When a gunman stormed into Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis and opened fire, killing two children and injuring eighteen others, the national script kicked in like clockwork. The tragedy was barely cold when Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey took the podium—not to mourn, not to unite, but to scold. “Don’t say this is about ‘thoughts and prayers’ right now,” he snapped, reminding the press that “these kids were literally praying.”
It was a moment designed not to comfort, but to posture. And it didn’t go unnoticed.
Bishop Robert Barron, one of the more intellectually sharp voices in the American Catholic hierarchy, responded with a rare public rebuke, calling Frey’s comments “completely asinine.” Barron reminded the public that Catholics do not believe prayer makes you bulletproof. In fact, prayer often happens in the middle of suffering. It’s not a Band-Aid. It’s a battle cry.
But Barron wasn’t just defending theology. He was defending territory—both literal and cultural. The political class, especially on the left, has grown increasingly comfortable treating faith as either a punchline or a public nuisance. Frey’s remarks weren’t just tone-deaf; they were part of a larger campaign to delegitimize religion as a serious force in public life. And that matters, especially when the victims are praying children in a church.
Let’s not dance around the obvious: if this had been a mosque, or a synagogue, the national conversation would have taken a very different tone. The FBI is already investigating the massacre as a possible hate crime, after anti-Christian messages were found scribbled on the shooter’s weapons and in his manifesto. Yet the usual suspects in the media and political circles seem allergic to the phrase “anti-Catholic violence.”
Why? Because admitting that would force them to acknowledge a rising trend that doesn’t fit the narrative. According to the Family Research Council, there were 415 separate attacks on churches across 43 states last year alone. That’s not a fluke. That’s a pattern. And it’s one that the left is far too comfortable ignoring—unless, of course, it implicates conservatives.
Barron’s public stand wasn’t just about setting the record straight. It was a shot across the bow. The Church is not going to sit quietly while its schools are shot up and its faith is mocked by progressive politicians with a mic in front of them. And in this case, he’s not standing alone. Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic himself, echoed Barron’s message, slamming the sneering contempt toward prayer as both ignorant and politically convenient.
There’s a deeper play here. Frey’s comments weren’t just a gaffe—they were a signal to his base. He’s auditioning for a bigger stage. In the post-Biden Democratic Party, the field is wide open for any ambitious progressive who can check the right boxes: defiance of tradition, disdain for religion, and a knee-jerk call for gun control before the bodies are even identified. Frey wants to be seen as a man of action, not sentiment. But in doing so, he revealed a darker truth—his version of action leaves no room for faith.
Barron, for his part, is playing a longer game. By calling the slain children “martyrs,” he’s not just mourning them—he’s canonizing them in the court of public opinion. That’s a savvy move. It reframes the conversation from one of helpless victims to one of targeted persecution. And in doing so, it forces people to reckon with a reality they’d rather not face: Christians are being hunted, and the cultural elites don’t seem to care unless it fits their politics.
So yes, this is about more than prayer. It’s about power. And right now, the battle lines are being drawn between those who see faith as a threat to their agenda—and those who know it’s the only thing standing in its way.
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Author: rachel
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