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Crosses and candles are placed at a makeshift memorial in Minneapolis Jan. 28, 2026, at the site where Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse was fatally shot by federal agents trying to detain him. In a Jan. 28 statement, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, calls for a Holy Hour for peace as a step toward national healing following a trio of recent killings by immigration enforcement personnel. (OSV News photo/Seth Herald, Reuters)

Deadly violence in Minneapolis tied to ICE agents is ‘unacceptable,’ top cardinal says


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Catholic News Service Filed Under: Immigration and Migration, News, Vatican, World News

ROME (CNS) — Asked about the deadly shootings by U.S. federal agents in Minneapolis, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said the violence unfolding there is “unacceptable.”

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, is seen Sept. 28, 2019, addressing the 74th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations at U.N. headquarters in New York. (OSV News photo/Brendan McDermid, Reuters)

“The position of the Holy See is always to avoid any kind of violence, obviously, and therefore we cannot accept episodes of this kind. That is our position, as you know,” he told reporters when asked about operations underway by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minnesota, which have led to the shootings and deaths of two U.S. citizens.

“Difficulties, problems and contradictions must be resolved in other ways,” he said Jan. 28, describing the situation as “unacceptable” and agreeing with recent statements by U.S. bishops.

The cardinal spoke with reporters on the sidelines of an evening event at LUMSA University in Rome Jan. 28.

Asked about the possibility of the U.S. sending ICE agents to the Winter Olympics in northern Italy as part of security measures for the U.S. delegation, the cardinal said he was aware of the proposal, “but I know there is also controversy surrounding it. We don’t get involved” in such controversies.

Meanwhile, the secretary-general of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Giuseppe Baturi, told reporters during a news conference Jan. 28 that “We hope that respect for public order will be ensured as much as possible by our own (Italian) authorities,” adding that there has been no official statement from the conference on the issue.

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