Amid tensions in Minnesota, Archbishop Hebda calls for conversion of hearts

ST. PAUL, Minn. — After a second fatal shooting in January involving federal agents in Minneapolis during an increase in federal immigration enforcement, Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda presided over an evening Mass for peace Jan. 25 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.

“My brothers and sisters, I suspect that if you’ve been watching the news or listening to the news, you might think that we’re in a period of great darkness,” the archbishop said in his homily. “I feel that. My heart breaks. And yet we know, brothers and sisters, that it’s precisely into that darkness that Jesus comes to bring hope. That’s what brings us here on (this) cold afternoon. It’s because we know that on our own we can’t fix this situation, but that it’s only the light of Christ.”

Archbishop Hebda announced Jan. 25 he would preside over special prayers and the 5 p.m. Mass following the Jan. 24 shooting death of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, of Minneapolis, during an incident with federal agents in south Minneapolis. Pretti was an intensive care nurse who worked for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Pretti’s death came after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good, also of Minneapolis, during an altercation as she was driving her vehicle.

In his Jan. 25 statement, Archbishop Hebda asked “all people of good will to join me in prayer today for Alex Jeffrey Pretti, for his parents, and for his loved ones.”

In his homily, Archbishop Hebda underscored the need for Christians to make Jesus’ “light shine” in the darkness. He noted that in the Gospel of Matthew read at Mass, Jesus began his public ministry at the precise moment St. John the Baptist was arrested, “in the midst of the darkness.”

“And what, brothers and sisters, is the first thing Jesus says in that whole Gospel of St. Matthew? He says, ‘Repent.’ It’s his first word. Repent. He speaks about our heart, the need for conversion in our heart,” he said.
The special Votive Mass for the Preservation of Peace fell on the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, a man who opposed Christ and was present when the Church’s first martyr, St. Stephen, was killed, Archbishop Hebda said.

“That’s how violent that society was. That’s how deep were those divisions,” he said. “That’s what makes Paul’s conversion so significant for us in this day, in 2026, brothers and sisters, in that we have a God for whom nothing is impossible, a God who’s able to change hearts.

“We ask him to change our hearts, first of all,” he continued. “But we have confidence that he’s able to change the hearts of all people, and indeed, that he’s able to bring compromise — not in the truth — but he’s able to bring people together so that they’re able, together, to follow that light that is Jesus.”

During the Mass, Archbishop Hebda also prayed for Pretti and encouraged attendees to help those in the community afraid to leave their homes amid the ongoing federal immigration enforcement operation. He suggested material help, prayer and financial assistance, including via the Minnesota Catholic Relief Fund at the Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota.

The 5 p.m. Mass was preceded by an extended period of Eucharistic adoration with a chaplet of Divine Mercy and Benediction.

In announcing the Jan. 25 special intentions at the evening Masses held at the Cathedral and Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, Archbishop Heda said that “the loss of another life amidst the tensions that have gripped Minnesota should prompt all of us to ask what we can do to restore the Lord’s peace.”

“While we rightly thirst for God’s justice and hunger for his peace, this will not be achieved until we are able to rid our hearts of the hatreds and prejudices that prevent us from seeing each other as brothers and sisters created in the image and likeness of God,” he said. “That is as true for our undocumented neighbors as it is for our elected officials and for the men and women who have the unenviable responsibility of enforcing our laws. They all need our humble prayers.”

He added: “Wherever you find yourself this afternoon, I hope you will take a few moments to join us in prayer.”

Anne Bisciglia, 71, of North St. Paul said she arrived at the Cathedral at 2 p.m. to pray for “struggling Minneapolis.”

“The Lord is our only hope for unity and peace,” Bisciglia said. “So, I wanted to come and spend time with him.”

In Minneapolis, the basilica offered its scheduled 5:30 p.m. Mass for Pretti, his family and the Twin Cities community.

“My heart breaks for his family and friends who grieve Alex’s loss and will no doubt experience acute pain as a result of his death,” said Father Daniel Griffith, the basilica’s rector and pastor, in a Jan. 24 statement.
“The Twin Cities community is experiencing indescribable grief and trauma these past many days in the wake of the violent death of Renee Good and the tumult that has followed,” he said. “This continues to be a time of fear and anguish — including for our immigrant brothers and sisters, many of whom remain at home — understandably absent from work, school, and church.

“In the midst of the suffering and dismay, Minnesotans are also coming together to talk, to grieve, and to pray,” he continued. “Please join me in also praying for the safety and wellbeing of all in our Twin Cities community. … May the God of goodness and compassion soon deliver us from this present suffering and may all people of good will unite to stitch together a future of lasting justice and peace.”

OSV News Senior Writer Maria Wiering contributed to this report from St. Paul.

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