Catholic Leaders Warned of School Security Risks — Two Years Later, Tragedy Struck

Two years before a gunman opened fire during Mass at a Minneapolis Catholic school — killing two and injuring seventeen — religious and private school leaders in Minnesota had already raised alarm bells.

In a letter addressed to Governor Tim Walz on April 14, 2023, Jason Adkins of the Minnesota Catholic Conference and Tim Benz of MINNDEPENDENT called the need for security upgrades in Catholic and other nonpublic schools “urgent and critical.”

“Our schools are under attack,” they wrote, pointing to the Covenant Christian School shooting in Nashville that had taken place just a week earlier.

Early Warnings, Ignored

The letter urged state leaders to include $50 million for school safety in the final Education Finance bill, allowing nonpublic schools to apply for funding. The writers stressed that Minnesota’s 72,000 nonpublic school students — Catholic, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim alike — deserved the same protections as public school children.

They also warned of rising threats against Jewish and Muslim schools in Minnesota, calling for preventative measures before tragedy struck.

Despite these appeals, nonpublic schools remained excluded from both the Building and Cyber Security Grant Program and the Safe Schools Program, which fund security upgrades, emergency training, and mental health services.

Calls for Broader Inclusion

This was not the first attempt. In 2022, Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul-Minneapolis publicly urged Walz to convene a special session to create permanent funding streams for nonpublic school security and mental health services.

Nevertheless, under current state policy, security funds remain tied to tax levies, leaving private institutions outside the system.

The Governor’s Response

Following the recent tragedy, Walz’s office defended his record, noting that private schools do receive state support and are eligible for training resources from the Minnesota School Safety Center.

A spokesperson added:

“The governor cares deeply about the safety of students and has signed into law millions in funding for school safety.”

But for many, the assurances ring hollow. The reopened letter — published by the Daily Wire and still accessible on the Catholic Conference’s website — now reads less like a policy request and more like a prophecy unheeded.

A Reflection Beyond Policy

The grief that now grips families is a stark reminder: bureaucracy moves slowly, but violence moves fast. The pleas of religious leaders, ignored at the time, echo today with painful clarity.

In the language of faith, every child’s life is a trust — and to neglect their safety is to neglect that trust. Whether in public halls or private chapels, the duty remains the same: to protect the young before tragedy makes the need undeniable.