• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
  • Log In
Itemlive

Itemlive

North Shore news powered by The Daily Item

  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Police/Fire
  • Government
  • Obituaries
  • Archives
  • E-Edition
  • Help

Editorial: Two children lost at prayer. Now hope must join with action.

Guest Editorial

August 28, 2025 by Guest Editorial

Editorial written by Chicago Tribune Editorial Board.

This week, in parochial and Christian schools across Chicago and the suburbs, schoolchildren filed into pews with their classmates to observe church services ahead of the school day.

Afterward, they returned to class as usual.

Two of their peers up north did not.

Two children — 8 and 10 years old — died Wednesday celebrating Mass.

They were killed in Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis when a gunman shot through the windows of the church, which was filled with parents, teachers and students celebrating Annunciation Catholic School’s return to the classroom. Seventeen others were injured.

As we write, we don’t yet know their names. What we do know is we wish they’d been able to walk right back to school after church ended. We wish this was just another normal day for their families.

Police are calling this a deliberate act of violence. We can’t help but remember something the folks from the American Jewish Committee said when they visited us earlier this year. “If they come for us on Saturday, they’ll come for you on Sunday.”

The point is that targeted violence, once emboldened, engenders a bigger target, one that encompasses not just one group but others. It was a prescient statement to make back in February.

Here we are in August, mourning two dead children, facing another horrific attack and not the first to take place in a house of worship. We’re looking for leadership and for hope.

The timing and setting of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s statement was unhelpful, even if it was fueled by grief and righteous anger.

“Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now,” he said Wednesday after the shooting. “These kids were literally praying. … They should be able to go to school or church in peace without the fear or risk of violence, and their parents should have the same kind of assurance.”

The mayor’s dismissal of prayer didn’t provide the right tone for the grieving and shocked families. These are Catholics whose children were at Mass when the shooter opened fire. No doubt many of them are relying on prayer for comfort and understanding and don’t need their city’s mayor belittling how the faithful talk to God — even if his words amounted to a talking point frequently used by the supporters of gun controls.

Of course, he’s right on his main point: We do not want to live in a world where children are afraid to go to school and their parents fear to send them. He’s also right that action must follow this tragedy.

Even as we await the details on how the killer came to possess multiple firearms, this board will reiterate its call, made more than once, for sensible gun controls.

Our hearts go out to the greater Minneapolis community, which is enduring more than its share of horrors this year. The Twin Cities are reeling not only from this attack on Annunciation but also from recent political assassinations. Former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed in their home by a gunman on June 14.

  • Guest Editorial
    Guest Editorial

    View all posts

Related posts:

No related posts.

Primary Sidebar

Advertisement

Sponsored Content

Solo Travel Safety Hacks: How to Use eSIM and Tech to Stay Connected and Secure in Australia

How Studying Psychology Can Equip You To Better Help Your Community

Solo Travel Safety Hacks: How to Use eSIM and Tech to Stay Connected and Secure in Australia

Advertisement

Upcoming Events

“WIN” Wine Tasting Mixer at Lucille!

October 9, 2025
Lucille Wine Shop

11th Annual Lynn Tech Festival of Trees

November 16, 2025
Lynn Tech Tigers Den

1st Annual Lynn Food Truck & Craft Beverage Festival presented by Greater Lynn Chamber of Commerce

September 27, 2025
Blossom Street, Lynn,01905, US 89 Blossom St, Lynn, MA 01902-4592, United States

5th Annual Brickett Trunk or Treat

October 23, 2025
123 Lewis St., Lynn, MA, United States, Massachusetts 01902

Footer

About Us

  • About Us
  • Editorial Practices
  • Advertising and Sponsored Content

Reader Services

  • Subscribe
  • Manage Your Subscription
  • Activate Subscriber Account
  • Submit an Obituary
  • Submit a Classified Ad
  • Daily Item Photo Store
  • Submit A Tip
  • Contact
  • Terms and Conditions

Essex Media Group Publications

  • La Voz
  • Lynnfield Weekly News
  • Marblehead Weekly News
  • Peabody Weekly News
  • 01907 The Magazine
  • 01940 The Magazine
  • 01945 The Magazine
  • North Shore Golf Magazine

© 2025 Essex Media Group