Bishop Barron Defends Prayer After Minnesota Shooting

The tragic shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis is still in the news. Two children were murdered, dozens were injured, and families are grieving. At a time when most of us would instinctively bow our heads in prayer, Mayor Jacob Frey mocked it. Bishop Barron stepped in with a defense of prayer that cut through the noise and forced the Left’s contempt into the spotlight.

Mayor Jacob Frey dismissed prayer in his public remarks after the tragedy. Jen Psaki followed by scoffing that prayer is “not freaking enough.” For believers, their attitude was not just insulting. It was predictable. And that is why Bishop Robert Barron’s response mattered so much.

Democrat hacks like Gavin Newsom, Tim Walz, and Jen Psaki keep repeatedly parroting the line “children were shot while they were praying.”

Why? Because they want to convince Americans the power of prayer is a lie.

These people are DEMONIC. Don’t fall for it. pic.twitter.com/7cPghQQvd8

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) August 28, 2025

Those like @jenpsaki and @Jacob_Frey who criticize prayers in the wake of the Minneapolis tragedy are expressing the same anti-God sentiment that motivated the shooter— he aimed his wrath at God by trying to stop people with his bullets from praying to God. Now is a time for us…

— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) August 28, 2025

Bishop Barron’s Defense of Prayer

Robert Barron is the Bishop down in Winona–Rochester, Minnesota, and he runs Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. He writes, he speaks, he’s all over media, and plenty of Catholics know his name. In other words, when he calls out Mayor Frey, it carries both local weight and a national punch.

Bishop Barron reminded the nation that Catholics don’t believe prayer is some magic trick that shields us from all suffering. He pointed to the example of Christ Himself: Jesus prayed fervently from the cross on which He was dying.

That is the reality of Christian prayer. It doesn’t erase pain. It doesn’t stop tragedy in its tracks. Prayer is the raising of the heart and mind to God. It’s what sustains people when everything else collapses.

Bishop Barron didn’t stop at correcting the mayor’s shallow remarks about prayer. He went further, naming what so many in the media and on the Left are afraid to say out loud. This wasn’t just random violence. It was targeted. Barron made it clear that the attack should be seen for what it was: anti-Catholic violence.

Barron also said the massacre should be recognized for what it was: a deliberate act of anti-Catholic violence.

“In the past seven years in our country, there has been a 700% increase in violent acts against Christians and Christian churches. Worldwide, Christianity is by far the most persecuted religion. That people are even wondering whether the tragedy in Minneapolis is an instance of anti-Catholic violence is puzzling to me,” he told Fox News Digital.

“If someone attacked a synagogue while congregants were praying, would anyone doubt that it was an antisemitic act? If someone shot up a mosque while the devout were praying, would anyone doubt that it was an anti-Islamic attack? So, why would we even hesitate to say that a maniac shooting into a Catholic Church while children are at prayer was committing an anti-Catholic act?” he asked.

The conservative Family Research Council has also documented a rise in hostility toward churches. A report released this month found at least 415 attacks against 383 churches in 43 states in 2024.

Barron said he would not hesitate to call the two children slain during Mass “martyrs,” describing their deaths as a tragic but powerful witness of faith. – Fox News

The Pushback Has Been Strong

Bishop Barron’s calm response carried weight because he didn’t just defend prayer, he explained it. Vice President JD Vance echoed the same truth: prayer is how we bring our heartbreak before God, trusting that He hears and that He can move us toward action.

Americans see through the Left’s sneers. Even nonbelievers recognize that mocking prayer in the middle of grief is cold and dismissive.

Jen Psaki couldn’t resist turning tragedy into another platform for her tired talking points. She snapped that prayer is “not enough,” as if mocking faith is the height of leadership. No one claimed prayer alone was the answer, but Psaki twisted it anyway. Even when families are grieving, she can’t stop ridiculing believers. That says more about her than it ever will about prayer.

Why Bishop Barron Says Prayer Still Matters

Prayer is more than words whispered into the air. It is both biblical instruction and lived comfort. It’s what families cling to when the world makes no sense. It’s what believers turn to when there are no answers. Or better yet, when the answers are very present, prayer is needed the most.

The truth is, Christianity has been under attack from the Left for decades. We took prayer out of schools, Christians are mocked in the media, and faith is constantly painted as backward or dangerous.

Yet when it comes to other religions, the very same people who laugh at Christians trip over themselves to show fake respect. And if you dare speak up as a believer, you get slapped with the lazy label of “white Christian nationalist.”

We’ve seen this double standard play out before. Two years ago, Minneapolis changed its noise ordinance to allow the Muslim call to prayer over loudspeakers at all hours. The Left celebrated it as tolerance. But when Christians bow their heads in silence, those same voices smirk.

The double standard is obvious. The mocking of Christian prayer after a massacre doesn’t make the Left look tough; it makes them look empty.

Something Much Darker Is Going On With The Left

Joy Pullmann, who writes at The Federalist, nailed it when she said the Democrats’ mocking of prayer echoes straight out of satanic talking points. That’s not hyperbole. When leaders sneer at prayer after children are murdered in a church, they’re not just taking a cheap political shot; they’re aligning themselves with something much darker.

As I’ve written before, Satan-worshippers can be startlingly more direct than many Christians about the connections between their spiritual and political beliefs.

This image is yet another striking testimony — from the dark side! — about the connections between queer ideology and the demonic. So are passages in the shooter’s journal that read as if they came straight out of the mouth of a demon: “I also love when kids get shot, I love to see kids get torn apart.” Pictures of his arsenal show a gun magazine inscribed with the words: “Where is your God?” – The Federalist

 

Zero daylight between both these sentiments and what demons would say, as I write today @FDRLST: https://t.co/vhyU3kGbtt pic.twitter.com/5Y9Tdcf851

— Joy Pullmann (@JoyPullmann) August 29, 2025

At the end of the day, this isn’t just about one mayor’s arrogance or one pundit’s rant. It’s about a political class that has spent years mocking Christianity while bending over backwards to flatter every other faith. That contempt was on full display in Minneapolis, and it’s why Bishop Barron’s words landed with such force. He reminded Americans that prayer isn’t a punchline and it isn’t up for debate. It answers to God, not to politicians looking for cameras, and it exposes just how empty the Left’s ideology really is.

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