A statement on the mass shooting in Las Vegas

Our Catholic faith inspires us to offer condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the horrible act of violence committed in Las Vegas this past Sunday night.

We are inspired as well to offer prayers for the happy repose of the souls of all the people who died in this tragedy, and for the consolations of faith for their loved ones.

We pray too for those wounded in the attack, who may yet be in peril of losing life or limb, or threatened with spiritual and emotional wounds, that they will be restored to health and wholeness.

In the practice of our Catholic faith, we are guided by the teachings of Jesus and his Catholic Church that are expressed in life principles, such as respect for the life and dignity of every person, and respect for the common good.

Respect for human life and dignity begins at conception. No one ever has to earn this respect, and no one is deprived of dignity, regardless.

And respect for the common good challenges Catholic Americans to find a way to uphold the Constitution while allowing for appropriate controls of who can buy what gun, in the hope of preventing acts of violence against innocent people.

Jesus, mercy.

(If you have read this far, and if your memory is better than mine, you will recognize that this is substantially the same statement as last year after the Orlando shooting. I figured: why write something new; nothing of substance has changed in the area of gun control. And that is I think yet another level to the sadness of Sunday’s tragedy.)