VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has said he was “heartbroken about the massacre” at an elementary school in Texas.
At least 19 children and two adults were killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday.
Francis spoke Wednesday during his general audience.
He said he was praying for the children and adults killed and their families.
“It’s time to say ‘Enough’ to the indiscriminate trade of weapons!” he said. Francis called for a renewed commitment “so that tragedies like this cannot occur again.”
The Argentine pope has long railed against the weapons industry, calling arms manufacturers “merchants of death.”
On Tuesday, Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller in San Antonio, which is east of Uvalde, tweeted, saying, “Holy Father Pope Francis, say some prayers for the souls of our little ones killed today and two teachers. Uvalde is in mourning. The families are having a very dark time. Your prayer will do good to them.”
Archbishop Gustavo continued his tweet in Spanish, “thanks for helping us. We want to be like Jesus.”
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops joined its prayers with the Archbishop.
In a statement, it said, “each of us also needs to search our souls for ways that we can do more to understand this epidemic of evil and violence and implore our elected officials to help us take action.”