Catholic bishops, faithful gather at Minnesota State Capitol to pray for lawmakers

Catholic bishops and more than 60 members of the faithful gathered March 6 inside the Minnesota State Capitol for several hours of Eucharistic adoration, praying specifically for the state’s lawmakers and government leaders. 

The five-hour prayer service in the Capitol’s Vault Room was organized by the Minnesota Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of Minnesota’s Catholic bishops. According to The Catholic Spirit, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Archbishop Bernard Hebda and Deacon Kevin Conneely exposed the Blessed Sacrament while worshippers came and went throughout the day.

Auxiliary Bishops Michael Izen and Kevin Kenney from the archdiocese also attended at different times, joining the faithful who knelt in prayer in the lower level of the Capitol building.

Organizers said the purpose of the event was to bring prayer directly into the center of the state’s political life and to ask God’s guidance for those who govern, according to The Catholic Spirit. 

Jason Adkins, executive director and general counsel of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, said the gathering was meant to bring Christ into the public square.

“We need Jesus to come to the peripheries, as Pope Francis said, including the existential peripheries,” Adkins told The Catholic Spirit. “The existential peripheries are our public square, our public life. We need to bring Jesus there. We need him to be present.”

Adkins said prayers are needed for Minnesota and its government leaders to recognize God’s authority and to discern how believers can serve as Christ’s “hands and feet” in public life and public service.

“Pope Leo XIV said that politics is one of the highest forms of charity,” Adkins said. “The most important thing we can do as an act of charity for elected officials is pray for them.”

The Minnesota Catholic Conference has held adoration inside the Capitol for several years, previously using the Governor’s Dining Room. This year marked the first time the event was moved to the larger Vault Room to accommodate more participants, The Catholic Spirit reported.

The Serra Club, a ministry in the Twin Cities that promotes vocations to the priesthood, provided the monstrance used during the adoration. The vessel had been blessed by Pope Benedict XVI. During the service, Archbishop Hebda prayed the late pontiff’s prayer for vocations as well. 

Kathleen Randolph, a member of the Serra Club, told The Catholic Spirit she hopes the prayers offered in the building will influence lawmakers’ decisions.

“I just pray that their minds would be open enough to hear God’s — Lord Jesus’ — voice in every decision they make,” Randolph said.

Families also attended the gathering, including one mom who brought eight of her nine children.

Mindy Hoefer told The Catholic Spirit, “We thought this was an amazing opportunity to pray for our legislators, for our governor, for our state, and to show our kids that our faith isn’t just in our home and in our church; it’s everywhere we go.”