By Joe Udo
VATICAN (CONVERSEER) – Pope Leo XIV prayed for an end to what he called the “pandemic of arms” days after a trans shooter opened fire on a Catholic school, killing two and injuring 17, in the United States.
He stated this during his Sunday noon blessing from his studio overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
The deceased were ages eight and ten, both of whom were killed when the trans shooter shot at them through the windows of the church while they attended Mass.
The trans shooter left behind a video manifesto in which he said, “F*ck those kids,” and “Where’s your f*cking God now?”
But the Pope is focused on guns and ABC 7 quoted him denouncing the “logic of weapons.”
The Pope, in a prayer on Sunday morning, said, “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.”
Pope Leo XIV’s predecessor, Pope Francis, took a hard stand against the firearms industry, at least once referring to gun manufacturers as “merchants of death.”
During his historic 2015 speech to the U.S. Congress, the Argentine pope asked the lawmakers why weapons were being sold purely to kill.
“Sadly, the answer, as we all know, is simply for money: money that is drenched in blood, often innocent blood,” Francis said then. “In the face of this shameful and culpable silence, it is our duty to confront the problem and to stop the arms trade.”
Leo had opened his appeal on Sunday by demanding an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and a “serious commitment to dialogue” from the warring sides.
“It’s time that those responsible renounce the logic of weapons and take the path of negotiations and peace, with the support of the international community,” he said. “The voice of weapons must be silenced, while the voice of fraternity and justice must rise.”
