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BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Several priests of the Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., responded quickly to the mass murder of adults and schoolchildren at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school, rushing to the scene to comfort victims and their relatives.
Brian Wallace, the diocese’s director of communications, said that priests from St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, the only Catholic parish in Newtown, are actively responding.
“The parish is huge and extremely active, and it’s just up the street,” Wallace told Catholic News Agency Dec. 14.
“Within minutes (of the shooting), the pastor, Msgr. Bob Weiss, was at the scene of the tragedy working with families,” he said.
“He quickly alerted other priests from the parish who joined him. As this unfolded, and the significance of it became apparent, we also alerted all our clergy in the upper Danbury area.”
The shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school on the morning of Dec. 14 left at least 27 people dead, including 18 children.
A law enforcement official told The Associated Press that the attacker was a 20-year-old man with ties to the school. He apparently had two guns.
Wallace said the murders have had a deep impact. “We’re disoriented by it,” he said. “It is so profoundly disturbing.”
“It’s a very difficult time. I think it’s going to get worse. The indications are that there may be a number of children who were killed.”
Wallace also noted that many Catholic clergy have responded, including those in local medical facilities.
“Our chaplains in the hospitals are meeting with people. Our priests are on the ground doing everything they can to deal with grieving families and with people who have good news but are totally traumatized by what has occurred.”
Newtown is a small town of 27,000 people.
“We don’t know yet who the victims are,” Wallace said. “We assume that a number of victims may be parishioners or their relatives.”
Catholic Grief and Prayers
Msgr. Jerald Doyle, administrator of the Bridgeport Diocese, promised the prayers of Catholics in the diocese and shared their "collective sense of grief, shock and loss.”
“We are all deeply saddened and shocked by this unthinkable tragedy, and our hearts go out to the entire Newtown community,” he said Dec. 14.
“Catholics throughout the diocese are urged to join us in prayer for the victims and their families.”
Catholic Charities of Fairfield County has a trauma team with experience in counseling those in crisis. The team will be available to help victims in the local parish and Catholic school. The agency is open to the wider community but at present is focused on those most likely to be part of Catholic organizations.
“Our focus is dealing with any families that are members of the parish who will need counseling immediately,” Wallace said.
“The diocese at this point is on the ground doing what it can,” he added. “People will rally around.”
St. Rose of Lima will have a special Mass tonight at 7pm to pray for the victims of the shooting.
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So glad to see the Roman Catholic Churches in the area responding in this way. It’s the right thing to do.
February 1997 - National Prayer Breakfast in Washington attended by the President and the First Lady. “What is taking place in America,” she said, “is a war against the child. And if we accept that the mother can kill her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another.” (Mother Teresa)
The Catholic Church is always present and working to bring about healing. The services are often un-reported because it is not done to be seen. Like good Saints practicing their faith, not to be written about, but to serve God. Most are not recognized for their good, but they give freely.
Because the local church (St Rose of Lima) first announces it contacts to parishioners is to be expected. Other persons are not rejected nor sent away. Catholic Charities serves the community, and does not screen for catholics, protestents, non-denominations, pagans, rich, poor.
Keeping all of newtown in my prayers
John r powers
Hiram GA
We are grateful for such a quick response to such a tragic situation by the priests. It would be helpful to have suggestions on ways to talk about this tragedy with our children from a Catholic perspective.
My prayers for the victims and their families. My prayers for the government and it’s leader who voted for the legal killing of girls and boys 5 years younger than the kindergarten victims in Connecticut, i.e. girls and boys outside of their mom’s womb who survived the attempt to kill them in the womb. The same government and it’s leader is trying to close our Church’s institutions under the guise of health care because we want to obey God’s just law instead of his immoral law. I pray for God to show them His way and to stop them if they do not change. Lastly I pray for Catholic democrats who voted for this government and it’s immoral social policy. I pray for myself (losing my job soon) and the other victims of this government’s “compassionate” “social justice” economic policy. This policy has been very brutal. Lord, have mercy on us. Our Lady of Guadalupe and St Joseph, pray for us.
@ Flavia, what an extremely inappropriate blog after what has happened in Newtown, CT. This has nothing to do with abortion. A nut case armed to the teeth walked into an elementary school, shot and killed 27 people, 20 of them little kids between the ages of 5 yrs to 10 years. You rabid pro-lifers will use innocent children to prop up your radical agenda.
Where are the secularists who actively promote their so-called alternative views on life? Why can’t they comfort the parents? How about the homosexualists? Where are they? Nowhere. But only those who are “in persona Christi.” Those who encountered Jesus Christ. But secularists took away God from schools and wonder why this happened? We took away the Ten Commandments and therefore those young people don’t know the meaning of “Thou shalt not kill.”
