Colorado Politics

Archdiocese to livestream Talley’s funeral Mass, as donations grow

The Catholic Archdiocese of Denver announced Friday it will livestream a funeral Mass for Officer Eric Talley on Monday.

Talley and nine others were killed by a gunman at the Table Mesa King Soopers on March 22.

The archdiocese’s livestream will begin at noon. The Mass will be held at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver with limited seating to allow social distancing. Father Dan Nolan will lead the Solemn High Requiem Mass, joined by other priests of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.

Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila is expected to attend.

Aquila expressed his sorrow in a statement Friday.

“I have been praying for all those impacted by this senseless act of violence and want to express my spiritual closeness to them,” he said in a statement.

There’s still a lot that’s unknown about the tragedy, he said.

“We do know that Officer Eric Talley was Catholic and has been described as a man of character and strong faith, a loving father to seven children, a husband who cared deeply for his family and a soldier for Christ,” Aquila stated. “My prayers and those of the faithful of the Archdiocese of Denver are with the Talley Family and all who have died.”

The archdiocese noted that Talley was a regular at events at St. Martin de Porres in Boulder, though he wasn’t formally one of its parishioners. The parish, coincidentally, is located across the street from the Table Mesa King Soopers.

A public funeral is planned for Talley on Tuesday morning at Flatirons Community Church in Lafayette. In-person seating there also will be limited because of COVID-19 precautions, which include masks.

The city of Boulder is encouraging well-wishers to watch a livestream of the service or follow it in local media. Seating at the church opens at 9:30 a.m. and closes at 10:30.

A number of funds are raising money for Talley’s family, which includes seven children ages 7 to 20.

Boulder County has a list that includes three, available by clicking here.

The Tunnels to Towers Foundation, which supports veterans and first responders, cited Talley’s heroism as it offered to pay off the family’s mortgage by raising donations by Easter.

“Officer Talley did not know what he would face inside that supermarket, but he didn’t hesitate to rush in. He bravely ran towards the shooter, and gave up his life trying to save the lives of strangers,” foundation chairman and CEO Frank Siller said in a statement.

Talley’s high school classmates in Albuquerque set up a GoFundMe page that had grown to more than $31,000 by Friday morning.

Another page, by Boulderite Suzi Zebelman, had raised close to $700,000 from nearly 7,300 donors toward a million-dollar goal for the family.

Officer Eric Talley is pictured with Father Joseph Tran at St. Martin de Porres Catholic Parish in Boulder in 2016.
Courtesy of the Archdiocese of Denver
Tags denver

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