STATEMENT FROM BISHOP GEORGE V. MURRY
on the massacre in Las Vegas, Nevada

I offer my sincere condolences to families and friends of all the victims of the tragic shooting in Las Vegas and assure them of my prayers and the prayers of all the faithful the Diocese of Youngstown.

I know that my prayers are being joined by those of millions of others across the nation.  May God hear us and bring us his consolation and peace.

As a society we all need to stop making excuses and commit ourselves to a movement for nonviolence. A commitment to nonviolence requires true conversion.  Each of us needs to restore the love that comes with true friendship.  Unless we recover the sense that we are all in this together, because we are one family, I fear we may not be able to stop the violent trends we are facing.

We have a long way to go. But as disciples of Jesus Christ, who has taught us the power of love to change hearts and minds, we should look to the future not with facile optimism but with hope.

-Bishop George V. Murry, SJ