Looking for reasons for such a tragedy? The community should look within its self. The Catholic Church opens its doors for comfort. The community its self misses the whole point of celabrating Christmas. All these innocent lives are in heaven with Christ, but the community chooses to take down the Christmas decorations and not celabrate the birth of Christ. I would not prejudge, but it sounds very materialistic of the leadership in the community. They are destine to never to fined the truth of such evil.
I am still too numb over this to comment,but if people have no respect for the killing of babes in the womb, then why have it for those later in life, including the end of life. Abortion and euthenasia go hand in hand - total disrespect for people of all ages. May God have mercy on our souls. My heart goes out for all the victims of this massacre, even the shooter/killer.
One of the children said that as soon as they were able to get up after the shooting stopped, she looked up and a priest was at the door. That was so touching, and reading this article explains how such a beautiful thing could happen. Perhaps now the public will come to understand why we Catholics love and trust our priests as if they were our own family.
Let’s think about broken marriage vows, the capital sins of envy and anger.
What about the capital sins of envy and anger? He may have felt that if he couldn’t be happy neither will these happy little kids be able to be.
I MAILED A POEM TODAY ABOUT THE SITUATION AND SENT IT TO THE PASTOR OF ST. ROSE.
HIS NAME WAS LISTED AS MSGR WEISS! WAS LANZA CATHOLIC?
@ceci castillo ,
I am sorry that you didn’t understand Mother Teresa’s speech, or maybe you didn’t take the time to listen it in full .
As a mother of 3 and widowed at the age of 32, I might not know exactly their pain but my heart is bleeding for those families as I also experienced a tragic loss . I am praying each second for those families and my point using what Mother Teresa told in that meeting is that this country needs to defend life in other for life to be respected .
That includes lives of the unborn too .
Read or listen to Mother Teresa’s full speech before criticizing a catholic . All Catholics are pro-life .
Our parish up here in Massachusetts sent a card to St. Rose.
My question is why the blazes weren’t the doors locked…last I knew that is the law while school is in session after Columbine. Also many businesses-including malls-have hidden cameras, intercoms, doorbells. You have to be positively identified before you are admitted inside the building.
Who was monitoring the door for visitors?
The school system failed.
It is good that the Roman Catholic Churches in the area responded in this way. It would also be good if they responded to the “American Holocaust” of the violent killing of unborn children that we call “Abortion.”
In my opinion, I feel we are reaping what we have sown. After removing prayer from schools, the 10 Commandments from all places public, and overtly attacking most all things Christian and Religious, we are now primarily a Godless society. Today’s mantra is “If it feels right, do it”. And now after being raised on violent TV shows, movies and video games, …well, violence feels right too many (same can be said about sex). And people are doing it. Many say TV and such things have no impact on people. How misguided they are – why are billions of dollars spent on TV advertising each year? Yes, there is a big impact and if people don’t go to Church or know God and His Commandments, then most likely there is nothing else in the home to counter the effects of our culture. The US was once an overwhelmingly Christian nation. Unless and until we return to God and Christianity, we will continue our slide into moral depravity on all levels as we are doing now at a very fast pace.
I read Ceci’s response, viewing it as venom from a radical selfish feminist who could never get a man or conceive a child. And, then read Mike’s truthful response regarding what is actually happening in our nation and world. Sorry, Ceci, go take your testosterone, get all the plastic surgery and “plumbing changes you need” - not to mention a shrink-and keep hoping one day all of your xx chromosomes on the dna of each of your female cells becomes the xy chromosomes on the dna of each of the male cells. Crazy lunatic!
Posted by Ceci Castillo on Saturday, Dec 15, 2012 5:04 PM (EDT):
@ Flavia, what an extremely inappropriate blog after what has happened in Newtown, CT. This has nothing to do with abortion. A nut case armed to the teeth walked into an elementary school, shot and killed 27 people, 20 of them little kids between the ages of 5 yrs to 10 years. You rabid pro-lifers will use innocent children to prop up your radical agenda.
Posted by mike robertson on Saturday, Dec 15, 2012 4:50 PM (EDT):
My prayers for the victims and their families. My prayers for the government and it’s leader who voted for the legal killing of girls and boys 5 years younger than the kindergarten victims in Connecticut, i.e. girls and boys outside of their mom’s womb who survived the attempt to kill them in the womb. The same government and it’s leader is trying to close our Church’s institutions under the guise of health care because we want to obey God’s just law instead of his immoral law. I pray for God to show them His way and to stop them if they do not change. Lastly I pray for Catholic democrats who voted for this government and it’s immoral social policy. I pray for myself (losing my job soon) and the other victims of this government’s “compassionate” “social justice” economic policy. This policy has been very brutal. Lord, have mercy on us. Our Lady of Guadalupe and St Joseph, pray for us.
TO RICK & EDITH. What evil people you are. Definitely Catholics in name only.
@ceci Castillo. And what do you call yourself? True catholic?
Joselito much truer than you think.
Ceci….....rabid pro-lifers? The only difference is their age! You are obviously NOT Catholic.
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