All Americans share responsibility for public safety. This requires reasonable measures to
regulate the sale and use of lethal weapons. As faithful citizens – Catholic theologians, priests,
sisters and social justice advocates – we join our bishops, the Catholic Health Association and
Catholic Charities USA in calling for common-sense reforms to address the epidemic of gun
violence in our nation. Pro-life citizens and elected officials have a responsibility to show greater
moral leadership and political courage when it comes to confronting threats to the sanctity of life
posed by easy access to military-style assault weapons and high capacity magazines. Members of
Congress who take pride in their pro-life stance and appeal to family values have no excuse for
inaction, and neither do any of us who share a firm commitment to these values.
We especially encourage our fellow Catholics in Congress, including prominent leaders such as
House Speaker John Boehner, to stand up to the National Rifle Association and other gun
lobbyists who choose to obstruct sensible reforms. Catholics who earn an “A” rating from the
NRA – including Republicans like Speaker Boehner and Rep. Paul Ryan and Democratic
lawmakers such as Sen. Joe Donnelly and Sen. Heidi Heitkamp – should not put powerful
special interests before the common good. We urge you to reflect on the wisdom in our church’s
call for a “consistent ethic of life” as you consider legislation in the coming months that can
provide greater protection for our families and communities.
Thousands of Catholics will gather this week for the annual “March for Life” in Washington to
speak out against the tragedy of abortion. Our faith and our Church call us to remember, as we
reflect on our most recent massacres, that the defense of human dignity extends beyond
protecting life in the womb. Gun violence demeans human life and tears communities apart.
There have been more than 70 mass shootings since the January 8, 2011, massacre in Tucson,
Arizona. More than 900 people have been killed with guns since the Newtown tragedy.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops recently renewed their call for measures to address gun
violence by echoing their 2000 statement, Responsibility, Rehabilitation and Restoration: A
Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice. Bishops have called for “measures that
control the sale and use of firearms” and “sensible regulations of handguns.” The Vatican’s
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, in a 1994 document, “The International Arms Trade,”
urges political leaders “to impose a strict control on the sale of handguns and small arms” and
states that “limiting the purchase of such arms would certainly not infringe on the rights of
anyone.”
All of us need to work against the glorification of violence, remedy our inadequate mental health
services and address the breakdown of family support structures. No single law or set of
regulations will prevent all tragedies, but the complexity of this urgent challenge must not be an
excuse for protecting the status quo when it comes to regulating the sale and use of lethal
weapons.
President Obama and Members of Congress can honor the memories of those killed in Newtown,
Conn., and work to prevent future tragedies by acting now.
Signed,
Miguel H. Diaz, U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See (retired) and University Professor of Faith and Culture
at the University of Dayton
Thomas P. Melady, U.S Ambassador to the Holy See, Uganda and Burundi (retired)
President Emeritus, Sacred Heart University
Francis X. Doyle, Associate General Secretary, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (Retired)
Marie Dennis, Co-President, Pax Christi International
Rev. Bryan N. Massingale, Professor of Theological Ethics, Marquette University
Rev. John A. Coleman, S.J., Associate Pastor, St. Ignatius Parish, San Francisco
Rev. John Langan, SJ, Professor of Philosophy and Catholic Social Thought, Georgetown University
Rev. T. Michael McNulty, SJ, Marquette University, Jesuit Residence
Rev. Gerry Creedon, Holy Family Parish, Dale City, VA
Rev. Joseph Nangle, Our Lady Queen of Peace, Arlington, VA
Leadership Team of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
Timothy Collins, Executive Director, Catholic Campaign for Human Development (Retired)
Tom Allio, Diocesan Social Action Director, Diocese of Cleveland (Retired)
Sister Florence Deacon, President, Leadership Conference of Women Religious
Sister Ann Scholz, Associate Director for Social Mission, Leadership Conference of Women Religious
Eli S. McCarthy, Director of Justice and Peace, Conference of Major Superiors of Men
Rev. Jacek Orzechowski, OFM. Chair of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, Directorate of the
Franciscan Province of Holy Name
Rev. James E. Hug, S.J. President, Center of Concern, Washington, DC
Sister Simone Campbell, Executive Director, NETWORK
Patrick Carolan, Executive Director, Franciscan Action Network
Sister Maria Riley, OP. Center of Concern
Nancy Dallavalle, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, Department of Religious Studies,
Fairfield University
John Inglis, Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy, Cross-appointed to Department of Religious
Studies, University of Dayton
Tobias Winright, Associate Professor of Theological Ethics, Saint Louis University
David O’Brien, Professor Emeritus, University of Dayton and the College of the Holy Cross
Francis Schüssler Fiorenza, Stillman Professor for Roman Catholic Theological Studies, Harvard
Divinity School
Terrence W. Tilley, Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J., Professor of Catholic Theology and Chair, Theology
Department, Fordham University, Bronx
Sandra Yocum, Associate Professor, Religious Studies, University of Dayton
Kristin E. Heyer, Bernard J. Hanley Professor, Religious Studies Department
Santa Clara University
Daniel Finn, Professor of Economics and Theology, St. John’s University, Collegeville, MN
Todd Whitmore, Associate Professor, Theology. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies,
University of Notre Dame
Mark J. Allman, Religious Theological Studies Department, Merrimack College
Susan Ross, Professor of Theology, University of Loyola (Chicago)
Nancy Sylvester, IHM, President, Institute for Communal Contemplation and Dialogue
Detroit, MI
Mary Ann Hinsdale, IHM, Ph.D. Assoc. Prof. of Theology, Boston College
Kevin Ahern, Vice President for North America, Pax Romana-ICMICA
Vincent J. Miller, Gudorf Chair in Catholic Theology and Culture, Department of Religious Studies,
University of Dayton
Gerald J. Beyer, Associate Professor of Theology, Saint Joseph's University
Alex Mikulich, Jesuit Social Research Institute, Loyola University New Orleans
Lisa Sowle Cahill, Professor of Theology, Boston College
James Salt, Executive Director, Catholics United
John Sniegocki, Associate Professor of Christian Ethics, Xavier University, Cincinnati
Rev. James Keenan SJ, Professor of Theology, Boston College
Rev. Drew Christiansen, SJ Editor, America Magazine (retired)
Christopher Pramuck, Associate Professor of Theology, Xavier University
Rev. Thomas J. Reese, S.J., Senior Fellow, Woodstock Theological Center, Georgetown University
Rev. David Hollenbach, University Chair in Human Rights and International Justice, Boston College
M. Shawn Copeland, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, Boston College
Eugene McCarraher, Associate Professor of Humanities and History, Villanova University
Stephen J. Pope, Professor of Theology, Boston College
Paul Lakeland, Aloysius P. Kelly, S.J. Professor of Catholic Studies, Fairfield University
Richard Gaillardetz, Professor of Theology, Boston College
Daniel Speed Thompson, Chair of Department of Religious Studies, University of Dayton
A.J. Godzieba, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, Villanova University
Una Cadegan, Associate Professor, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Dayton
Joseph A. McCartin, Director, Kamanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor, Georgetown
University
Sister Paulette Skiba, Professor of Religious Studies, Clarke University
Stephen F. Schneck, Director, Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies, The Catholic University
of America
Kathleen Maas Weigert, Assistant to the Provost for Social Justice Initiatives, Loyola University,
Chicago
Anthony B. Smith, Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of Dayton
Bradford Hinze, Associate Chair for Graduate Studies, Theology Department, Fordham University
(Bronx, NY)
Marian K. Diaz, University of Dayton
Joseph P. Fahey, Manhattan College, Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice
Dolores Christie, Ursuline College (retired)