Dear TLI family,
Earlier this afternoon, tragic news reached us: Charlie Kirk, Founder and President of Turning Point USA, was shot during an event at Utah Valley University. Not long after, the Associated Press reported that Charlie has died from his injuries.
This news is shocking. It is painful. And it compels us, as Catholic leaders and as a spiritual family, to stop everything for a moment, to turn to God in prayer.
First and foremost, we commend the soul of Charlie Kirk to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. May He welcome Charlie into eternal life, grant peace to his grieving family, and bring healing to all who loved him. Charlie leaves behind a wife, children, colleagues, and countless young people he inspired. We unite ourselves to their sorrow, and we ask God to give them fortitude and consolation in this hour of grief.
Charlie Kirk’s life personified a profound commitment, a commitment to truth, goodness, and beauty. Above all, he offered to both Christians and nonbelievers alike an example of what it means to live with boldness, with audacity, in pursuit of truth. His work in the public square was not without controversy, as anyone who dares to speak candidly about the most difficult questions of our time will know. But Charlie never allowed fear to silence him. Instead, he believed that the most charitable thing we can ever give to another person is the truth. And in this conviction, he poured out his life in service to a mission far greater than himself.
Vice President JD Vance expressed it simply, urging the world to “say a prayer for Charlie Kirk, a genuinely good guy and a young father.” We echo that request now, as a family of faith: let us pray for Charlie’s eternal rest, for strength for his family, and for the grace that our nation might rediscover the way of peace.
Moments like this pierce our hearts and remind us of the brokenness of the world in which we live. Violence, especially when directed at those who give their lives to proclaiming the truth, is always a manifestation of sin. Yet as followers of Christ, we cannot surrender to despair. Even in grief, we are called to hope. Our hope is not naive optimism; it is anchored in the Cross, where God Himself entered into suffering and transformed it into victory.
Charlie’s passing is also a summons to each of us. His life challenges us to examine our own witness: Are we, too, willing to stand for truth? Are we willing to speak with charity, yet with courage, in the face of a culture that increasingly punishes conviction? Charlie’s example should strengthen our resolve to live authentically Catholic lives in the world, sanctifying it from within by our witness in the family, the workplace, and society.
To the TLI family, I urge you: honor Charlie by praying fervently, by recommitting yourselves to the mission entrusted to you as Catholic leaders, and by remaining steadfast in hope. May his death not silence truth, but rather amplify it in our hearts and in our lives.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
