Building bridges of mercy and love: a Baltimore parish’s response to tragedy

The recent collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States, has left the city reeling with shock and grief. The tragedy has had a profound impact on the community, both emotionally and economically. As the city grapples with the aftermath, one local parish has emerged as a beacon of hope and support for those affected.

Within 24 hours of the tragedy, after Archbishop William E Lori asked Catholics throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore to support twin emergency relief funds for those affected by the bridge collapse, nearly US$50,000 was raised in online donations. Donors contributed more than US$34,000 to the Francis Scott Key Bridge Relief Fund, which supports the ministry at Sacred Heart of Jesus parish in Highlandtown.

Along with parishioners of the largely Spanish-speaking parish, Redemptorist pastor Fr Ako Walker has been providing pastoral support to the families of six construction workers—all of whom were from Mexico or Central America—who perished in the bridge collapse on 26 March.

Speaking with OSV News a couple of days after the tragedy, Fr Walker said he was ‘here with them as a spiritual presence during this difficult time. They all have questions and can’t find the right answers to this situation, so I am here as a presence if anyone needs prayer or anything like that, I am available to help them.’

In a more recent interview with Common Home TV, a ministry of the Redemptorists of Oceania, Fr Walker speaks movingly about the impact of the tragedy on the life of his parish over recent weeks, and particularly on those families who have been most immediately affected.

John Hodgson CSsR, Provincial of the Redemptorists of Oceania, remarked on the parish’s response to the tragedy, saying, ‘In the midst of this tragedy, an unassuming parish community has fostered a deep sense of community solidarity and resilience by coming together to support the families of these migrant workers.

‘Through practical assistance, prayer and a gentle presence, this faith community lives out its eucharistic identity as the Body of Christ by providing personal and ongoing support that offers time and space for healing and rebuilding. Their call to action is an important lesson for us all in providing solidarity for those in need.’

Healing comes with authenticity. We must allow people to be real in their pain and grief, offering them compassion and understanding as they navigate their journey towards healing.

As well as organising collections and providing prompt financial support directly to families who have lost their breadwinners, the parish organised a prayer service on 8 April ‘to honour the memory of those who died and to be in solidarity with their families’. And during the Easter Triduum, parishioners were asked to continually pray for the repose of the souls of the men who lost their lives and for their families.

A ministry of presence

In the interview with Common Home TV, Fr Walker says that shortly after learning of the bridge collapse, he was asked ‘to be a presence in the room with the families at that time who were experiencing uncertainty, confusion’.

‘The emotions were raw,’ he recalls. Sitting with the grieving families and listening to their anguish has continued to be a central part of his ministry with them. ‘These families are hurting deeply,’ Fr Walker points out, emphasising the importance of creating safe spaces for individuals to express their emotions and seek support.

‘Healing comes with authenticity’ he observes. ‘We must allow people to be real in their pain and grief, offering them compassion and understanding as they navigate their journey towards healing.’

Acknowledging that he ‘won’t have all the words’, he considers his role with the families to be ‘a ministry of presence’.

‘My presence there with them is to stand in solidarity and to support them in the best way that I can amidst all the sadness, amidst all the confusion, and amidst the loss,’ he says.

The Catholic Church always goes beyond, and we provide support and pastoral care for anyone who needs it.

According to Fr Walker, clergy often ‘feel we need to be doing something or saying something, but part of it also is being quiet, and praying and supporting in the best way that we can. We don’t want to bombard people with what we think they may need to hear. We have to discern in a very, very loving way how we can be present to people who are experiencing extreme trauma.’

Pointing out that none of the deceased workers or their families were members of his parish, Fr Walker says that sometimes ‘the nature of being Catholic’ is ‘going beyond’. As a Catholic Church, ‘we don’t necessarily always just stay insular or deal with our own parishioners,’ he says. ‘The Catholic Church always goes beyond, and we provide support and pastoral care for anyone who needs it.’

He also points out that when it comes to tragedies such as these, this commitment cannot be fleeting. ‘These kinds of situations will indeed have a long-term effect, so that if we decide that we are going to enter this space—and I considered it a privileged space—we have to know that we are in it for the long haul.

‘This situation requires a consistency,’ he says, outlining his hope that he and other parish leaders might establish support groups to provide ‘accompaniment to these families, so that no one group or one person might be overburdened in all of this’.

Fr Walker—who has long been active in supporting new immigrants in the Baltimore area—also speaks of the importance of recognising the inherent worth and contribution of communities who are often rejected or maligned. It’s very easy to demonise ‘amorphous’ groups of people ‘without knowing them personally’ he says.

‘These men were out there at 1am paving the road for regular people like you and me to be able to pass safely on this bridge. And they paid the ultimate price with their lives … and that must count for something. And we need to honour them and honour their contribution to a place that continually rejects them and makes it difficult for them to come here … a place that is less than welcoming.’

Hoping in Jesus

Ultimately, when it comes to helping people navigate and cope with deep grief and tragedy—and to move towards healing—Fr Walker points out that ‘Faith provides us with hope.’

‘There’s a lot of hopelessness in the world,’ he says, ‘because we have made things into our gods. We want everything instantly. But faith tells us that there is long suffering and that we need to be patient as we marvel at the love and mercy of God, that the answers don’t come immediately, that we have to hope beyond hope in a God who loves us tremendously, and we do this in the space of a community.

‘Jesus was always with people. He was talking to them. He was walking with them. He was healing them. He was feeding them, but he was inviting them to hope in God, to hope and to believe in the reign of God.’

We hold on to the hem of Jesus’ garment because we know the end of the story. We know that the tomb does not contain Jesus. And we know that Jesus is the one who is going to comfort us and who is going to guide us through situations like these.

Fr Walker believes this sense of nurturing, sustaining community grows in and through the Eucharist, which, he says, plays a central role in fostering selflessness, ‘in the need to live as a community, and in the need to draw from Jesus Christ all that we need to be able to live as brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ’, enabling us to be ‘bridges of mercy and peace and love’.

‘We are a Eucharistic people,’ he points out. ‘We gather as a community around the table of the Lord. I think as Catholics, sometimes we don’t understand the power of the Eucharist to bring us together, to transform us together, and to move us forward together.’

That doesn’t mean there won’t be times of intense pain and deep questioning.

‘If you want to grow in faith, then at times we have to encounter very, very challenging questions,’ he says. ‘But our faith tells us—as I was reminded, in fact, by one of the [bereaved] family members—that we don’t know God’s will. It’s sad that all of this has transpired. But God has a plan, and our faith tells us that it is something long term, that we don’t see all of what God is doing.

‘But as children of God, we have to trust, and we have to believe that eventually all this pain, all this sadness, all this suffering will end and we will be forever in the kingdom of God, in joy.

‘We hold on to the hem of Jesus’ garment because we know the end of the story. We know that the tomb does not contain Jesus,’ Fr Walker says. ‘And we know that Jesus is the one who is going to comfort us and who is going to guide us through situations like these.’