Pope Leo XIV prayed publicly on Sunday for the victims of the shooting at a Catholic school in Minnesota and called for an end to the "pandemic of arms, large and small."

The U.S.-born pope spoke in English as he denounced the attack and the "logic of weapons" fueling wars around the world, during his Sunday noon blessing from his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square in Rome.

"Our prayers for the victims of the tragic shooting during a school Mass in the American state of Minnesota," Leo 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."

Two children – 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moysk – were killed Wednesday, and 20 p

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