A Catholic’s Perspective

When the incident at Columbine High School in Colorado occurred in 1999, I was teaching a social justice class of juniors in a Catholic high school. They wanted to do something in memory of those who died. We decided on sending a plant and prayer cards with the names of those lost that day. Tension arose in the room over the question of whether those responsible for the incident should be on the prayer card too. I was speechless. I went to the principal, a very wise woman, to discuss the issue. She said that in the Catholic church, every human life is sacred and thus has dignity. Her faith tested my faith further. She came to our class, said this, and we continued the project. It was teacher-student learning moment that day.