"As a society, we must strive for a way to end such acts of senseless gun violence in our schools and communities," Cardinal DiNardo said in a May 18 statement.

“They want to know who they’re talking to,” Father Forge said of police. “Well, we already issue our volunteers with ID cards, so we jumped on that.”

Away from the rhetoric in Washington, communities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border are welcoming the stranger and overcoming physical barriers.

In their joint statement, the Texas bishops echoed Chief Manley’s appeal to the community. “We ask all people in our dioceses to remain vigilant, and to pray and work for peace,” the bishops said.

The divergence in Texas might be viewed as a microcosm of the national debate over what it means to be pro-life.

In what is becoming a grim American ritual, mass shooting sites from Sandy Hook to Columbine have been demolished and then rebuilt.