren thanked those gathered and “all of the good and faithful followers of Jesus around the world” who have lifted the Annunciation community in prayer.

“You have been such a source of strength, such a source of comfort to us all, that we pray that that same comfort of Jesus would now return back to you,” Father Zehren said. “As St. Paul writes, you have sown generously, may you also reap generously the great comfort of Jesus that you have shown us. May you come to know that, too, in your hearts.”

Father Zehren said that in raising Fletcher, Harper and others in prayer, “we too, could be raised up to a little greater faith, a little greater hope. And it’s true, it’s the case when we commend somebody to heaven, then heaven more becomes our home. We understand better where we’re supposed to be heading. And when we commend our loved ones to God, then God becomes more real for us.”

Miraculous recovery

Sophia Forchas, 12, who was in critical condition for two weeks with head injuries from the shooting, has been recovering in a way her family has described as nothing short of miraculous.

Father Zehren said he has been praying the words “talitha koum” for Sophia, which means little girl, arise, and are the words Jesus spoke in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Mark as he raised a girl from the dead.

“And it’s true that when one is raised up, we all get raised up a little more,” Father Zehren said. “And it’s been wondrous, miraculous, to see how Sophia has been being raised up. And every time we hear good news, how she takes another step and is raised up a little higher, we too are raised up a little higher to know the wonders of God working in our midst.”

Childlike love

Noting the gift Fletcher and Harper were to the community when they were alive, Father Zehren said they point to an aspect of being childlike in the eyes of Jesus, that of “just being lovable.”

“Children are just so cute and lovable,” Father Zehren said. “It’s been fun listening to the stories of Fletcher and Harper and how lovable they were. Fletcher’s mother says that Fletcher was the ‘fletchiest Fletcher that ever fletched.’ It sounds like he was just such an outpouring of life and love as little boys can be. And Harper, I hear, was a perfect mix of sweet and spicy, and she was full of life, too. They were just so lovable. And so, to become childlike means that we should try to be more lovable.”

“Sometimes I see somebody, and I think, ‘I don’t think that guy even wants to be loved the way he’s being,’” Father Zehren said. “Can we just try to be a little more lovable so that it’s easier for people to love us? What a gift of a childlike spirit that would be.”

Father Zehren closed his homily by noting that Annunciation’s school has reopened and is “humming again. We’re gathering together for Mass. Sometimes we wonder, how did we get here? But we know it’s been the loving arms of God lifting us and carrying us all the way. Thanks to your support and prayers working through the body of Christ in our midst.”

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