Pope Leo XIV prays for the victims of the attack on the Catholic school in Minneapolis/USA. He was close to everyone who was affected by this “terrible tragedy”, “in particular the families who have to complain about the loss of a child,” said a telegram published by the Vatican to the Archbishop of Minneapolis, Bernard Hebda. He entrusted the souls of the deceased to the love of God. US President Donald Trump spoke of a “senseless act of violence”. He ordered mourning for all public buildings next Sunday.
During a firearm attack on a Catholic school in Minneapolis, two children aged 8 and 10 were killed and 17 other people were injured, including 14 children. As the US media report, citing the police, a mid-20-year-old man scored the children when they took part in an opening service for the new school year on Wednesday morning (local time) in the neighboring church. The shooter then inflicted a gunshot wound himself, which he had still succumbed to at the scene.
Minnesota Mayor Jacob Frey said shaken. The children of the Annunciation Catholic School were “literally shot at prayer”. “It was the first week of school, they were in a church,” said Frey. “You should be able to go to school or church in peace, without fear or danger of violence, and your parents should have the same security,” said the mayor.
Ten of the injured were brought to a clinic, including an adult and six children with life -threatening injuries. According to media reports, police chief Brian O’Hara spoke of an “intentional act of violence against innocent children and worshipers”. According to him, the shooter was armed with a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol. He opened the fire through the church windows from the outside.
The Archdiocese of Minneapolis and the US Bishops’ Conference called for prayer for those affected in short messages in the online service “X”. The Annunciation Catholic School in the south of Minneapolis was opened in 1923 with four religious of the Dominican Order. Today, around 370 children are taught from preschoolers to 8th grade.
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