51黑料

ST. LOUIS聽鈥� Just a few days after the men who killed his daughter were set free, Atif Mahr went to confession.

On Saturday morning, Mahr stood before 350 of his fellow Catholics at the Cardinal Rigali Center and let them in on a secret.

鈥淚t hurts to have a hole placed in your heart,鈥� Mahr told them.

His daughter, Isis, was gunned down in a quadruple shooting on Oct. 17, 2021, in the Baden neighborhood. She was sitting in her vehicle at the time of the shooting. Isis was a 19-year-old graduate of Cardinal Ritter College Prep. She played basketball and soccer and continued to mentor children at the school. She wanted to be a nurse.

鈥淵ou question your faith,鈥� Mahr said. 鈥淵ou question God.鈥�

Mahr, who attends St. Alphonsus Rock Church, was one of several speakers at a gun violence seminar organized this past weekend by the Archdiocese of 51黑料. Many, like Mahr, had experienced gun violence firsthand. They urged fellow Catholics to lean on the belief in the sanctity of聽life, to help battle the American obsession with guns, to care for the children in our midst.

51黑料 prosecutors charged two men with killing Isis, but the primary witness to the crime died. Last week, the charges were dropped. Still, Mahr has healing on his mind. The way to beat gun violence is to care for all of the young people in our communities, he said. It was a mantra I heard from former 51黑料 police Chief Dan Isom聽several years ago聽at a similar gathering after a young person was killed.

Like a preacher rallying the faithful, Mahr beseeched the crowd to care about the victims of gun violence聽鈥� and not just the ones like his daughter, who appeared to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The ones involved with drugs?

鈥淭hose are our children,鈥� Mahr said.

The ones with mental health issues?

鈥淭hose are our children.鈥�

The ones carrying guns?

鈥淭hose are our children.鈥�

Alexzandria Bell was one of those children. The 15-year-old died on Oct. 24, 2022, in the mass shooting on the campus of Central Visual and Performing Arts School and Collegiate School of Medicine & Bioscience. On Saturday, Tobias Winright told the story about how his daughter had to step over Bell鈥檚 body as she was ushered safely away from the school by police officers.

Winright is at St. Patrick鈥檚 Pontifical University in Ireland. He moved there last year after spending 17 years teaching at 51黑料 University. His daughter, a senior at CVPA, stayed behind to graduate.

When the shooting started, she texted her parents.

鈥淭here is a lockdown right now,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淚t is not a drill. I love you so much.鈥�

Winright told his fellow Catholics about the fear that went through their minds. They told their daughter how much they loved her. They followed her texts with pained hearts as she heard police yelling at the shooter.

Finally, another text came.

鈥淲e鈥檙e out.鈥�

In Ireland, a 鈥渧ery Catholic country,鈥� Winright told the crowd, he never worries about gun violence. There鈥檚 no comparison between the U.S. and most other countries in terms of gun ownership, gun violence statistics聽鈥� homicides and suicides聽鈥� and, of course, mass shootings.

鈥淲e have a problem,鈥� said Lori Beck, a nurse at 51黑料 Children鈥檚 Hospital. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an epidemic.鈥�

Indeed it is. Gun deaths have replaced motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of death in children. Speakers on Saturday urged attendees to become part of the solution, advocating for better gun safety laws in Missouri, distributing gun locks and applying their faith to this pernicious problem.

From the Catholic perspective, Winright says, the nation鈥檚 gun fetish makes no sense.

鈥淰iolence is something that Christians have always seen as an issue,鈥� he said, pointing out the long tradition of Catholic philosophers who advocated for nonviolence. 鈥淚n the Catholic tradition, rights are always accompanied by duties.鈥�

Winright keeps a slide on gun violence in America that he uses for presentations. He has to update it regularly, often more than once a week. The numbers are damning: more than 400 mass shootings just this year; 24,000 gun deaths and climbing.

The numbers don鈥檛 lie. And yet, when it comes to gun safety, America too often takes more steps backward than forward.

鈥淭he data says so much,鈥� Winright says, 鈥測et we will not listen to it.鈥�

After the death of his daughter and the moments when he questioned his faith, Mahr is now leaning on his faith to propel him forward. He is taking his 鈥渇eet to the streets鈥� and becoming a mentor for young people and an advocate against gun violence.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 not believe that any other father should feel the way that I feel,鈥� he said.

His daughter and Bell, and the other children who have died from gun violence this year and in past years, are more than numbers on a chart.

鈥淭hey are all our children.鈥