Statement on New Zealand Massacre

Dear Saint Mary’s Community Members,

We offer our collective prayers to the 50 people who lost their lives as a result of the hate-inspired mass killings at the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, on March 15. We extend our heartfelt condolences to their grieving families and healing blessings for the wounded.

This is the latest in a very troubling series of racially and religiously targeted attacks on people in their houses of worship—Charleston in 2015 because the worshipers were African Americans and Pittsburgh in 2018 because they were Jewish.

The repetition of horror, the slaughter of innocents, another massacre in a place of worship may cause us to be numb to these unconscionable events. Perhaps we should allow ourselves instead to be uncomfortable and resolute in how we will continually commit ourselves to stand up for what is right and what is just and how we can make a difference in our own communities to promote the opposite of the hate illustrated in Christchurch.

It is imperative that we recognize, in this tercentenary honoring the legacy of Saint John Baptist de LaSalle, that we are part of a worldwide Lasallian Catholic community, whose principles of faith in the presence of God, inclusive community, and respect for all persons, call on us to be in solidarity with people of all faith traditions, all races, and all sexual orientations. We must forever promote those values wherever we are for the common good of our campus and our individual communities, and for those we interact with across the world. 

Sincerely,

James A. Donahue
President