Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said ‘don’t say this is about thoughts and prayers’ after gunman killed two children during Mass.
By Catholics for Catholics
Robert Barron, the Minnesota Bishop who is also popular in Catholic media circles like EWTN, lambasted the comments of the mayor of Minneapolis as “completely asinine” for dismissing the calls for prayer after the deadliest Catholic school shooting in memory.
“Catholics don’t think that prayer magically protects them from all suffering. After all, Jesus prayed fervently from the cross on which he was dying,” Barron told Fox News Digital.
Fox News reported that the shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis murdered two children and injured 18 other people during a morning Mass, according to police. Kash Patel, the FBI’s director, corroborated his agency is probing the attack as both a possible act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics.
In his manifesto, the killer, who was a former student of the school, left anti-religious writings against Catholics and Jews. In addition, he was transgender, dressing like a woman and rambling incoherently in a video. At a press conference after the tragedy, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey criticized those calling for prayer.
Friends, prayer doesn't magically protect us from suffering. At its core, prayer is raising the mind and heart to God, which is absolutely appropriate in times of deep pain. https://t.co/j210UlxyVi
— Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) August 29, 2025
“Don’t say this is about ‘thoughts and prayers’ right now — these kids were literally praying,” he said. “It was the first week of school – they were in a church.”
Democratic leaders and some progressive media talking heads said similar comments as Frey, disparaging faith-based responses to the tragedy.
Barron said they misunderstood what prayer was. “Prayer is the raising of the mind and heart to God, which strikes me as altogether appropriate precisely at times of great pain,” he said. “And prayer by no means stands in contrast to decisive moral action. Martin Luther King was a man of deep prayer, who also effected a social revolution in our country. This is not an either/or proposition.”
Also, the Bishop said the revolting attack against the children of Annunciation should be recognized for what it was: a deliberate act of anti-Catholic violence.
We will NEVER stop praying. Praying for children, praying for our church, praying for conversions, praying for our faith! You can never take away our love and devotion to Christ! pic.twitter.com/PA07WenvdL
— Catholics for Catholics 🇺🇲 (@CforCatholics) August 29, 2025
“In the past seven years in our country, there has been a 700% increase in violent acts against Christians and Christian churches. Worldwide, Christianity is by far the most persecuted religion. That people are even wondering whether the tragedy in Minneapolis is an instance of anti-Catholic violence is puzzling to me,” Barron told Fox News Digital.
“If someone attacked a synagogue while congregants were praying, would anyone doubt that it was an antisemitic act? If someone shot up a mosque while the devout were praying, would anyone doubt that it was an anti-Islamic attack? So, why would we even hesitate to say that a maniac shooting into a Catholic Church while children are at prayer was committing an anti-Catholic act?” he asked.
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