In St. Paul, two parishes offer ‘Peaceful Presence’ during, after Chauvin trial

Four women sat quietly, spread out in the back pews of St. Peter Claver in St. Paul in the early evening of April 20. It was less than two hours after a jury convicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin of murder in last year’s death of George Floyd.

Across the city, people were gathering in many different ways to commemorate the verdict. These women chose the silence of the Midway neighborhood church, built for a traditionally African American congregation.

The two-hour opportunity for prayer was planned before the verdict — organizers wanted to open the church’s doors nightly during the jury’s deliberation. Even with the verdict, it seemed appropriate to gather for prayer, said Everlyn Wentzlaff, 69, a St. Peter Claver parishioner who helped to organize the event.

“We decided to come today to be still, to be calm, to be in a peaceful, safe place,” she said.

St. Peter Claver’s event was connected to a time for prayer offered throughout the trial at nearby St. Thomas More, located a mile south of St. Peter Claver, across Interstate 94. Every weekday since March 8, the day before jury selection began, St. Thomas More has offered a “Peaceful Presence,” quiet prayer in its church from 3-5 p.m.

At both locations, participants were met with a sign-in sheet (for COVID-19 tracing, if necessary), a prayer booklet and buttons with a dove that read “Know Justice, Know Peace.” People came and went. Some stayed a short time, others stayed for a while. On some days, a dozen or so people arrived. On other days, it was just a few.

“We go in and sit in silence. We light a candle … and whoever wants to come in can come in,” said Mary Fratto, who helped to organize Peaceful Presence at St. Thomas More, the Twin Cities’ only Jesuit parish. “It’s really nice to go to a place where you can be quiet and read the prayers for peace and think about what’s going on in the city.”

Fratto, 68, and retired from a career in insurance, was inspired by something she and other Ignatian Associates had organized in 2008, when St. Paul hosted the Republican National Convention. At that time, an ecumenical “Peaceful Presence” prayer time was offered at Central Presbyterian Church in downtown St. Paul. Some participants continued the gathering monthly well beyond the convention — until COVID-19 restrictions prevented them from meeting in person last year.

St. Thomas More formed an Anti-Racism Task Force following Floyd’s death May 25, 2020. Floyd, who was 46 years old and Black, died while Chauvin and other officers were arresting him after Floyd was accused of trying to pass a counterfeit bill at a south Minneapolis convenience store. Chauvin, who is white, knelt on Floyd’s neck for about nine minutes as Floyd, laid out face down on the ground, said repeatedly that he couldn’t breathe. In seeking a response to Chauvin’s trial, the task force decided to invite community members to their church for a quiet place to pray, especially for a peaceful response to the verdict, Fratto said.

Speaking to The Catholic Spirit while the jury was still deliberating April 20, Fratto said Peaceful Presence has helped her stay calm in a turbulent time. “I don’t know how much good we’re doing, but I feel like things are better because we’re here,” she said.

The time of quiet prayer helped her put the trial in God’s hands and trust in his plan, she said. The focus was prayer for justice and peace, not a particular verdict — but, whatever the verdict, that it would be received without a repeat of the rioting and violence in the Twin Cities that followed Floyd’s death last year.

On April 18, a vehicle with members of the Minnesota National Guard, whom Gov. Tim Walz activated to protect the Twin Cities during the Chauvin trial, was fired upon in north Minneapolis from a passing vehicle. A 28-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the shooting, which left two Guardsmen with minor injuries.

“Things are tense, so tense,” Fratto said. “There’s a lot to pray for.”

After the jury convicted Chauvin of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, St. Thomas More planned a final Peaceful Presence event for April 22, followed by a vespers service in memory of Daunte Wright, whose funeral was planned for earlier that day at Shiloh Temple International Ministries in Minneapolis.

Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was killed by a white police officer during a traffic stop April 11 in Brooklyn Center. Police said the now-former officer, Kimberly Potter, appeared to have mistaken her Taser for her gun and shot Wright once in the chest. She has been charged with second-degree manslaughter.

St. Peter Claver parishioners planned to continue their Peaceful Presence gatherings through the rest of the week. On the evening of April 20, Wentzlaff said the time in prayer has meant “being in spirit, being in a peaceful place where I can be still, and listen to what God would have me do during this time.”

Wentzlaff, the chairperson of St. Peter’s social justice committee, said she closely followed the aftermath of Floyd’s murder, including Chauvin’s trial.

“It’s just been an everyday presence in our lives, especially when the trial started,” she said.

When the verdict was read, she was at her Woodbury home with her husband, with a good friend on the phone so they could be together. She said she cried tears of gratitude as she heard the guilty verdicts read.

“My emotional space has been exhausted,” she said. Still, it was important for her to gather with others at St. Peter Claver that evening.

“All day, waiting, and finally seeing the verdict had been reached, and having so much anxiety, so much nervousness and so much emotion. … Not being able to sleep last night since the jury was out,” she said. “I think today was so important to come and give thanksgiving for justice for the Floyd family, and for us all, for that matter.”

Also at St. Peter Claver’s Peaceful Presence, longtime parishioner Joan Pasiuk, 67, said she felt it was appropriate to return to her parish after the verdict “because it’s where we’ve been praying.”

“I needed to be in community tonight,” she said. “This is where it’s good to feel the relief and energy to keep going. It’s onward from here. Also, to be grateful to think about how many people tonight are facing a different world — families who were affected and all the people involved in the trial. It feels nice to feel connected to all of that. … It’s a turning point, with a small ‘t.’”

“It’s important to mark this day,” she continued. “It’s a meaningful day.”

As Pasiuk, a St. Paul resident who is white, stood outside St. Peter Claver, tears suddenly filled her eyes, and she paused.

“It kind of (just) hit me,” she explained. “I’m just kind of feeling extra alive, I guess. Connected. Connected with lots of people.”

An African American, Wentzlaff said the verdict has relieved some of the tension that has afflicted the Twin Cities community, but now she hopes people of all races will look at what they can do to eliminate racism, including working with law enforcement and lawmakers.

“I think George Floyd’s death was a wake-up call for us all, and people are hearing that wake-up call and addressing it,” she said. “The young people and the youth are really getting it, and they’re out here, and they’ll be out here working for justice. It’s time for everybody to just breathe — and then get back to work.”