Pope Leo XIV condemned a deadly U.S. school Mass shooting and urged an end to global arms proliferation.
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday denounced the spread of weapons and prayed for victims of a shooting at a Catholic school Mass in Minneapolis that left two children dead and 20 others injured.
History’s first U.S. pope, speaking in English during his noon blessing from St. Peter’s Square, called for an end to the “pandemic of arms, large and small,” and urged world leaders to abandon “the logic of weapons.”
The Minneapolis attack occurred Wednesday when a gunman fired 116 rounds through the Church of Annunciation’s stained-glass windows before killing himself. Hundreds of students had gathered for Mass at the time.
Pope Leo described the violence as a “terrible tragedy” and sent “heartfelt condolences and the assurance of spiritual closeness to all those affected.” He also called for a ceasefire in Ukraine and renewed appeals for peace talks.
His remarks echoed Pope Francis’ earlier denunciations of the global arms trade as “merchants of death.”