Portland
Bishop on Roseburg shooting
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| Prayer vigil for victims shot in Roseburg.- AFP |
(Vatican
Radio) Just days after Pope Francis’ Papal Visit to the United States came to
an end, the town of Roseburg, Oregon, was rocked by a deadly college shoot out.
The rampage at Umpqua College left ten dead, including the gunmen, and nine
wounded. This is the 45th such incident in the US this year alone.
Christopher
Harper-Mercer (26) entered the College, where he was enrolled in a writing
class, with six firearms, five magazines of bullets and body armour. He,
allegedly, asked people to identify their religious affiliation before he shot
them.
On
Thursday evening, hours after the shooting, auxiliary bishop of Portland, Peter
Smith, visited Roseburg and celebrated Mass at the local parish of St. Joseph
in English and Spanish.
Speaking
to Vatican Radio’s Fr. Russell Pollitt SJ, Bishop Peter Smith tells of the
Church’s response in this tragic moment.
The
Archbishop of Portland, Alexander Sample, sent a message to the people of
Roseburg assuring them of his prayers. Bishop Smith said that Catholic Charities
had made money available to the parish of Roseburg for emergency needs like
grief counselling and “to support the parish in their ministry to people and
for folks who come to them who are struggling with what is going on.”
Bishop
Smith believes that several factors have contributed to incidents like this in
the USA. “There is a growing secularisation trend in American society which is
leading to an amoral society where the ethics we would normally assume would be
in place governing our behaviour seem to be removed.” The bishop said this
leads to “much more of a focus on the individualistic subjectivist view of
reality” which in turn gives rise to somebody thinking they are “justified when
doing some insane action” like the one we have just witnessed in Roseburg.
Bishop
Smith believes that the break-up of family life plays a factor in what
happened. “Studies are very clear that even if the marriage is only an ok
marriage with the parents present it’s a more stable situation for the children
being raised, and unfortunately here in the US there has been an ongoing
breakdown of marriage and family life.”
The
bishop said that a lack of stability is leading to a lack of formation which
leads to other issues. This, the bishop said, leads to extremes such as the situation
in Roseburg.
Bishop
Smith said that some media are reporting that the gunmen asked people for their
religious affiliation before shooting at them. “The ones who said they were
Christians its thought he shot in the head, those who declared themselves to be
other than Christian or did not answer he shot in the legs.” The bishop went on
to say that if these reports are true it is a “very very troubling thing for us
to see.” There are unconfirmed reports that the police are investigating the
shooting as a possible hate crime.
Bishop
Smith said that the State of Oregon has more stringent gun control laws than
many of the other states do. “Here in Oregon there are more stringent
background checks before you can purchase a firearm.” The Federal government
has tried to introduce tighter controls with little success in recent years.
“The problem with gun control in various forms is that there is a black market
that goes on where you can go on the street and buy guns from people who have
stolen them,” he said. It is still unknown as to where the shooter in Roseburg
obtained the firearms he had in his possession.
Smith
asked that prayers be offered for the people of Roseburg, the parish of St.
Joseph and the pastor, Fr. Campos, who are struggling to deal with this issue
which has affected some members of the local Catholic community. “Please pray
for peace, consolation, freedom from fear and for God’s presence with all of
them as they struggle with the grief and the tragedy that has overwhelmed
them.”
The
bishop also thanked all those who have offered prayers and sent messages to
them for the community in Roseburg.
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