Two years after the police-involved killing of George Floyd, an African-American, in Minneapolis, and three days after 10 Black people were killed while grocery shopping in Buffalo, New York, allegedly by a heavily armed white teenager motivated by racist hate, a four-person panel of faith and community leaders last month discussed “Justice and Healing for a Wounded Community” in downtown Minneapolis.

“Today, my heart is heavy,” said Gaye Massey, CEO of YWCA St. Paul, “having watched too much coverage of what happened in Buffalo. I am burdened by the hate and ugliness we have seen play out in our country.”

Joining Massey on the panel May 17 at the University of St. Thomas School of Law were John Harrington, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman of Temple Israel in Minneapolis, and Jesuit Father Christopher Collins, the university’s vice president for mission.

Despite varied backgrounds and experiences — Massey an attorney, Harrington in law enforcement and faith leaders Rabbi Zimmerman and Father Collins — all four cited similar challenges and solutions in building healthy communities. Challenges include distrust, fear, and a lack of empathy and sincere listening to seek understanding. There can be a reluctance to break down barriers, correct inequities and face difficult moments among varied communities, the panelists said. Solutions are the direct opposite of the challenges, they said.

“Fear and trust,” Harrington said of challenges facing police and the broader community. “I have people operating out of fear and trauma every day. And some of the ways they are operating are making them more unsafe.”

The panel discussion, which also was livestreamed, was moderated by Father Daniel Griffith, director of the Initiative on Restorative Justice and Healing at UST’s School of Law, where he also is a Wenger Family Faculty Fellow, and pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes, all in Minneapolis. The initiative and the Basilica of St. Mary, also in Minneapolis, where Father Griffith will be pastor starting in July, co-sponsored the event, which was held on UST’s law school campus.

Launched last September, the initiative at UST seeks to name and help heal harm from institutional and leadership failures, racial injustice and polarization, Father Griffith said. It has hosted a variety of programs and webinars based on those themes. It also includes a law school course and a coming practicum experience for students rooted in the principles of restorative justice, he said.

Illustrating one aspect of fear, Harrington asked rhetorically whether it is safer to be in a locked room, with guns and dogs for protection, than it is to get to know neighbors and mingle in the community. A patrol officer in St. Paul early in his career, Harrington said the streets were safest when large groups of people were enjoying an event, such as a Minnesota Wild hockey game in St. Paul.

“Unless you are in relationship with your neighbor, you are an island,” Harrington said. “That makes you more vulnerable. The more good people on the streets together the safer it is.”

But to gather, people need to trust one another, Harrington said.

“I’ve got to trust that my car won’t be carjacked. I’ve got to trust that the cops are going to do the right thing. There is a dramatic shortage of trust” right now, he said. “How do I build trust? It’s proximity.”

Rabbi Zimmerman said she is concerned that awareness of racial inequities and a willingness to face that challenge in Minnesota and the country have waned since Floyd’s death. There also has arisen a fear and distrust of government and other institutions, she said. “A society can’t survive if there is no trust in institutions,” she said. “That’s the crisis we’re in as a nation.”

Massey and Harrington noted a need to connect with people who are affected by inequities in society. “They bring solutions,” Massey said. “They bring understanding to issues most people don’t even see. And to hear it, it is (still) easy to dismiss, not recognize it, so not really credit it. We need to listen to and believe other people’s experiences.”

Harrington said he grew up on Chicago’s south side, statistically one of the least safe places to be, and he has seen a lot pain and heartache. “But I’ve never had to sleep on the bus” for shelter, he said.

For people who want to grow in understanding, build trust and heal a wounded community, it is helpful to remember how Jesus entered the world in order to save it, Father Collins said.

He came “not in great power to fix things but … in humility and in vulnerability,” as an infant without defenses, Father Collins said. Jesus began “to build relationships from there,” he said.

To view the event online, go to Justice and Healing for a Wounded Community.