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WASHINGTON (CNS) – Catholic leaders have condemned the Nov. 19 shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado that left at least five people dead and 25 others injured.
Seven of the injured are in serious condition.
Church leaders – the archbishop of Denver, leaders of religious orders and congregations and the Catholic LGBTQ community aid group – also prayed for those affected by the attack and urged an end to hate crimes and abusive language. Those in the LGBTQ community.
The suspect, 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich, was charged Nov. 21 with murder and hate crimes, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. C until he was subdued by the people in the club.
On its Facebook page, the club thanked the “quick reactions of heroic patrons who subdued the gunman and stopped the hateful attack” within minutes of the alleged gunman who opened fire after entering the club shortly before midnight on November 19.
It was also noted that a center providing consulting services was established in a nearby hotel for a week. A temporary memorial outside the club was filled with flowers.
Denver Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila said he was “saddened by this tragic and senseless act.”
In a statement on November 20, he said, “While the murders remain unknown, it is clear that such bad events have happened too often in our society. Accidental killings of innocent people must be condemned by civil society.”
A new initiative by Jesuit-run America Media, which provides resources for LGBTQ Catholics, also released a statement on its website on Nov. 20, praying for the dead, the injured and the LGBTQ community in Colorado Springs.
It said the “motive for this horrific attack on LGBTQ people remains unknown,” but emphasized that it was “the day before Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day when we remember transgender people who have died in violence.”
On the night of the attack, Club Q was planning a drag show to mark Remembrance Day.
While the motive remains unclear, the outreach statement said, “the impact of language stigmatization on the safety and well-being of LGBTQ people.”
“Language that excludes, condemns, isolates, condemns or targets LGBTQ people, especially by religious leaders, must be rejected,” the statement said, adding that such language “will lead to further persecution, beatings and violence.” .
“Churches and other religious institutions are called to stand by those who are persecuted in any way, including LGBTQ people,” the November 20 statement said.
The president of the Paulist Fathers, Rene Constance, also condemned not only the attack, but also the harmful rhetoric towards the LGBTQ community.
“The violence against our LGBTQ sisters and brothers must stop,” he said.
In a Nov. 21 statement, he said “rhetoric that dehumanizes and disrespects those who identify as LGBTQ, including those supported by members of our Catholic Church and other religious communities, is unacceptable.”
He also said gun violence “needs to be taken more seriously by our civil leaders.”
The priest said it was time for society to “remove the anger, hatred and indifference that fuels violence against all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, skin color, race or religion.”
The General Council of the Dominican Sisters of Adrian, based in Adrian, Michigan, responded similarly to the shooting, saying it was “heartbroken” for those killed and injured, and expressed its “deepest condolences to the bereaved family and friends who have lost their loved ones. One.
“There is no place in our country for hate crimes, whether committed against members of the LGBTQ+ community or Black, Native American, Latino or Asian Americans, or for the vitriol and venomous language that precedes these atrocities. one’s religious faith,” the sisters said.
Similarly, the Redemptorists of the Denver Province mourned the deaths and injuries and prayed “for the well-being of the LGBTQ community in Colorado Springs as they experience the trauma and suffering of this attack.”
In a Nov. 21 statement, members of the Chicago-based order said they recognize that “LGBTQ people are particularly vulnerable to excessive and unjustified violence in the world” and vowed to act against and support such violence and discrimination. who will be affected by it.
According to Redemptorists, the shooting is reminiscent of the 2016 Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, where 49 people were killed and 53 others injured.
At the time, they said, bishops and Catholic leaders spoke out against the tragedy, but they said “too few remembered the victims as members of the LGBTQ community.”
They urged bishops and Catholic leaders to join them now in solidarity with the LGBTQ community and to “identify the victims as LGBTQ people in order to deepen the Church’s mission as a place of safety and respect for vulnerable minorities.”
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