At a weekly public prayer in St. Peter's Square following the Aug. 27 Catholic school shooting, the first U.S. pope in history addressed the plague of mass shootings.
"Our prayers for the victims of the tragic shooting during a school mass in the American state of Minnesota," he prayed in English. "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."
Washington Times columnist Robert Knight says Pope Leo XIV, a White Sox fan from Chicago, "has shown some love for tradition … but he's now slipping into liberal politics – blaming guns for the killings … by the transgender man."
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, and other Democratic officials have responded to the shooting by joining the call for urgent legislative action, including bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. They also want state preemption laws to be lifted so cities can enact their own reforms if necessary.
"Prayers are not enough," Frey said at a march honoring the victims. He has emphasized the need for tangible reforms like red flag laws and stricter background checks.
Governor Tim Walz has announced plans to call a special session of the Minnesota Legislature to consider tougher gun laws.
Meanwhile, the pope has said he will continue church outreach to the LGBTQ community.
Knight calls that "a strange way to talk about a movement based on what the Bible calls sin."
"You don't see him reaching out to the pornography community or the adultery community or the abortion community," the columnist notes. "No, just the LGBTQ community seems to have carved out an exemption in the Bible's value system, and I find that unfortunate."
Two children died and 18 others were seriously injured when a man who identified as a woman opened fire on them during mass. Before the attack, the shooter confessed he was "tired of being trans" and wished he had never "brain-washed" himself.
