The deadly shooting in Minneapolis unfolded with horrifying familiarity. Poisoned by extreme ideology, a heavily armed person unleashed bullets and anger on an unsuspecting population, firing through the stained-glass windows of a Catholic church where schoolchildren were gathered in worship.
As churches hold religious services this weekend, celebrants across the country are wrestling with how to help their congregations cope with and make sense of the tragedy at the Annunciation Church. What can they say to comfort their grieving flocks in the aftermath of such a shocking crime, even as they struggle with their own feelings about what happened?
“The old adage is, you must preach with a newspaper in one hand and the scripture in the other,” said Bishop Emeritus Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, who retired in 2021. “This happens in daily life and you can’t avoid it. That’s where everybody’s mind is, and we have to apply our faith to our daily situation.”…