US Bishops urge respect for human life after ICE killings in Minneapolis

Photo by Mike Labrum on Unsplash

Source: Vatican Media, USCCB, Diocese of Minnesota

Tensions are running high in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents fatally shot Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse and US citizen, on Saturday.

The federal government alleged that Mr Pretti was carrying a gun and intervened as ICE agents confronted a woman on the street.

Local authorities said Mr Pretti had a permit to carry a handgun, adding that his firearm was legally registered.

Video from the scene shows Alex Pretti holding a phone, not a gun, as he assists other protesters. ICE agents are seen forcing Mr Pretti to the ground. Another officer then points a handgun at Mr Pretti's back and fires four shots in quick succession.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Minneapolis the next day, and many vigils have been held since then in the USA and in cities around the world to remember Alex Pretti. His death came just over two weeks after ICE agents killed 37-year-old mother Renee Good in Minneapolis.

On Sunday, Archbishop Bernard Hebda, Archbishop of Minneapolis, released a statement calling for prayers for Mr Pretti and his loved ones.

"The loss of another life amidst the tensions that have gripped Minnesota should prompt all of us to ask what we can do to restore the Lord's peace," said the Archbishop.

He recalled that all people were created in the image and likeness of God, both elected US officials and "our undocumented neighbours."

"While we rightly thirst for God's justice and hunger for his peace," said Archbishop Hebda, "this will be not be achieved until we are able to rid our hearts of the hatreds and prejudices that prevent us from seeing each other as brothers and sisters created in the image and likeness of God."

The Archbishop invited Catholics to join in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament in the city's churches, which he said offer a "quiet place for prayer and reflection."

In a separate message, Archbishop Paul Coakley, President of the US Catholic Bishops' Conference, called for Americans to come together in dialogue and turn away from "dehumanizing rhetoric and acts which threaten human life."

"I prayerfully urge calm, restraint, and respect for human life in Minneapolis, and all those places where peace is threatened," he said in a statement released yesterday. "Public authorities especially have a responsibility to safeguard the well-being of people in service to the common good."

Archbishop Coakley recalled the Pope's appeal for peace at the Angelus address on Sunday. "Pope Leo XIV reminds us that 'the Gospel must be proclaimed and lived in every setting, serving as a leaven of fraternity and peace among all individuals, cultures, religions and peoples'," said the Archbishop.

Quoting Pope Leo, Archbishop Coakely concluded: "peace is built on respect for people."