Pope Leo demands end to ‘pandemic of arms’ after Minnesota school shooting

First US pope in history prays for victims of last week's shooting that left two children dead and 18 others injured

Pope Leo XIV called for the pandemic of arms, large and small" to end during a weekly public prayer with crowds in St Peter's Square on Sunday that also addressed the plague of mass shootings in the US.

The first US pope in history, a native of Chicago, spoke in English as he prayed for the victims of last week's shooting during a Catholic school mass in Minnesota which saw two children killed and others seriously injured.