MILWAUKEE — Ahead of the Republican National Convention, church leaders in Milwaukee joined bipartisan calls for unity on Sunday.
After an assassination attempt at a Trump Rally in Pennsylvania that left one dead man Saturday, with a bullet grazing former President Donald Trump, Father Tim Kitzke said he's pushing for peace.
During his Sunday sermon at the Cathedral of St John the Evangelist, Fr. Kitzke welcomed RNC visitors to Milwaukee and offered his prayers to those impacted by Saturday’s violence.
VIDEO: Milwaukee church leaders join calls for unity ahead of RNC
“After a very very difficult and horrific day yesterday, we do the most important thing, we gather together and we throw ourselves at the mercy of Jesus,” Fr. Kitzke told parishioners.
“Pray for an end of violence in any way shape or form,” he went on. “Remembering all those who are victims of violence, remembering Donald Trump, remember the person who died, anybody who’s dying throughout our world.”
TMJ4’s Tahleel Mohieldin spoke with Fr. Kitkze following Sunday’s service about the church’s plans for the RNC.
“It's a sanctuary,” he said. “It's a place where you can come and breathe."
Fr. Kitzje said the church will expand its hours all week during the RNC to help spread the message of unity and peace.
He hopes the cathedral, which is less than a mile away from the convention’s epicenter, can be a calming space amid chaos.
It’s a goal shared by associate Pastor Carlos Londono, who said he’s looking forward to welcoming RNC visitors.
“He said come to me all who labor and are burdened,” Londono said. “He didn’t say come to me those of you who belong to this party or the other.”
Londono said so far more than 100 volunteers have stepped up to help the church welcome RNC visitors.
"This is another reason for us to become stronger in terms of coming together as a nation,” Londono said of Saturday’s incident. “As a human family asking God to protect us from all evil, especially from violence, gun violence."
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