Message to University Community Regarding Yesterday's Riot on Capitol Hill  

The lawlessness that overtook the Capitol Building yesterday has rightfully prompted universal sorrow and disgust. 

At its best, the United States embodies the belief that people of varied backgrounds, faiths and political persuasions can share and transfer power peacefully. That is why yesterday’s violence is nothing less than an assault on American democracy itself. 

Thankfully, the resiliency of American democracy was demonstrated as Congress reconvened last night, in the very chambers that were under assault just hours prior, to discharge their duties and engage in the people’s business. 

The coming days will bring reflection and much-needed perspective, and I am confident our cherished democratic institutions will endure. They must. The world is watching. President Abraham Lincoln, who himself knew about a "house divided," wrote: 

"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise — with the occasion. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation." 

In this moment, most importantly, I ask that you not lose heart. Though we may feel discouraged and are tempted to despair, please take time to care for yourself and preserve your optimism. We will need it more than ever. 

As our own Cardinal Joseph Tobin noted, "In two millennia of trying to live the teachings of Jesus, we're at our best when we're concerned about the common good ... to leave this world better than we found it." 

Please pray for our nation, the men and women who are working to restore order, and for the elected officials and their staffs who were conducting a vital democratic tradition and instead had to fear for their safety. 

Pray also that the rioters will see the wrongness of their ways and reject the allure of self-destructive violence against the country they claim to love. And pray we find and advance civility and unity over division.

Our public officials and security officers will be in my prayers, as will you, your loved ones and our great University.

Categories: Nation and World