Last Thursday, our country endured another painful violent act. This time the victims were innocent moviegoers in Aurora, Colorado. In the Diocese of Cleveland, we feel close to the people of Aurora because we are still in a healing process from the violent murders at Chardon High School earlier this year.
Since last Thursday I have prayed, watched and read the news reports, and had many conversations regarding the pain and sadness that has transpired. Our hearts go out to all who are suffering: the families of those who were murdered, those who are now working to recover from their own gunshot wounds, the responders both professional and other moviegoers who offered assistance in the chaos, and the families and friends of all those affected including the family of the accused.
Bud Welch, the father of Julie who was murdered in the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995, said something that really touched me in an interview following these recent shootings. Mr. Welch said it took him a year after the Oklahoma bombing to get past the anger and thoughts of retribution. Then he realized he did not want Mr. McVeigh executed. He said that the families in Aurora need lots of time to heal. When Mr. Welch spent the year in a healing process he came to more clarity. Then, ten years after the death of his daughter he made this profound statement at a conference:
?My conviction is simple: More violence is
not what Julie would have wanted.
More violence will not bring Julie back.
More violence only makes our society more violent.?
At that conference he also said that the Church?s campaign to end capital punishment in the United States is ?another way for the Church to say no to more violence and no to our culture of death.? The teaching of the Church in times like this may seem difficult to grasp and support when many call for a swift movement to end the life of the accused and many people are responding with the purchase of weapons. However, in the document A Culture of Life and the Penalty of Death, the U.S. Bishops said,
?. . .we share the justified anger and revulsion
at terrible and deadly crimes.
In calling for an end to the use of the death penalty,
we do not seek to diminish in any way the evil
and harm caused by people who commit horrible murders.?
We can feel anger and even a sense of wanting revenge. Our teaching will lead us beyond this and hopefully to a place similar to that of Mr. Welch. Eventually our prayers, our own healing from the horror and our continued reliance on the action of God through the Church will lead us to the wishes expressed last week by the two Bishops from the Archdiocese of Denver who were themselves inspired by Holy Scripture and Saint Paul. They said, "We hope that all of us may find the peace which surpasses understanding.
July 25, 2012
The above perspective was written by Peggy Gerovac, Director, Pro Life Office, Diocese of Cleveland.
Click HERE to visit the Pro Life Office web site.
Click HERE to visit the facebook page for the Pro Life Office.
E-mail Peggy at pmgerovac@clevelandcatholiccharities.org