Pope Leo calls for end to ‘pandemic of arms’ after Minneapolis school shooting

Pope Leo XIV has pleaded for an end to the “pandemic of arms” as he made his first public comments on gun control while offering 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 children and injured 18 others as students and staff 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 told the crowd in St. Peter’s Square following the weekly Sunday Angelus prayer.

Leo, speaking in his native English, said he was offering “prayers for the victims of the tragic shooting during a school Mass in the American state of Minnesota” and the “countless children” who are killed and injured every day.

Boris Sanchez speaks with CNN religion contributor Fr. Edward Beck. #CNN #News