I don’t watch TV anymore. Quite simply, I don’t have the time. I get my news from a variety of online sources to keep up. I check the box scores when I can.
Two recent incidents in the news have caused me great sorrow and concern. The first is the wanton act of violence against the students, faculty and parishioners at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis. The second is the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on a university campus in Utah. What are we Catholics in America to make of such tragic events?
From what I’ve been able to discern, the perpetrator the Annunciation shooting was a terribly disturbed individual. The choice of target appears to have been made more on his past association with the parish and school than on any overtly anti-Catholic bias, although his suicide note apparently rants against all religion, including the Catholic Church. I don’t have to the expertise in mental health to figure out the mind of the perpetrator. It was an act of evil, pure and simple. We must pray for the healing of all survivors.
Closer to home, prudence dictates that we assess our own facilities and practices to ensure that our children and parishioners are safe. While we already have good practices in place, the parish has engaged a local security firm to do a security audit of our facilities and procedures and to make recommendations on how we can make improvements. Once this is complete, we you will likely see certain subtle, but definite changes. It is a delicate task. How do we maintain the warm hospitality for which we are known, while also ensuring the safety of those on the campus? Prudence, not fear, should guide our actions.
I did not follow Charlie Kirk. Most of what I know about him has been gleaned from the reports in the wake of his assassination. What disturbs me most is that, as Bishop Robert Barron has pointed out, he died with a microphone in his hand, not a weapon. By all accounts Mr. Kirk engaged his interlocutors with courtesy and forthrightness. He did not back down from what he believed to be true, but neither did he denigrate the character of those with whom he disagreed. He simply pointed out where he believed their arguments were flawed.
As so many others have said, the strength of our republic is not that we all agree, but that we have learned how to disagree while maintaining the dignity of the other. Evelyn B. Hall, describing the thought of Voltaire once said, “I “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
Though at times provocative, Mr. Kirk embodied such a notion. As Catholics, we have always upheld the inherent dignity of every human person. We have always distinguished between person and idea; between identity and behavior. Let us continue to stand in the truth in love, prudent in our practice, charitable in our deeds.