The cardinal then called for “common-sense gun-reform laws, such as universal background checks and crackdowns on straw purchases.” The gun used to kill French, according to federal officials, was obtained via an illegal straw purchase in nearby Indiana.
“The degree to which we take seriously the epidemic of gun violence will be measured by the effort we put into ridding our streets of illegal guns and weapons of war,” said Cardinal Cupich. He said that failing to enact these reforms “is a day we fail as a society to uphold the value of human life.”
And while “committing acts of violence against the innocent can never be excused,” Cardinal Cupich says that these acts do “not mean we are released from the responsibility to understand why such violence plagues our city and our nation.”
Cardinal Cupich called not only for “acts of remote charity,” which he described as making social media posts and donations, but also “proximate charity,” such as distributing food to the needy and going out into the community. These acts will help with “building up the common good and redressing systemic injustice.”
“There is no denying it: this has been a season of senselessness in Chicago, with gun violence rising and mass shootings becoming a regular occurrence,” said the cardinal. “But we can never allow ourselves to become numb in the face of injustice, no matter how crushingly common it seems.”
There is a need to awaken the population from a “zombified state of polarization” and come together for a common cause, out of the “silos of politics, culture, and even religion,” said Cardinal Cupich. These divisions are “not what God wants for his family.”
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