Please see our Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Congregation’s official statement.
We also share the following from our U.S. Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph:
Children – God’s beloved, full of potential, energy, and light.
Teachers – God’s beloved, caring and formative presences in classrooms and communities.
19 children and 2 teachers in Uvalde, Texas were murdered at school yesterday. We grieve the violent loss of life and the staggering toll of gun violence in the United States that normalizes active shooter drills and heartache of grieving families.
This perpetual gun violence is unacceptable and deplorable. Less than two weeks ago, 10 people were killed and 3 others injured, almost all of whom were Black, at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.
The August 2019 Call To End Gun Violence – released in the wake of another mass shooting, in El Paso, Texas – echoes this communal heartbreak. The Federation again implores, in the short term, that legislative bodies “pass legislation that ban assault weapons, require universal background checks for all gun sales, provide funding for gun violence prevention research, and make the trafficking in weapons a federal crime.”
We are called to denounce this evil of gun violence and move toward unifying love. May we act boldly to transform politics and our country to ensure that the dignity of every person is preserved and celebrated.
May we hold all in prayer the entire Uvalde community, and all dear neighbors who have been impacted by gun violence. May they experience the care and protection of St. Joseph.
May 25th, 2022