By: Kylie Pendleton ’21
At Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, a horrific event took place. Seventeen students and teachers were shot dead on February 14, 2018. Fourteen others were injured. The suspected shooter is nineteen year old Nikolas Cruz, a former student who had been expelled from the school for disciplinary reasons.
Since then, many Catholic leaders have reacted. One of them, Father James Martin SJ, a Jesuit priest, wrote a prayer for school shootings. It addressed gun violence and mental health.
“My thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the tragic Parkland, Florida shooting,” Archbishop of Chicago Cardinal Cupich wrote in a statement Thursday, “this bloodshed will not stop until we all take responsibility and act to strengthen gun laws and support for those with mental health needs.”
We continue to pray for Florida and the families involved in this horrific event.
