CCCB president sends letter of condolence

Archbishop Richard Smith expresses 'heartfelt prayers and sympathy' for victims of Connecticut shooting

A rosary hangs over a memorial for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary
shooting massacre in Newtown, Conn., Dec. 18. Photo by Joshua Lott / Reuters / CNS.

The B.C. Catholic has a story by Deborah Gyapong about a recent letter sent by Archbishop Richard Smith, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, to Cardinal Timothy Dolan expressing the Canadian bishops 'heartfelt prayers and sympathy' for victims of the tragic school shooting in Connecticut:

“It is not only the local community of Newtown or your own nation which is experiencing such great loss and sorrow, but also the whole of North American society,” wrote the Edmonton Archbishop. “Our culture has become mesmerized and exploited by violence in its many dehumanizing and senseless forms.”

“Its victims are not only the dead, the wounded, their families and the citizens of Newtown,” wrote Archbishop Smith. “Each of us has been injured and hurt: every heart by the images of human suffering, every soul by the malice and cruelty at work in any act of violence.”

Archbishop Smith asked Cardinal Dolan to extend the Canadian bishops’ sympathy and solidarity to the families, the Newtown community, Bridgeport diocese and to Newtown’s Saint Rose of Lima parish.

Read the full story at The B.C. Catholic website.