The Pope calls for an end to “the pandemic of weapons that infects our world”

Vatican City.- Pope Leo XIV today called for an end to “the pandemic of weapons, large and small, that infect our world” while condemning the armed attack that occurred at a Catholic school in the United States, which caused the death of two children and 17 people injured.

“We pray for the victims of the tragic shootings during a mass at the school in the state of Minnesota” and in particular “for the children,” said the pontiff at the end of the Sunday Angelus prayer.

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To the thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican to listen to him, he asked them to include in their prayers “the countless children murdered every day around the world”. “Let us pray to God to stop the pandemic of weapons, large and small, that infects our world,” he added. The attacker was identified as Robin Westman, 23 years old, who on Wednesday fired three different types of weapons during a beginning-of-term mass at the Annunciation school in Minneapolis, and subsequently committed suicide, according to police information. A child remains in “critical condition” and two more people in “serious condition” after being targeted by the shooter, according to Minnesota health authorities. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is in charge of analyzing the shooting as a possible hate crime against Catholics and an act of domestic terrorism, the White House reported this Thursday. The United States has the highest per capita gun ownership in the world – and by a large margin compared to other developed countries – and has resisted passing stricter gun control regulations, despite the constant shootings, 286 so far in 2025.