As a guilty verdict for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was announced April 20, Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis called it “a sobering moment for our community.”

“The decision by a jury of peers punctuates the grief that has gripped the Twin Cities in these last months and underscores the soul-searching that has taken place in homes, parishes, and workplaces across the country as we together confront the chasm that exists between the brokenness of our world and the harmony and fraternity that our Creator intends for all his children,” he said in an April 20 statement. “We hold up once again the image of the Crucified Christ, whose resurrection gives witness to the healing power of forgiveness, compassion, reconciliation, and peace.”

Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree and third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter, in the May 2020 death of George Floyd, who was arrested on an accusation of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store.

A bystander’s video of Floyd, who was Black, lying handcuffed on the ground with Chauvin, who is white, kneeling on his neck for about nine minutes went viral in the days following his death. Floyd repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe” until he lost consciousness.

In his statement, Archbishop Hebda said that Jesus calls people, through their “shared brotherhood,” to “a deeper respect for all human life.”

“We ask him to bring healing into our communities, comfort to the family of George Floyd and all who mourn, and satisfaction to those who thirst for justice,” he said. “May the many reminders of the Lord’s loving closeness even in challenging times inspire us to treat each other with unfailing respect, to work non-violently for the common good and to be instruments of reconciliation.”

Minnesota’s Catholic bishops and diocesan leaders, together as the Minnesota Catholic Conference, released a statement just prior to the verdict’s announcement. They observed that the trial “has reopened questions throughout Minnesota about the impact of racism in our society and culture.”

“As leaders of the Catholic dioceses of our State — pastors of multi-racial, multi-cultural flocks from all walks of life — we acutely feel the anxieties in our communities, along with a thirst for justice and a longing for a path to a more peaceful life together as sons and daughters of God,” they wrote.

“As the U.S. bishops noted in a 2018 pastoral letter on racism, ‘Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love,’ it is a sad and undeniable truth that racial prejudice and discrimination continue to impact the lives and livelihoods of millions of U.S. citizens,” they continued. “There is far too much evidence that prejudice has an impact in criminal justice matters, influencing not only the way individuals are treated by some police and court systems but also the rates of incarceration. Whatever the verdict may be in the Chauvin trial, the Church remains committed to providing long-term leadership in eradicating structures of sin and racism in Minnesota and beyond.”

The bishops and diocesan leaders said that to heal “the wound of racism,” people must open their hearts to God’s grace.

“In the interests of true and lasting social justice, however, the Church must challenge assertions that the United States is ‘fundamentally’ racist,” they said. “The truth is that, although we have much further to go, the nation has made great strides in addressing historic evils and wrongdoing. To deny or distort the truth about our history and the goals set and achieved, particularly by Black Americans, misrepresents the past and dishonors their sacrifices while also rhetorically disenfranchising and disempowering the heirs to the fruit of their efforts who are currently engaged in restorative justice efforts.”

They said the Church in Minnesota invites people of faith to “come together to speak with one another in a civil and charitable manner.”

“Let us pray with one another and for one another,” they wrote. “Let us respect one another as children of God, created in his image. Let us collectively confess the truth and recognize that we urgently need each other now to get out of these cycles of fear and violence. We must collectively call upon our Maker to bring the compassion, reconciliation, forgiveness, and peace that only he can provide. We commit ourselves in our communities and in our apostolates to be a place of reconciliation and racial justice. We will foster a justice rooted in our common identity as children of God.”

Signing the letter were Archbishop Hebda; Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens of St. Paul and Minneapolis; Bishop John Quinn of Winona-Rochester; Bishop Donald Kettler of St. Cloud; Bishop Richard Pates, apostolic administrator of Crookston; Father James Bissonette, diocesan administrator of Duluth; and Msgr. Douglas Grams, diocesan administrator of New Ulm.

Bishop Shelton Fabre of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, and Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, issued a joint statement April 20 following the verdict.

“The events following George Floyd’s death also highlighted the urgent need for racial healing and reconciliation,” they said. “As we have seen so plainly this past year, social injustices still exist in our country, and the nation remains remain deeply divided on how to right those wrongs.

They said they “join our voices and prayers” in support of Archbishop Bernard Hebda and the state’s other bishops, quoting the Minnesota Catholic Conference’s April 20 statement: “As a diverse community, the Catholic Church is committed to changing hearts and minds and to moving the conversation about race in this country beyond accusations and recriminations toward practical, nonviolent solutions to the everyday problems that are encountered in these communities.”

Bishop Fabre and Bishop Coakley continued: “Let us pray that through the revelation of so much pain and sadness, that God strengthens us to cleanse our land of the evil of racism which also manifests in ways that are hardly ever spoken, ways that never reach the headlines. Let us then join in the hard work of peacefully rebuilding what hatred and frustration has torn down.

“This is the true call of a disciple and the real work of restorative justice,” they said. “Let us not lose the opportunity to pray that the Holy Spirit falls like a flood on our land again, as at Pentecost, providing us with spiritual, emotional, and physical healing, as well as new ways to teach, preach, and model the Gospel message in how we treat each other.”