'PANDEMIC OF ARMS'

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV, praying publicly for the victims of the school shooting in Minneapolis, also prayed for an end to the "pandemic" of gun violence.

After reciting the Angelus prayer with visitors in St. Peter's Square Aug. 31, Pope Leo switched from Italian to English when he led the prayers for the community of Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis where two children were killed during Mass Aug. 27 and 18 other people were injured.

In remembering "the victims of the tragic shooting during a school Mass in the American state of Minnesota," the pope said, "we include 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," he said. "May our mother, Mary, the Queen of Peace, help us to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah: 'They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.'"

Pope Leo also called again for an end to Russia's war on Ukraine, decrying renewed attacks on various Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv.

"Unfortunately, the war in Ukraine continues to sow death and destruction," the pope told thousands of people gathered for the midday prayer.

"I renew my closeness to the Ukrainian people and to all the wounded families," he said, calling on everyone "not to give in to indifference but to draw near (to the Ukrainian people) through prayer and concrete acts of charity."

"I strongly reiterate my urgent appeal for an immediate ceasefire and for a serious commitment to dialogue," he said. "It is time for leaders to abandon the logic of weapons and to take up the path of negotiation and peace, with the support of the international community. The voice of weapons must be silenced, while the voice of fraternity and justice must be raised."

Pope Leo also prayed for migrants from Africa who drowned Aug. 26 when their boat capsized off the coast of Mauritania as they were trying to reach Spain's Canary Islands.

"Our hearts are also wounded by the more than 50 people who died and around 100 still missing in the shipwreck of a vessel carrying migrants who were attempting the 1,100-kilometer (about 680-mile) journey to the Canary Islands, which capsized off the Atlantic coast of Mauritania," the pope said.

"This deadly tragedy is repeated every day around the world," Pope Leo said. "Let us pray that the Lord may teach us, as individuals and as a society, to fully put into practice his word: 'I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.'"

Speaking in both English and Italian, the pope entrusted all the "injured, missing and dead everywhere to our Savior's loving embrace."