• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer of Atlanta is seen April 21, 2020. "Prayer that leads to action" is needed to counter a bewildering rise in mass shootings and gun violence, said Atlanta Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer. (CNS photo/Michael Alexander, Georgia Bulletin)

After multiple mass shootings, Atlanta archbishop calls for ‘prayer that leads to action’

May 5, 2023
By Gina Christian
OSV News
Filed Under: Feature, Gun Violence, News, World News

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

ATLANTA (OSV News) — “Prayer that leads to action” is needed to counter a bewildering rise in mass shootings and gun violence, said Atlanta Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer.

The archbishop, a Conventual Franciscan and former principal of Archbishop Curley in Baltimore, released a May 4 statement following two deadly mass shootings that took place within a week of each other in Georgia.

The first saw five women shot, one fatally, in the waiting room of an Atlanta medical office May 3. Killed in the attack was Amy Wald St. Pierre, 38, a 2003 graduate of Blessed Trinity Catholic High School in Roswell, Georgia, and an employee at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Archbishop Hartmayer offered his “deepest condolences to (St. Pierre’s) family and community.”

A man who Atlanta police described as a shooting suspect stands inside a medical center in a still image from surveillance video in Atlanta May 3, 2023. (OSV News photo/Atlanta Police Dept., Reuters)

In a Facebook post, Blessed Trinity’s alumni group shared news of Pierre’s passing “with a heavy heart,” asking for prayers for “the Wald and St. Pierre families … during this difficult time.” The suspect, Deion Patterson, 24, was apprehended later that day.

On May 4, Kentavious White, 26, killed his grandmother and mother, along with 41-year-old McDonald’s manager Amia Smith before taking his own life. The attack occurred in the rural town of Moultrie, Ga., some 200 miles from Atlanta within the Diocese of Savannah.

“We barely had time to process (the May 3) shooting and the manhunt that followed, when we (learned) of another shooting … a devastating loss for any community,” said Archbishop Hartmayer.

He also pointed to the Feb. 28 shooting death of 20-year-old Jatonne Sterling, who was killed behind the Lyke House Catholic Center, a Newman Center located at the Atlanta University Center Consortium in downtown Atlanta.

The May 3 Atlanta shooting — during which Patterson is reported to have become agitated over a declined prescription for Ativan, an anti-anxiety drug — “has brought the dual epidemics of gun violence and mental health care challenges into sharp focus right here at home,” said the archbishop. “Families are mourning, patients and medical staff are in shock. We are all feeling the impact today.”

Archbishop Hartmayer said that “every act of violence makes the world a little bit darker … (and) can erode our hope and challenge our faith.”

As “schools practice active shooter drills in the wake of more mass shootings on campuses across the nation,” said the archbishop, “there does not seem to be any safe place anymore.”

Yet “we cannot … surrender to despair,” he stressed.

While admitting he “(does) not have any concrete answers today,” Archbishop Hartmayer pledged to “commit to action” instead of “just offering words in the wake of the (shootings).”

The archbishop said he would “(look) for ways that the church in Atlanta can support efforts to make our communities safer and more supportive for everyone.”

Prayer, particularly the well-known Prayer of St. Francis, “offers a model of actions we can put into practice as a starting point to personal conversion, community action and hopefully, change for the good of all,” said the archbishop.

He quoted in full the text of the prayer — which serves as a short litany for peace, humility and nonviolence — inviting all to “pray it with me with your words and your deeds.”

Read More Gun Violence

Slain Minnesota lawmaker, husband remembered for lives lived ‘with purpose, meaning’

Suspect arrested for murdering Minnesota lawmaker, husband

Minnesota lawmaker who once taught Catholic Sunday school shot and killed in apparent ‘politically motivated assassination’

On a day of ‘national tragedy,’ Austria mourns 9 victims of high school shooting

Catholic sisters’ ‘Put the Guns Down’ campaign hits city buses

Bishop calls for prayer after deadly attack outside DC’s Capital Jewish Museum

Copyright © 2023 OSV News

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Gina Christian

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • 3 North Americans named to Vatican dicasteries for ecumenism, interreligious dialogue

  • Archbishop Lori announces clergy appointments, including pastor and associate pastors

  • St. Mary’s purchases former Annapolis Area Christian School

  • Pope’s prayer intention for July: That the faithful might again learn how to discern

  • superman Movie Review: Superman

| Latest Local News |

Father Herman Benedict Czaster, former Curley teacher, dies at 86

Loyola University Maryland graduate ordained Jesuit priest

Sister Ann Belz dies at 88

Archbishop Lori announces clergy appointments, including pastor and associate pastors

DUAL ENROLLMENT

Double the learning: Dual enrollment provides college credit to high school students

| Latest World News |

Judge blocks Trump birthright citizenship order as part of class action lawsuit

Ukraine religious leaders issue ‘desperate cry’ to world to end Russia’s war

care of creation

Pope Leo wears Chicago-made vestments to July 9 ‘care of creation’ Mass

ICE

ICE deports Iowa parishioner to Guatemala homeland as supporters pray for his release

French woman hopes sharing mystical encounter with Minnesota Benedictine helps sainthood cause

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • A Gift and a Connection to the Past
  • Father Herman Benedict Czaster, former Curley teacher, dies at 86
  • Loyola University Maryland graduate ordained Jesuit priest
  • Sister Ann Belz dies at 88
  • Expert discusses serious harms of smartphones for children and how to limit their use
  • Movie Review: Superman
  • Judge blocks Trump birthright citizenship order as part of class action lawsuit
  • Ukraine religious leaders issue ‘desperate cry’ to world to end Russia’s war
  • Pope Leo wears Chicago-made vestments to July 9 ‘care of creation’ Mass

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en