The Redemptorsts of the Denver Province grieve the tragic loss of five lives and the injury of twenty-five people November 19, at Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

As Redemptorists we pray Christ the Redeemer shower the victims with unfailing new life and grant their families and friends healing consolation. We also extend our prayers to the well-being of the LGBTQ community in Colorado Springs as it faces the trauma of this attack and the pain it incurred.

We, as Redemptorists, recognize that LGBTQ people as especially vulnerable to an inordinate and unwarranted amount of violence in the world.

We, as Redemptorists, commit ourselves to work against such violence and discrimination and to assist those LGBTQ people who suffer it. As followers of the Redeemer, we hope LGBTQ people will find with us a place of safety and esteem.

In 2016, when 49 people were killed and 53 more were injured at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, few bishops and Catholic leaders spoke out publicly against that tragedy, although it is common practice to do so when a specific minority group is attacked. And when these leaders did, very few mentioned the victims as members of the LGBTQ community, The Redemptorists of the Denver Province invite other Catholic Bishops and leaders of religious orders and congregations to join us in solidarity with the LGBTQ community in Colorado Springs at this time and to identify the victims as LGBTQ people, so that the Church can deepen its mission as a place of safety and esteem for vulnerable minorities.

Very Rev. Fr. Steve Rehrauer, C.Ss.R., Provincial
Denver Province of Redemptorists