"As a Christian and the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church in East Tennessee, I offer prayers for the victims of Tuesday’s school shooting in Texas. What happened there and in Buffalo, NY earlier this month, and elsewhere around the country in recent years, was horrifying and evil. Families and friends of those killed face the weight of unimaginable life-lasting grief that no mother, father, or loved one should ever bear. I join our bishops in Texas and elsewhere in calling for a real solution to end gun violence in the United States. Our elected leaders are failing us."