Pope Leo XIV has pleaded for an end to the “pandemic of arms” as he made his first public feedback on gun management whereas providing prayers for the victims of the shooting at Annunciation Catholic school in Minneapolis.
The first American pope made his remarks following the August 27 shooting which killed two youngsters and injured 18 others as college students and employees gathered for a school Mass.
“Let us plead [to] God to stop the pandemic of arms large and small which infects our world,” the Chicago-born pontiff advised the group in St. Peter’s Square following the weekly Sunday Angelus prayer.
Leo, talking in his native English, stated he was providing “prayers for the victims of the tragic shooting during a school Mass in the American state of Minnesota” and the “countless children” who’re killed and injured on daily basis.
Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, often condemned the arms business and warned that the use of weapons by civilians to defend themselves had develop into a “habit.” Leo, who was elected in May, has continued to condemn the “logic of weapons” and the arms commerce, although in a telegram despatched within the speedy aftermath of the Minneapolis shooting he avoided making any feedback about gun management.
In the previous, nonetheless, a now-deleted X account apparently belonging to Robert Prevost – earlier than he was elected pope – re-posted statements by Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago calling for “increased access to mental health care and stronger, sensible gun control laws” following the 2017 shootings in Las Vegas.
He additionally shared an announcement from Democratic Senator Chris Murphy who wrote on the identical incident: “To my colleagues: Your cowardice to act cannot be whitewashed by thoughts and prayers. None of this ends unless we do something to stop it.”
Following the Minneapolis shooting, Cupich, who’s shut to Leo, issued his personal a statement saying: “The facts are clear. Guns are plentiful and common sense attempts to limit their availability have been largely rejected in the name of a freedom not found in our constitution.”