News
Senator Klobuchar Presents Pope Leo with U.S. Senate Resolution Honoring Minnesota Shooting Victims
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar presented Pope Leo with a Senate resolution honoring victims of the August Minnesota Catholic school shooting. The proposal, co-sponsored by Klobuchar, reflects renewed national debate on gun violence and highlights the Vatican’s involvement in humanitarian efforts, including support for Ukrainian children.
Pope Leo on Friday received a copy of a U.S. Senate resolution honoring the victims of the August shooting at a Minnesota Catholic church and school. The document was handed to him by one of the bill’s co-sponsors, Senator Amy Klobuchar.
In an official Vatican handout photo, Pope Leo—the first U.S.-born Pope—is seen holding the resolution while standing beside Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat who attended the papal event.
The attack on August 27 left two children dead and injured 18 teachers and students after a gunman fired through the stained-glass windows of Annunciation Catholic School.
The tragedy reignited the national debate over gun control, echoing Pope Leo’s remarks days later during his weekly Sunday address, where he prayed for an end to the “epidemic of weapons, large and small.”
The Senate resolution—co-sponsored by Minnesota Democrat Tina Smith—was a non-binding statement that passed unanimously in September.
Klobuchar was at the Vatican as part of a delegation attending a meeting between Pope Leo and Ukrainian children rescued from Russian-occupied territories. In a joint statement, the delegation thanked the Pope for the meeting and said they had delivered a letter from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urging the Vatican to take a formal role in securing the return of children taken by Russia.
