A prayer service in remembrance of victims of the shootings at two mosques Friday (March 15) in Christchurch, New Zealand, will be held at 12:15 p.m. Thursday (March 21) in the rotunda of University of Notre Dame’s Main Building. All from the campus and local communities are welcome.
Imam Rashied Omar, a research scholar of Islamic studies and peacebuilding in Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, will offer an invocation and lead in the singing of “God is Sufficient for Us” at the end of the service.
Rabbi Karen Companez from Temple Beth-El in South Bend, Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., and Ebrahim Moosa, professor of Islamic studies at Notre Dame, will offer reflections. Other religious leaders throughout the region also have been invited to attend.
After the service, the bells of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart will toll for 15 minutes. Prayers for the victims have been offered at Masses on campus since the shootings.
In the wake of the shootings, Father Jenkins issued the following statement:
“On behalf of the University of Notre Dame, I extend my deepest condolences to the families and friends of the shooting victims in Christchurch, and to their extended family among the Muslim students, faculty and staff here at Notre Dame and in South Bend.
“In this season of Lent, we offer our prayers for our brother and sister believers who were so cruelly murdered in houses of worship.
“In our lifetimes, may we see an end to the brutal religious bias and hatred that results in the shedding of innocent blood across the world.”