Pope decries Minnesota school attack and a 'pandemic of arms'

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for an end to the “pandemic of arms, large and small,” as he prayed publicly for the victims of last week’s shooting during a Catholic school Mass in Minnesota.

- BY NICOLE WINFIELD

ELLEN SCHMIDT Associated Press

MOURNERS embrace outside Annunciation Church in Minneapolis on Sunday.

The first American pope spoke in English as he denounced the attack and the “logic of weapons” fueling wars around the world during his Sunday noon blessing from his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square.

“Our prayers [are] for the victims of the tragic shooting during a school Mass in the American state of Minnesota,” said the Chicago-born Leo. “We hold in our prayers the countless children killed and injured every day around the world. Let us plead God to stop the pandemic of arms, large and small, which infects our world.”