Pray to End Political Violence

by Fr. John Granato  |  07/21/2024  |  Words from Fr. John

My Dear Friends,

Last week in our country there was an act of political violence; an attempted assassination upon a man running for president. There have been many presidents who have been assassinated in office; Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy. Three other presidents were victims of an attempted assassination and suffered injury; Theodore Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump.

The very first attempted assassination but which did not involve injury was Andrew Jackson. Others were William Howard Taft, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. If you look at this list, only two president names are missing since President Herbert Hoover; Dwight Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson. Of course, Robert F. Kennedy was also assassinated while running for president and Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X are also high profile leaders assassinated in the volatile Sixties. And many other politicians, Representatives and Senators and Governors, have been victims of attempted assassinations.

Our form of government should be a protection against these assassinations or attempted assassinations. We are a government of the people, by the people and for the people. We are a representative Constitutional Republic that was set up to protect from mob rule and to protect from one larger U.S. state from having undue influence over the smaller states. We are a government that allows for the right to exercise our vote to elect who you believe is the best person for the political office. And you should be able to support your favored politician without fear of repercussion, persecution or violence. To do this effectively requires that the citizens must be assured that the counting of votes is legal and honest.

Personally, I feel that every political office, at the city, state and federal levels, should be subject to term limits. We as a country, unfortunately, have not learned to be civil towards those we disagree with. Hateful rhetoric and threats of violence seem to be multiplying. As a priest, I am very much aware that every Catholic parish has people who vote for both major political parties, for a variety of reasons. I would never tell anyone how to vote. My mandate is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But I must say, in preaching the gospel, that hate has no part in the life of a Catholic Christian (or any Christian for that matter).

Our parish, and every other Catholic parish, worships as a faith community. We are united in our faith to come and receive our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. We are called to set aside our political differences and join hands in adoration, praise and thanksgiving. And we are called to love one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. Stop the hate towards those who disagree with you politically. You might disagree with a certain policy of a political party, but hating your fellow Catholic parishioner or family member over politics is not Christian. As we prayed last week in our prayers of the faithful, let us pray for an end to political violence and pray for the safety of all politicians, especially those currently running for political office. God bless.