alt=Kelsey DallasReligious leaders and politicians are calling on God to comfort the victims of Tuesday’s devastating shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. As of Wednesday morning, 19 children and two adults have been reported dead.
In formal statements and less formal social media posts, leaders have asked Americans to pray for an end to gun violence and to push elected officials to enact policy changes.
Here’s a look at comments made so far:
- Statement from Chieko Noguchi, director of public affairs for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:
“There have been too many school shootings, too much killing of the innocent. Our Catholic faith calls us to pray for those who have died and to bind the wounds of others, and we join our prayers along with the community in Uvalde and Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller. As we do so, each of us also needs to search our souls for ways that we can do more to understand this epidemic of evil and violence and implore our elected officials to help us take action.”
- Statement from the Rev. David Reed, Episcopal Bishop of West Texas:
“We have received power to love and to resist hatred. And we can pray. We must pray. Ignore the cynics, and pray with all your heart. Let your cries reach to the heavens. Let your anger and despair be your prayer. And listen to God answering in return. Look for God’s tears revealed and listen for his perfect and righteous anger. Give yourself over to opportunities to join in the Spirit’s work of binding up and healing. Love with all you’ve got, and never, ever surrender to the darkness.”
- Tweet from the National Association of Evangelicals:
“Our hearts are heavy with grief over the children and adults who were killed in Uvalde, Texas. We pray for God’s comfort. We pray for God’s help.”
- Comments from the Rev. Doug Swimmer of Potters House Church in Uvalde, Texas, on “Good Morning America”:
“I know that one thing that we as Texans understand is that God is still God. ... He is able to bring comfort in times of distress.”
- Comments from Pope Francis after his weekly general audience on Wednesday
“I am left heartbroken by the massacre in the elementary school in Texas. I pray for the children, for the adults killed and for their families.”
- Statement from United Methodist Women:
“O Lord in your mercy, hear our cries for the families crushed with sorrow by the loss of their children and loved ones in yesterday’s school shooting in Texas. Lord have mercy on our nation that continues to deem this recurring murder of our school children an acceptable price of ‘freedom.’ Lord heal our collective mind and help our politicians muster the integrity and courage to act so that we can stop this carnage and pain.”
- Statement from Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, the site of a 2018 shooting:
“Each morning for the past three and a half years, I’ve begun my day in prayer, reading Psalm 121: ‘I lift my eyes to the heavens; from where shall my help come? My help comes from God, Maker of the heavens and the earth.’ This morning, as I lifted my eyes, tears fell. The pain of surviving the attack here in Pittsburgh once again feels fresh in my mind after yesterday’s horrific massacre at an elementary school. I readied myself to question God, ‘Why?’ But God returned my question, ‘why?’ Today we mourn with the families and friends of 19 beautiful children and 2 educators. May their memories be a blessing. We offer prayers of comfort and healing for the children who are now forever changed by what they witnessed. And tomorrow, we must all return to and wrestle with God’s question for us: ‘why?’”
- Christian author Diana Butler Bass in her newsletter:
“Thoughts and prayers can really mean something — if those thoughts and prayers reveal the extent of evil and break our hearts with the love and sorrow of God. In lament and litany, we can discover we have the power to act.”
- Statement from the Rev. John I. Jenkins, president of the University of Notre Dame:
“Now we must add Uvalde, Texas, to the list of tragic, senseless shootings of innocent people at the hand of a gunman. With hearts broken, we can only pray for the young victims and their suffering families. Yet we must also call for comprehensive gun control measures and enhanced mental health interventions, and together engage in an honest assessment of the anger and hatred in our nation that is at the root of such violence.”
- Tweet from President Joe Biden:
“To lose a child is to have a piece of your soul ripped away. It is never quite the same. And it’s the feeling shared by the siblings, grandparents, families and communities left behind. I ask the nation to pray for them, to give them strength in the darkness they feel.”
- Tweet from former President Barack Obama:
“May God bless the memory of the victims, and in the words of scripture, heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds.”