Jan. 6, 2021

What has been unfolding at the Capitol today should shock the conscience of any patriotic American and any faithful Catholic. The eyes of the world look on in horror as we suffer this national disgrace. For many months we have witnessed the deliberate erosion of the norms of our system of government. Peaceful protest is a sacred right. It has been an essential component of much social progress over the course of human history. 

But violence is its opposite. Violence in the service of a falsehood is worse. Please join me in praying for the woman who was shot during the rioting, and who has died, and for law enforcement who protect us against mob rule.

We pray for peace at this bracing moment in U.S. history, a history that has been marked by one of democracy’s greatest virtues—the peaceful and orderly transition of power. May our elected officials heed the counsel of their better angels to stand up for the Constitution they swore to defend, to speak the truth, and to recognize threats to democracy, no matter their source. 

May God’s love suffuse our political life together, reminding all Americans that politics is the peaceful resolution of conflicting points of view. This is our tradition as a democratic nation—and we undermine it at our own peril.

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich

Archbishop of Chicago