Pope Leo XIV has called for an end to the “pandemic of arms, large and small,” following the school shooting in Minnesota last week.

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Speaking during his weekly prayer at the Vatican on Sunday, he said: “Our prayers are with the victims of the tragic shooting during a school mass in the American state of Minnesota. We hold in our prayers the countless children killed and injured every day around the world.”

He added: “Let us plead God to stop the pandemic of arms, large and small, which infects our world. The voice of weapons must fall silent, and the voice of fraternity and justice must prevail.”

Two children were killed and 18 others were injured at the Catholic Annunciation school in Minneapolis when a shooter opened fire while they were gathered for mass on Wednesday.

The victims were later identified as Harper Moyski, aged 10, and Fletcher Merkel, who was eight years old.

In a unique start to his ruling against President Donald Trump’s administration on September 30, U.S. District Court Judge William Young included a scanned handwritten note sent to his office. The note read: “Trump has pardons and tanks – what do you have?” At the top of Young’s opinion in AAUP v. Rubio, which ruled that Trump’s effort to deport foreign-born student protesters was unconstitutional.

October 8, 2025

![](https://d.newsweek.com/en/full/2713360/pope-leo-xiv.jpg?w=1200&f=f985ef3dffbead37166cdef032e37286)
_Pope Leo XIV delivering an address in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Sunday, August 24._

This is a developing story. More to follow.