U.S.

Archbishop Gomez: 'Pray hard' for all affected by Calif. shooting

By By Catholic News Service
Friday, November 9, 2018

A woman who fled the Borderline Bar and Grill is embraced by a first responder Nov. 8 outside the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, Calif., after a gunman killed at least 13 people. The gunman, who opened fire without warning late Nov. 7, was found dead inside the establishment, authorities said. (CNS photo/Ringo Chiu, Reuters)

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (CNS) -- Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez urged those attending a prayer vigil Nov. 8 to honor the memory of the victims killed in a shooting spree the evening before "by living our lives with greater intensity and purpose and with greater love for one another."

"May our Lord in his mercy receive the souls of those who have died, and may he comfort those of us who have been spared," he told the congregation at St. Paschal Baylon Catholic Church in Thousand Oaks. "We pray for peace in our communities and for peace in the hearts of all those who are troubled and disturbed."

Late Nov. 7, a gunman opened fire at a country-music bar in Thousand Oaks, about 40 miles from the heart of Los Angeles.

Thirteen people, including the suspected gunman and a 29-year veteran of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department, died in shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill on what was college night, with lessons on country two-step dancing.

The bar is popular with students at nearby California Lutheran University, and also attracts students from Pepperdine University in Malibu, Moorpark College in Moorpark and California State University-Channel Islands in Camarillo.

Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean said Nov. 8 that the suspected gunman, Ian David Long, had legally purchased the weapon used in the shooting. It came less than two weeks after a gunman murdered 11 worshippers in a Pittsburgh synagogue, which was the largest mass murder in the United States since 17 were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, last Feb. 14.

According to the Associated Press, after Sgt. Ron Helus was shot multiple times and dragged outside the bar by his partner -- he died early Nov. 8 at a nearby hospital -- scores of police assembled outside and burst in later to find Long and 11 others dead. Eighteen others were injured.

Long, who had been wearing a black hood during the spree, was a former U.S. Marine machine gunner, and authorities said he may have suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

At the vigil, Archbishop Gomez told the congregation he brought with him "the prayers of the whole family of God here in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles."

"We are all so sad in the face of a violence that just makes no sense. We open our hearts to the families and friends of those who were killed, and we try as best we can to share their grief with them," he continued.

"The hurt they are suffering, we can never really know. What they have lost, we cannot return to them. But we can walk with them. We can help them to find healing and hope. We can help them to discover the love of Jesus, even in this dark time."

In a statement issued the morning of Nov. 8 in reaction to news of the shooting, Archbishop Gomez asked people to "pray hard" for the victims and their families.

"Like many of you, I woke this morning to news of the horrible violence last night at the Borderline Grill in Thousand Oaks," he said.

"Let us pray hard for all the families, for those who were murdered and those who were injured, and in a special way for the heroic officer, Sgt. Ron Helus, who lost his life defending people in the attack. May God grant perpetual light to those who have died and may he bring comfort to their loved ones and peace to our community."

Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in a Nov. 8 statement asked all to pray "for the victims and their loved ones and all those impacted by this senseless violence." He also called for the enactment of reasonable measures to end gun violence.

"We must bring this tragedy to the Lord in prayer," said the cardinal. "This new incident of gun violence strikes just as the funerals are barely complete from the last mass shooting.

He added: More innocent lives are lost because of one individual and his ability to procure weapons and commit violence. The bishops continue to ask that public policies be supported that would enact reasonable gun measures to help curb this mad loss of life."

"Only love can truly defeat evil," Cardinal DiNardo said in his statement. "Love begets love, and peace begets peace, but anger, hatred and violence breed more of the same."

Another vigil for the shooting victims was held Nov. 8 at the Fred Kavli Theater in Thousands Oaks, drawing hundreds of mourners.

In a statement released Nov. 9 Cardinal Cupich said, "Last week we stood with our Jewish brothers and sisters to remember those murdered and wounded at the Tree of Life Synagogue as they assembled for worship. Yesterday we woke to news that 12 young people gathered in a night club and a brave Sheriff’s Sergeant who rushed in to save them are dead in another shooting. And we hear the news media read the roll call, the inevitable ranking of tragedy – 11 dead in Pittsburgh, 58 in Las Vegas, 17 in Parkland, 49 in Orlando – as though quantifying the carnage will help us understand it. Are we Americans doomed to an endless cycle of horror and mourning? Can we not agree it is at least worth trying to take steps toward ending the violence? Can we not summon up our common humanity and whatever belief system binds us and remake our nation once again as Lincoln called for; 'with malice toward none, with charity for all?' We ask that God’s grace flow and comfort those who mourn, lift up those who despair and inspire those who must be now take up the cause of peace and justice."

Topics:

  • shooting

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