Vigil participants at 7 parishes remember those killed in Uvalde, Texas
A child’s chair stood in the grass along the busy thoroughfare of Great Neck Road, right before the Church of the Holy Family, Virginia Beach. It did not stand alone.
It was one of 21 empty chairs — 19 small ones and two larger ones — an arrangement that was repeated on parish lawns and on church steps throughout the diocese, from Virginia Beach to Roanoke.
Seven parishes in the Diocese of Richmond held prayer vigils Friday, June 17, remembering those who lost their lives in the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and praying for an end to gun violence.
“As Christians, of course, we recall that Jesus told us to love one another — even to love our enemies — and that definitely isn’t happening today,” said Father Kevin O’Brien, pastor of St. Therese, Chesapeake. “We believe in a God who hears us, and so we are crying out to God for help. I truly believe that God will help us to find a way out of this.”
The vigils were held in support of a June 3 letter from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to Congress, reiterating the bishops’ stance on gun safety and urging senators and representatives to act in light of the recent surge of gun-related deaths.
“These tragedies can only bring us to one conclusion,” the bishops wrote. “We must unite in our humanity to stop the massacres of innocent lives.”
“It’s by far their strongest statement on gun safety yet,” said Deacon Chris Barrett of St. Elizabeth, Richmond, one of the parishes holding a vigil that evening.
“We are trying to raise the Catholic voice and to let the people know that the bishops have spoken on this issue,” said Abby Causey, coordinator of religious education at Holy Family, Virginia Beach. “If we all raise our voices, we can have a positive effect on legislation.”
Other parishes holding vigils were St. Therese, Chesapeake; the Basilica of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Norfolk; Immaculate Conception, Hampton; Holy Rosary, Richmond; and Our Lady of Nazareth, Roanoke.
Begin with prayer
The June 3 letter is not the USCCB’s first statement on gun violence; writings on the issue began with “Handgun Violence: A Threat to Life,” published in 1975.
In “Responses to the Plague of Gun Violence,” 2019, the USCCB lists seven “common sense measures of gun policy” : a total ban on assault weapons, universal background checks for all gun purchases, a federal law to criminalize gun trafficking, increased resources for mental health care, limitations on civilian access to high-capacity weapons, enhanced safety features, and an assessment of violent images in our culture.
“The bishops have some things they can do at their level, and we, the people in the pews, have something we can do at our level, too,” said Joan Kennedy, event coordinator at Immaculate Conception, Hampton. “This is a way for us to be a witness to the fact that addressing gun violence is very much a life issue and is fundamental to who we are as Catholics. And so we begin with prayer.”
Coming together
The seven parishes held their first vigil on May 23 in memory of the victims of the racially motivated shooting in Buffalo, NY. On May 24, the mass shooting occurred in Texas.
“We were all shocked and saddened by what happened in Uvalde, just one day afterward,” Brian Alexander, social justice minister at Holy Family and organizer of the prayer vigils, said.
In response to the deaths and to the bishops’ letter, the parishes decided to reconvene, Alexander said. They plan to hold vigils periodically, as long as the violence continues.
Father Jay Wagner, pastor of Holy Rosary, Richmond, said that in many communities, including his own, gun violence is a stark, everyday reality. He hoped that the vigils would serve as a reminder of the fear that people live with locally, not only in other parts of the world.
“We hope that, in raising awareness, we will not be complacent,” he said.
People of faith
The vigils included memorials to victims of gun violence — in Texas and in the Diocese of Richmond —prayer, Scripture readings and reflection.
Speakers urged attendees to put aside partisan politics and to see the issue through the lens of faith, to come together to prevent further loss of life.
Colleen Hernandez, event coordinator at Our Lady of Nazareth, Roanoke, said that her parish made a special effort to invite youth, a generation who has grown up with active shooter drills and with images on the news of children, much like themselves, who have been slain in mass shootings.
“This will give them an opportunity, too, if they want to come with their parents,” she said, “and it will be age-appropriate. Because everyone needs an outlet.”
The parish planned to provide chalk, she said, for the children to draw and to write prayers on the church sidewalk.
“We are going be there to pray and to support people who feel like they need to be comforted,” she said. “We are asking God, ‘What do we do?’”
Pro-life issue
Those attending the vigils were given the opportunity to fill out postcards addressed to the state’s U.S. senators, urging them to vote in favor of two bills supported by the USCCB: the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021 (H.R. 8) and the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021 (H.R. 1446). Both bills strengthen the firearm background check process.
On the state level, volunteers have initiated a letter-writing campaign addressing the Virginia Catholic Conference, an organization that represents the Dioceses of Richmond and Arlington in state government by advocating for public policy that reflects the teachings of the Church.
The group hopes to persuade the VCC to put the issue of gun safety on its agenda for the 2023 general assembly and to add the USCCB’s recent statements to its website.
“I’m grateful for the work of the VCC,” Deacon Barrett said, “but they do not address gun violence, and they need to. It’s a pro-life issue that needs to be on their agenda.”
“There’s been too much hate, too much violence. Too many innocent people have died,” Father O’Brien said. “I think for everyone, enough is enough.”
For the full text of the USCCB statements cited, see bit.ly/Letter2022 and bit.ly/Responses2019. To learn of future prayer vigils, visit bit.ly/prayactnow.