A mass shooting took place at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on Sept. 4, local officials reported.

Two North Carolina pastors told OSV News their parish security plans were put to a real-life test when an active shooting unfolded nearby -- and safety and mental health ministries are serving as a model for other churches, said lay leaders.

VATICAN CITY -- Gunmen broke into the home of the bishop-designate of Rumbek, South Sudan, shot him in both legs and fled, according to Church news reports, with three local priests among the 12 people arrested for their possible involvement in the attack April 26.

We all know that Christ died on the cross. He took on all the sins of mankind and destroyed those sins. He died and was buried and on the third day He rose again from the dead. We call it Easter and that is meant to give us hope that death has lost its final sting.

The small Catholic community in Oshawa has been left to wonder why it has lost four of its members while another clings to life after a Sept. 4 shooting in the city east of Toronto.

Persistence pays off.

WASHINGTON -- Two Texas Catholic bishops offered words of condolence and prayers to the members and families of the victims of a church shooting in which two worshippers were killed.

MEXICO CITY -- Two young men arriving for a Mass to be celebrated before a quinceanera in Mexico's Veracruz state were shot dead as they entered the parish parking lot. It was the latest atrocity in a steady string of mass slayings, which have highlighted a surge in the country's already shockingly high homicide rate.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis expressed his closeness to and prayers for the victims of a shooting at a Catholic Church in Burkina Faso, which claimed the lives of six people.

SAO PAOLO – A gunman opened fire inside a Brazilian church, killing four people and injuring four others before turning the gun on himself, police said.

Few events in recent Canadian history have had a greater impact than the massacre at École Polytechnique in Montreal. The gunman, Marc Lepine, killed 14 women and injured 14 others in the Dec. 6, 1989 attack before killing himself. His suicide note revealed his hatred of feminists. In the wake of the tragedy, there were changes to gun laws and the creation of an annual national day of remembrance on Dec. 6 to recognize violence against women. Five days following the attack, a funeral Mass for nine of the women was held at Montreal’s Notre Dame Basilica, as reported in The Register:

HIGH RIDGE, Mo. – Music played a big part in a Mass of remembrance for Jamie Schmidt Nov. 20 at St. Anthony of Padua Church in High Ridge, which was fitting because it had played a big part in her contribution as a soprano in the parish choir and because words of the songs were consoling.

CHICAGO – A gunman opened fire at a Chicago Catholic hospital Nov. 19, setting off a frantic scene that ended with three victims killed and the assailant dead, police said.

In a fine interview following the recent synagogue killings in Pittsburgh, Ottawa’s Rabbi Reuven Bulka offered wisdom that went far beyond the specific act of terrible bloodshed. 

LOS ANGELES – After a shooting spree late Nov. 7 at a country-music bar in Thousand Oaks, about 40 miles from the heart of Los Angeles, Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles asked people to "pray hard" for the victims and their families.