On national school 'walk-out' day, Catholic schools turn to prayer, remain vigilant for justice

ROYAL OAK -- Students across the Archdiocese of Detroit joined their prayers together with thousands of their peers across the nation March 14 in remembrance of the victims of last month's school shooting in Parkland, Fla.

While many public schools participated in a national "walk-out" movement on the one-month anniversary of the tragedy that took 17 lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Catholic schools took the opportunity to pray for the victims, their families, and to call for action in the wake of one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history.

At Shrine High School in Royal Oak, a student-organized assembly began with prayer and reflection and saw students come forward one by one to read a passage from Scripture along with the names of the Parkland victims, followed by a moment of prayerful silence.

“After the shooting, there was talk of the student walk-out movement, and it’s getting to a point where it’s just too much," Shrine senior Martina De Leon, who organized the school-wide assembly, told The Michigan Catholic. "Something needs to start changing now, and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to do something meaningful, especially since we’re in a Catholic environment. The best thing we can do is trust in God, and I thought it would be really great if we could remember them and pray to God that some kind of change comes about. Because we need to end this violence.”

Similar vigils took place at Catholic high schools across the archdiocese. Students at Detroit Catholic Central in Novi held an all-school rosary, while Cardinal Mooney students in Marine City held a school-wide discussion and lit candles in remembrance of the victims before the school's weekly confession time. Other vigils took place at University of Detroit-Jesuit High School, St. Catherine of Siena Academy in Wixom, Everest Collegiate in Clarkston and Austin Catholic High School in Chesterfield.

Cardinal Mooney students Jenna Stoldt and Celeste Parmenter, both juniors, led their classmates in the show of unity, in which students wore orange ribbons and took turns speaking about the impact of the tragedy.

“From the moment I brought my interest in the movement to my classmates, I received the immediate response that we all wanted to participate," Stoldt said. “Not only was administration supportive, they pushed us to do more. They allowed us to be part of this movement in our own way through the service.”

Cardinal Mooney principal Jason Petrella even sat in on the students' religion class and took time to discuss the issue with them, which Parmenter added was "great."

“We were incredibly proud of what the students did today,” Petrella said. “Our students reminded all of us that in difficult times we can turn to our faith. The service was wonderfully put together and the spirit of the event was something positive for our school community.”

At the all-girls Mercy High School in Farmington Hills, students gathered in a courtyard around the school's "peace pole," laying one rose every minute for 17 minutes in honor of the 17 Florida victims.

Like at Shrine at Cardinal Mooney, the memorial was a student initiative, said principal Patricia Sattler.

“Our students actually approached us, and they are very empathetic toward the students at Parkland. They also have a lot of concerns in society about their safety in general, so they wanted to come together in unity," Sattler said. "It was a way for them to have a common voice in healing and resolution against violence in schools.”

Following the memorial and prayer vigil, Mercy students heard a brief presentation about how to make their voices heard by contacting legislators if they chose to do so.

De Leon, the Shrine student, said the vigils are a chance to unite students' voices with their peers across the country, but also as a way to show the community how Catholic schools can lift those suffering in prayer.

"We’re supposed to be the universal Church, and that’s what it feels like," De Leon said. "We’re coming together as a country, as a family of people who really just want to be there for each other. Knowing that schools in Berkley and Royal Oak and as far as California are doing the same thing just feels like you’re really part of something profound."

Shrine principal James Mio said school administrators were proud of the students' initiative, especially in their decision to include the shooter, Nikolas Cruz, 18, in their prayers.

“It was such a beautiful way to talk about forgiveness," Mio said. "Sometimes people are hurting and need our love, and need us to step in and show them that we care about them.”

Praying for the perpetrators of violence is an important part of forgiveness, De Leon added. After the 17 victims' names were read, the students turned to the 18th poster depicting Cruz' name, praying for him and his family and reading the Scripture passage in which Jesus exhorts his followers to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

“We want to communicate love and compassion for those who have been victimized, and especially for the people who are committing these acts of violence, because there’s obviously something going on with them," De Leon said. "No one just picks up a gun and decides to shoot people. There’s a lot that goes into that, and hopefully people understand that and we start helping each other so people aren’t driven to that point.”

Sattler said Mercy students have been inspired by the witness of the Parkland survivors, realizing that students can be an influential voice on the issue of school violence.

"Students are vulnerable in so many ways. They’re in a society that is ruled by adults, but they’re finding power in their voice," Sattler said. "They see that people are paying attention to the Parkland students, and so they’re seeing, ‘Maybe our voice can make a difference.’"

In the meantime, Catholic schools are among those taking steps to beef up security measures, taking precautions to ensure students' safety, Sattler said.

“Just recently, you’ve heard about public schools getting active shooter training, but we’ve had that," Sattler said. "Throughout the archdiocese, schools are doing that. We’ve partnered with the Farmington Hills Fire Department, which has been so supportive in helping us with our crisis management plans. It’s hitting the news now, but this is not new for us.”