Overview

• Speaking in English during the Sunday Angelus at the Vatican, the first U.S.-born pope prayed for the Minneapolis victims and urged an end to the “pandemic of arms, large and small.”
• He expanded the appeal to global conflicts, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and for leaders to renounce the “logic of weapons.”
• The Aug. 27 attack at Annunciation Catholic Church and School killed Fletcher Merkel, 8, and Harper Moyski, 10, and injured about 18 others as the shooter died by suicide at the scene.
• Investigators say the gunman fired 116 rifle rounds; an AR-15-style rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun and a 9mm pistol were recovered along with a manifesto video and anti-Christian messages.
• Authorities are investigating the case as domestic terrorism and a possible hate crime, as the parish resumes Masses in alternate spaces and national debate over gun policy intensifies.