Pope Leo XIV condemned the “pandemic of arms” that has killed “countless children” around the world during a prayer for the victims of the Minnesota shooting at a Catholic school.
History’s first American-born pontiff prayed for the young victims of last week’s shooting in Minneapolis from the window overlooking St Peter’s Square at the Vatican during his Sunday noon blessing.
“Our prayers for the victims of the tragic shooting during a school Mass in the American state of Minnesota,” Leo said.
“We include in our prayers the countless children killed and injured every day around the world,” the pontiff added. “Let us plead to God to stop the pandemic of arms, large and small, which infects our world.”
Horror unfolded last Wednesday after two children aged 8 and 10 were shot dead by Robin Westman as they sat in the pews of the church adjacent to the Annunciation Catholic School. Fifteen other children aged 6 to 15 and three parishioners in their 80s were also wounded in the attack.
The young victims were later identified by their families as 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski.
Westman died by a self-inflicted gunshot as law enforcement rushed to the scene. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said that there was “some degree of planning” that went into the shooting.
The FBI is investigating the attack as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime against Catholics.
The debate around gun control has resurfaced following the shooting after Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told a news conference last week: “Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying.”
Frey’s comment sparked a debate over the role of prayer in the wake of mass shootings.
In a viral post on social media, MSNBC host and former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki wrote that “Prayer is not freaking enough,” arguing that offering “thoughts and prayers” after such tragedies fails to provide safety or justice.
“Prayers does not end school shootings. Prayers do not make parents feel safe sending their kids to school,” Psaki said. “Prayer does not bring these kids back. Enough with the thoughts and prayers.”
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard attacked Psaki for the remarks.
“So why is it that people like Jen Psaki and others have such a spontaneous, visceral negative reaction to those who are praying to God for refuge, strength, and for the well-being of the victims of this heinous attack?” Gabbard said. “Because they do not believe in God or His love.”
Vice President JD Vance also waded into the debate, defending the response of offering “thoughts and prayers” in the wake of school shootings but generally opposing any gun safety legislation.
“We pray because our hearts are broken. We pray because we know God listens. We pray because we know that God works in mysterious ways, and can inspire us to further action,” Vance said in a post on X on Thursday. “Why do you feel the need to attack other people for praying when kids were just killed praying?”
Vance, who converted to Catholicism six years ago, has had a turbulent relationship with the religion’s leadership since taking office in January.
The late Pope Francis, without naming Vance explicitly, rebuked the vice president and the Trump administration for their treatment of migrants and refugees in a letter to U.S. bishops in February.
The letter came after the administration revoked a policy prohibiting immigration arrests in places of worship and schools and after Vance cited medieval Catholic theology in justifying the administration’s immigration crackdown.
“Just google ordo amoris,” he posted on 30 January on the social media platform X.
“The act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness,” Francis wrote, addressing what he called “the major crisis” unfolding in the U.S. over immigration.
Additional reporting by Kelly Rissman and Erin Keller
