CNA Newsroom, Jul 13, 2024 / 20:57 pm
Catholic ecclesial and political leaders across the United States offered their prayers for Donald Trump after an attempted assassination of the former president Saturday evening at a campaign event in Pennsylvania.
Among them was Bishop David Zubik of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, where the shooting took place.
“We are deeply shocked by news reports of the shooting at a political rally for former President Trump right across the street from one of our churches in Butler County,” Zubik said in a statement.
“We are grateful for the swift actions of the Secret Service and our local first responders,” he added. “Let us join together in prayer for the health and safety of all, for healing and peace, and for an end to this climate of violence in our world. May God guide and protect us all.”
Other U.S. Church leaders echoed concern for the nation as a whole, which already was in the grips of a fever of extraordinary polarization before Saturday’s shocking events.
“Together with my brother bishops, we condemn political violence, and we offer our prayers for President Trump, and those who were killed or injured,” Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said in a statement Saturday night.
“We also pray for our country and for an end to political violence, which is never a solution to political disagreements,” Broglio added. “We ask all people of goodwill to join us in praying for peace in our country. Mary, Mother of God and Patroness of the Americas, pray for us.”
The archbishop of Newark, Cardinal Joseph Tobin, CSSR, also called on the Mary’s intercession. He invited prayers for the recovery of Trump and all victims of the shooting: “May the family of the deceased and wounded find consolation and hope, and may this outrage lead us, as Americans, to denounce all forms of political and gun violence and the rhetoric that incites it.”
Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, archbishop of San Antonio and a member of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit, asked for the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose basilica in Mexico City he visited on Saturday afternoon.
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“Political conflicts cannot and must not lead to violence,” he said in a statement issued from Mexico City. “May Our Lady of Guadalupe, mother of Jesus Christ and our mother, guide us in these difficult times in our country. May we become peacemakers in our homes, our families, our workplaces, and our nation. We need peace in our world.”
Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez of Philadelphia said in a statement posted to Instagram late Saturday night that he was “deeply saddened and dismayed to learn of the shooting.”
“Americans must join in solidarity to condemn today’s act of political violence and violence in all forms. Working together, we can resolve our differences through peaceful dialogue and conquer the sin of hatred,” he said.
Earlier this summer, the USCCB issued a statement on political violence, urging all Christians and people of goodwill to abstain from political violence and instead “pursue what leads to peace and building up one another” through dialogue and seeking justice.
“Today’s events demonstrate the political tension that exists in our nation,” said Bishop Larry Kulick of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, which neighbors Butler County but does not include it.
“Violence can never be a legitimate part of the democratic process,” he said. “I ask all the faithful of the Diocese of Greensburg to join in me in prayer for those who have died, those who mourn their loss, and those who have been injured.”
Kulick added: “My heartfelt prayers go out to all of those who have been affected by this horrific event.”
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Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, soon after the news of the shooting broke.
“I would like to offer prayers for President Trump and all those who were injured at the rally in Pennsylvania,” he said. “We must turn from the path of violence. May the Lord bless our troubled nation.”
Bishop Walker Nickless of Sioux City, Iowa, called Saturday’s shooting “a tragic day for our country.”
“There is no place for political violence in the United States. The events today demonstrate the great need for prayer — it is a time to pray for peace and pray for an end to violence,” he said.
“We must also pray for those who may have been killed or injured in the event, and their families, and pray for the quick recovery of former President Trump,” he added. “Moving forward, may we show love and respect for one another in this great country.”
Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City also offers his prayers for Trump “and those killed, injured, and traumatized Saturday at the rally in Pennsylvania.”
Coakley added: “Let us remember that violence is never the answer to our differences. And may God bless our nation, at this time marked by division.”
Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth, Texas, expressed similar sentiments.
“Please pray for President Trump and his family and for the souls and families of those killed in this terrible incident,” he said. “Please pray for peace in our nation.”
Bishop Donald Hying, bishop of Madison, Wisconsin, also offered prayers for Trump and those injured in the shooting, adding: “Our country needs prayer and conversion. Our country needs God.”
Michael Warsaw, board chairman and CEO of EWTN, CNA’s parent organization, released the following statement: “This is a very very sad day for our country. We need to pray for the former president and all who have been impacted by this incident. We also need to redouble our prayers for our country.”
Kevin Roberts, the Catholic president of The Heritage Foundation, said the shooting was “no surprise” given years of bitterly heated rhetorical attacks against Trump.
“Today’s attempted assassination of Donald Trump is something many of us have been worried about,” Roberts said in a statement.
“When the Radical Left spends years and millions of dollars calling Trump and every conservative ‘threats to democracy,’ it’s no surprise that today’s tragedy would happen,” he said. “We must pray for our country and all our leaders, and for an end to this inflammatory rhetoric of the Left and their media accomplices.”
This is a developing story.
National Catholic Register staff writers Matthew McDonald and Peter Laffin contributed to this story.
