El Paso’s Bishop leads vigil against police violence, while also thanking police for return of stolen items
EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz became the first Catholic bishop in the nation to take a knee before leading eight minutes of silence to remember George Floyd and pray for peace and justice.
It happened Monday evening in central El Paso's Memorial Park as the bishop, surrounded by his clergy, held a prayer vigil in the spot where police and protesters had clashed the day prior.
The first Catholic bishop to do so, @BishopSeitz, surrounded by his #ElPaso clergy, takes a knee to lead #nineminutes of silence to remember #GeorgeFloyd and pray for peace and justice.
The eight minutes of silence in Floyd's honor corresponded to the amount of time that a white police officer kneeled on the black man's neck in Minnesota, resulting his death.
Bishop Seitz, while making a statement against police violence, has also expressed his gratitude to the El Paso police for recovering many of his personal belongings that were stolen during a recent break-in.
“I noticed my laptop was missing," said Bishop Seitz. "I know I didn’t take it off of there. The table by my bed had been moved aside and my coin collection was gone and by then I knew I had had a visitor.”
Several other items including crosses and holy relics were also taken.
Detectives quickly picked up the trail of a suspect, reportedly a homeless man, and brought him in, recovering most of the bishop's treasured items.
Though happy to have his property back, the bishop also found himself reflecting upon the extreme distress that the homeless community and millions more across the country are currently dealing with.
“Many people in our country right now are under stress and much need," he said. "We see the long lines of people looking for food and sometimes that can drive people to make choices that they would not make at other times.”
The bishop also added that he will most likely be looking into acquiring some security upgrades in the near future.
