Photo by Quentin Dunnigan ’22 | A stained glass window is displayed in Brophy’s Chapel, representing the school’s Jesuit heritage
By Quentin Dunnigan ’22
THE ROUNDUP
As acts of violence become more prevalent in the United States, the Jesuit Provincial Superior of the West, Father Scott Santarosa SJ, decided to give his thoughts on the matter in a letter addressed to Jesuit schools and their students throughout the American West Coast. In his letter, read aloud to all Brophy College Preparatory students by Brophy Principal Mr. Bob Ryan, Fr. Santarosa expressed the Jesuit’s role in standing strong in the face of adversity.
Over the past few years in America, there have been many mass shootings, school shootings and other such acts of violence. As writer Meghan Keneally of ABC News reports, there have been at least 19 known mass shootings in the United States this year alone.
Brophy students, like many others in the country, have seen and read about these shootings through different means. “Given the state of the country in the past few years, it’s almost weird not to have some sort of mass shooting, which is unfortunate,” said Aaron Rivera ’20.
“One of the saddest, hardest things for me to accept is that people have been targeted because of their heritage,” said Jesuit Father Scott Santarosa when addressing the motive behind many of these recent acts of violence. Fr. Santarosa explained that he fears that if certain groups of people are targeted in these mass acts of violence, that these people may begin to think that they are not special or loved in the eyes of God.
Fr. Santarosa said that with the presence of much adversity, the Jesuit family stands for staying loving, courageous, kind, welcoming and forgiving. Fr. Santarosa further states that as Jesuits, we should seek to emulate Jesus, as “he walked this earth to remind us that God loves us all, and he called us to be loving of all people.”
Hearing Fr. Santrosa’s explanation of the Jesuit’s goal when addressed with these situations, principal Mr. Ryan further expressed his point. “I agree. I think that’s the call. That’s the call, that’s our mission, that’s why we do what we do,” said Mr. Ryan.
