A woman writes a message on a cross in honour of the victims of the mass shooting in Orlando. Photo credit: CNS/ Jim Young Pope Francis has expressed his “horror and condemnation” about the June 11 attack on a gay nightclub in the United States.
The attack at Pulse nightclub, which left 49 people dead and 53 injured, was the biggest mass shooting in US history. The gunman, 29-year-old Omar Mateen, was also shot dead by Orlando police.
“The terrible massacre that has taken place in Orlando, with its dreadfully high number of innocent victims, has caused in Pope Francis, and in all of us, the deepest feelings of horror and condemnation, of pain and turmoil before this new manifestation of homicidal folly and senseless hatred,” Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said in a statement.
Compassion
“Pope Francis joins the families of the victims and all of the injured in prayer and in compassion,” Fr Lombardi said, adding how the Pope shared in their suffering, and continuing, “We all hope that ways may be found, as soon as possible, to effectively identify and contrast the causes of such terrible and absurd violence which so deeply upsets the desire for peace of the American people and of the whole of humanity”.
Early reports suggested the attack might have had a terrorist dimension, with claims the gunman had pledged his allegiance to ISIS, while other reports claimed he had been a regular at the night club and someone who had used gay dating apps.
In the attack’s aftermath, Orlando’s Bishop John Noonan urged people of faith “to turn their hearts and souls” to God and pray for the victims, the families and first responders, saying, “a sword has pierced the heart of our city”.
Chicago’s Archbishop Blase Cupich similarly expressed sympathy for the victims and for “our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters”, and said his diocese reaffirmed its commitment to addressing the causes of such tragedies, “including easy access to deadly weapons”.
“We can no longer stand by and do nothing,” he said.