Notre Dame fans pray for terror attack victims at Mass in New Orleans hotel

A sign for the Allstate Sugar Bowl between Georgia and Notre Dame is seen outside the Louisiana Superdome after at least 15 people were killed on Bourbon Street in a terror attack in the early morning hours of Jan. 1, 2025, in New Orleans. The game was postponed and rescheduled for Thursday, Jan. 2. / Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Jan 2, 2025 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

Notre Dame football fans packed a New Orleans hotel ballroom on Wednesday morning for Mass, offering prayers for those killed during a deadly terrorist attack in the French Quarter in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

The Mass, which is a tradition for Notre Dame fans and had already been scheduled for Jan. 1 — a holy day of obligation — attracted some 500 attendees to the Hilton New Orleans Riverside, just a 20-minute walk from the French Quarter.

Father Nathan Wills, chaplain for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, told the South Bend Tribune in an interview following Mass that prayer in the face of tragedy is “what we do.” New Orleans on Wednesday was to host this year’s college football Sugar Bowl game between No. 2-ranked Georgia and No. 3 Notre Dame, which was postponed and rescheduled for Thursday afternoon.

“In the midst of tragedy, we come together in prayer and faith in Our Lord. There’s no darkness that he can’t overcome. That’s the hope, seeing everybody praying together and singing together,” Wills told the Tribune.

Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, a 42-year-old Texan and Army veteran, slammed an electric pickup truck into a crowd of people at a New Year’s celebration on the city’s famed Bourbon Street, killing 14 and injuring dozens of others. The FBI said Jabbar, who was killed in a shootout with police, likely acted alone and appeared to be inspired by the so-called Islamic State. 

Before closing the Mass with “Joy to the World,” the congregants at the Wednesday Mass locked arms and swayed as they sang Notre Dame’s “Alma Mater” in the same way fans do at the end of Notre Dame football games.

“It was absolutely beautiful,” Wills told the Tribune. “I got choked up at the end there, really. Seeing everybody together in faith, that’s what Notre Dame is about, right?”

Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans offered prayers Wednesday morning for the victims of the attack, calling the incident “a sign of utter disrespect for human life.” Pope Francis also prayed for the victims, sending a condolence message to Aymond on Jan. 2 offering prayers for the souls of the deceased as well as the healing and consolation of the injured and bereaved.

FBI officials have said they are also looking for any links between the New Orleans attack and a separate incident in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day in which one person was killed and seven people were injured when a rented Tesla Cybertruck exploded into flames outside of the Trump International Hotel.