In the year 1400, a young man came to the door of the largest hospital in Siena. A plague was raging through the city so horrible that as many as twenty people died each day just in the hospital alone. And many of the people who died were those who were needed to tend the ill. It was a desperate situation -- more and more people were falling ill and fewer and fewer people were there to help them. The twenty-year-old man who stood there had not come because he was ill but because he wanted ...

WASHINGTON – Following the shooting at the San Diego Islamic Center yesterday, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops expressed sorrow at the senseless violence and assured the Muslim community of prayerful solidarity.

Archbishop Coakley’s full statement follows:

“On behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, I extend our profound sorrow and prayerful solidarity following the tragic shooting at the San Diego Islamic Center. We stand with Chief Imam Taha Hassane, the entire Muslim community, and all who mourn in the wake of this senseless violence, affirming our shared commitment to the dignity of every human life and the rejection of hatred in all its forms. 

“In moments such as these, we are reminded of the call to be instruments of peace; as Pope Leo XIV has said, ‘Where violence wounds the human family, compassion and unity must be our steadfast reply.’ May God console the grieving, strengthen the injured, and guide us all toward greater understanding, justice, and peace.”

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