National Catholic Register: Minnesota Catholic School Shooting Came After Bishops’ Pleas for Security Funds Went Unanswered

After a pair of out-of-state school shootings in 2022 and 2023 shocked the nation, Minnesota’s bishops implored state lawmakers to provide security funding for local non-public schools. 

Now, two years after their appeals went unheeded, tragedy has struck one of their own.

On the morning of Aug. 27, a gunman opened fire during at an all-school Mass at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, killing two students, aged 10 and 8; 14 other students and three adults were injured.

The tragedy comes after the Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC), the public policy voice of Minnesota’s six dioceses, made requests to state officials to extend funds for security upgrades and emergency-response training to non-public schools in both 2022 and 2023.

The appeals, which came after deadly school shootings at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, argued that students at Catholic and other non-public schools should receive the same level of protection as their public-school peers.

“We need to ensure that all our schools have the resources to respond to and prevent these attacks from happening to our schools,” wrote Jason Adkins, MCC’s executive director, in an April 14, 2023, letter to Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who are both Democrats. The letter was also signed by Tim Benz, president of a Minnesota independent school organization.

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Responding to a request for comment, Walz’s office underscored that the governor “cares deeply about the safety of students” and has “signed into law millions in funding for school safety.”  The Register confirmed, however, that none of the previously signed funding bills applied to non-public school safety.

“We remain committed to working with anyone who is willing to work with us to stop gun violence and keep our students safe,” said the spokesman, noting that Walz meets with MCC on a regular basis.

Meanwhile, Republican state Sen. Julia Coleman, R-Waconia, told the Register that the tragedy is prompting her to reflect on her “responsibility as an elected official.” 

“There are no easy answers, but I know our children — our most precious assets — must be protected,” said Coleman, a Catholic. “Now is the time to make school security funding a priority.”

In his first public remarks following the shooting, Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis begged for prayers for those affected. He also called for an end to gun violence.

“Our community is rightfully outraged at such horrific acts of violence perpetrated against the vulnerable and innocence,” he wrote in a statement. “They are far too commonplace.”

Jason Adkins, executive director of MCC, declined to comment at this time.

Previous Requests

The Minnesota bishops’ efforts to secure school security funding came after state lawmakers had passed “Safe Schools” legislation in 2019 that provided money for security enhancements to public schools but not to non-public ones.

In 2022, after a bill to expand the funding to non-public schools stalled, Minnesota’s bishops urged Walz to call a special session and pass an expansion to Safe Schools. The measure would have provided $44 per student for security costs, regardless of their school’s affiliation.

“Although no legislation can stop the manifestation of evil, this Safe Schools legislation is an important, commonsense first step to establishing an ongoing funding source for schools to increase security staff, enhance building security, and strengthen violence prevention programs and mental health initiatives,” Archbishop Hebda wrote in a May 2022 letter.

The House version of the bill was supported by multiple members of the Democrat-Farmer-Labor Party, the Minnesota affiliate of the national Democratic Party, indicating bipartisan support. However, Walz did not call a special session to pass the legislation.

The following year, MCC implored Minnesota’s lawmakers to make non-public schools eligible recipients of a $50-million security grant program included in the state’s education finance bill. 

The 2023 letter co-signed by MCC described “the exclusion of one sector of schools” from security funding as “a discriminatory act against our students.”

An attack on any school, whether it is a public, nonpublic, charter or another school site, cannot be tolerated or allowed to happen in Minnesota,” said the letter writers.

Meeting, But No Funding

According to comments Adkins made to The Daily Wire, Minnesota’s bishops had raised their concerns with Walz, a former public-school teacher, in a meeting. 

“He communicated his belief that people should feel safe in their schools and places of worship,” Adkins said. “But the appropriation was not created.”

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