A story of hope
LAST SUMMER I WAS ASKED to participate in a public gathering in Pueblo, Colorado. Two Catholic priests had been killed in the rectory of St. Leander Parish by a mentally disturbed young man.
After the murders, Bishop Arthur Tafoya of Pueblo had immediately urged the Catholic community not to seek vengeance and declared publicly that the Pueblo diocese was opposed to the death penalty.
The bishop urged the public to not only pray for the murdered priests, their families, and the parish community, but also for the perpetrator of the violent act. Tafoya also asked the parish to reach out to the family of the troubled young man who had killed the priests. The family belongs to the parish and lives across the street from the rectory.
The district attorney had not come out yet with whether he was going to ask for the death penalty. So they wanted me to come for a gathering, which was to summon the Catholic community to stand with the bishop and to get word to the district attorney: "Don't go for the death penalty for our community. Don't do it for our priests."
The auditorium was packed, and there was such love in that community that we could have this public forum and the mother of this young man could come into the room and be part of the gathering and be loved and received by everybody. And at the end, the people took cards from the meeting to write to the district attorney and urge him not to seek the death penalty.
In January the district attorney's office announced that it would not seek the death penalty in this case.
That to me is a story of hope, the power of the gospel at work.
