North Minneapolis parishes: A eucharistic presence in a violent time

Father Dale Korogi, pastor of Ascension in north Minneapolis, brings the joy and suffering in his parish and the broader community to prayer every time he celebrates Mass. A rise in street violence in the last month with stray bullets hitting three victims age 10 and younger has brought suffering to the fore.

“Our church stands in the middle of the violence,” Father Korogi said. “The Eucharist is celebrated, prayer is celebrated, our presence is celebrated in the middle of all that.”

Ascension, St. Bridget and other parishes and Catholic ministries on the city’s north side unite their prayers with others in the community, such as Healing Our City’s daily virtual prayer sessions and the interfaith group Come Together, which walks the streets in prayer, organizers said.

Cece Ryan, a member of St. Bridget and St. Boniface parishes and a regular at Come Together prayer sessions, recently joined a group praying each day in front of North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale, where Ladavionne Garrett Jr., 10, and Trinity Ottoson-Smith, 9, were being treated after being shot in the head. Garrett was eating potato chips April 30 in the back seat of his parents’ car; Ottoson-Smith was jumping on a trampoline May 15.

“We pray,” Ryan said, for the children’s recovery, for their parents and loved ones, for an end to violence. “It’s sung and spoken and silent prayer, and being with one another.”

A third child, Aniya Allen, 6, was struck in the head by gunfire while riding in a vehicle May 17. She died two days later.

No arrests have been made in the north side shootings. Another burst of violence occurred in downtown Minneapolis at bar-closing time early May 22, killing two people, including a senior at the University of St. Thomas, Charlie Johnson, 21, who was celebrating before his graduation later that day. One arrest has been made in that incident, in which eight other people were wounded.

Violence has surged in Minneapolis over the last several months, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. As of mid-May and before the May 22 shooting deaths, the city’s 27 homicides were nearly double what they were at the same point in 2020, and 187 people had been wounded or killed in shootings, a tally the city didn’t reach until June 21 in 2020. Twenty-two children have been struck by gunfire, half of them shot since March 28, the newspaper reported.

In response to the violence, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Medaria Arradondo have pledged to work with county, state and federal agencies to police the streets and arrest violent offenders, even as they work on proposals to increase economic opportunity and improve public safety. Anti-violence advocates have encouraged north side residents to be alert and report violence, to be out in their neighborhoods and claim them back.

Father Korogi said he didn’t know what brought the latest uptick in shootings, but many people point to heightened economic and health insecurity and fear brought by the pandemic.

“Of course, we mark this week the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s killing (May 25, 2020) and all the awareness of racial inequality and racial prejudice that gets played out in neighborhoods like ours,” Father Korogi said.

There also are a lot of guns on the streets, he said. “A lot of young people have guns. It’s just a bad brew.”

Catholics who don’t live on the north side can take action to help, as well, Father Korogi said. First with prayer, but also through organizations that collaborate with Ascension and other parishes, such as One Body, a Catholic coalition that works with immigrants through the Isaiah Project; the Northside Achievement Zone dedicated to ending generational poverty; and Urban Homeworks, which redevelops houses for affordable housing.

“If neighbors want to help, be in touch with us,” Father Korogi said of his own parish.

At the same time, Catholics and others across the Twin Cities and beyond can tamp down violence by being kind to everyone they encounter, he said.

“This is so big, none of us can take it all on,” he said. “Care for the person in front of us. Day-by-day, we have been given a specific charge. Take care of the children, raise them up, elevate their spirits and voices, there is trauma they are carrying with them every day. Do what we can to respond to what’s in front of us.”

A recent step Ascension has taken in that direction was the January hiring of a chief equity and impact officer for the parish and for Ascension Catholic Academy, which includes Ascension and St. John Paul II Catholic schools in Minneapolis and St. Peter Claver Catholic School in St. Paul.

Primarily working with the schools, Kevin Bennett — who most recently was with Boston-based student-learning nonprofit ANet, or Achievement Network — is laying the groundwork to help the schools hear and heed more closely the needs of students and their parents. Ascension and St. Peter Claver serve many African Americans, and St. John Paul II serves many Latino families.

“I really think the faith-based community has to be a part of moving forward,” said Bennett, who is Christian and lives in the Twin Cities. “It’s important that we give voice, choice, and land at a place of transformation and giving people agency. We are at the table as a partner for young people, families and our neighbors in the community.”