Archdiocese of Philadelphia To Hold Mass In Honor of Orlando Victims

Philadelphia, PA -- The Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced on Thursday that they would hold a remembrance mass in honor of the victims of the Orlando shooting on Sunday, June 19.

The Archdiocese said that the ceremony would include a special remembrance of Akyra Murray, a 2016 graduate of West Catholic Prepatory High School who was killed in Orlando.

Murray was a star basketball player and had committed to attend and play basketball at Mercyhurst College in the fall. 

Akyra is the second victim that has been identified from the Philadelphia area. Patience Carter, a 20-year-old Philadelphia woman who is an intern at FOX 29, was shot in the leg. She was in stable condition on Monday.

A total of 49 people were killed and 53 injured in the early morning hours of June 12 in what turned out to be the deadliest mass shooting in United States history.

Reverend G. Dennis Gill will deliver the ceremony.

The mass will take place in the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul on 18th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia. The mass will begin at 6:30 p.m.