Mourners flock to Connecticut parish for public, private prayer; evacuation follows threat

December 17, 2012

Catholics and non-Catholics alike flocked to St. Rose of Lima Parish in Newtown, Connecticut, following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Upon hearing news of the shooting, Msgr. Robert Weiss, the parish’s pastor, rushed to the school, and other priests ministered “on the ground and in the hospital,” according to a spokesman for the Diocese of Bridgeport.

On the evening of the massacre, a special Mass and prayer vigil were held at the parish, with hundreds of persons standing outside. The following day, a steady stream of Catholics and non-Catholics visited the church to pray in silence.

“The air was solemn, sad, yet there was a certain peace in the church,” the National Catholic Register reported. “No matter who was there — adults, young children and teens with their families, husbands and wives, single women, elderly couples — the silence was seamless. Every moment was filled with a solemn hush that was never broken. No one said a word. Even those shedding tears did so silently.”

During the noon Sunday Mass, an anonymous caller phoned the church, stating, “I’m coming to kill, I’m coming to kill,” according to the parish’s pastor – prompting the closure of the church for the remainder of the day.

 

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Further information:

• Vigils held to mourn Newtown shooting victims (Yahoo News Photographs)
• In the Face of Horror, Faith in Action (National Catholic Register)
• Newtown church evacuated after caller reportedly makes threat: 'I'm coming to kill' (New Haven Register)
• Parish blog (St. Rose of Lima)