Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities call for gun laws and mental health programs.
As followers of St. Francis of Assisi, promoter of tolerance, social justice and peace, the more than 250 Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities see all living beings as gifts from God and beloved brothers and sisters. We send our prayers to the family members, relatives and friends of those killed and injured in the Colorado Springs shooting on Saturday, November 19.
As St. Francis stood for society’s ostracized, we stand in support of the LGBTQ+ community not only in Colorado but throughout the world. We denounce exclusion and intolerance, bred from hate and behind so much violence in the world. We will work to address the root causes of such behavior; indeed, our sisters are currently engaged in examining our actions and language toward one another to understand better how attitudes and speech can lead to peace and open-mindedness. We pray our lessons will help us be examples to those around us.
We recognize that the challenge of overcoming the violence, hate and marginalization that have become a part of today’s society will take decisive action by everyone. We renew our call to local, state and federal officials to provide funding to increase mental health services and restrict civilian access to assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. In addition, we believe young people need to learn that people are more alike than they are different — that we all need love and to live in a community that accepts them.
In the almost 800 years since his death, the words attributed to St. Francis of Assisi say it best:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
The Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities is a community of more than 250 vowed women religious. Headquartered in Syracuse, New York, the Sisters also minister and live throughout the United States and Peru.
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