The bishops of the two Episcopal dioceses in Massachusetts are among the religious leaders issuing statements of support to the victims of Saturday's attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue during a baby-naming ceremony that killed 11 people and injured six, including four police officers.
The statement from Bishops Douglas J. Fisher, Alan M. Gates and Gayle E. Harris also pushed back on President Donald Trump's statement that the "results would have been far better" if the targeted Tree of Life synagogue had hired an armed guard. "A ceremony celebrating new life has become the latest setting for the murderous intersection of bigotry, religious hatred and easy access to lethal weapons," the bishops' statement reads.
"We extend our deepest condolences, solidarity and kinship to our sisters and brothers at the Tree of Life synagogue and to the wider Jewish community throughout the nation upon the massacre today in Pittsburgh." It adds in part, "As people of faith, we also decry suggestions that the solution to such violence is further violence."