Denver, Colo., Dec 15, 2012 / 10:45 am
Members of the Catholic hierarchy have expressed grief and sorrow over the Dec. 14 elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn. while offering prayers for victims and their families.
A telegram sent on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI to the Diocese of Bridgeport conveyed the Holy Father's "heartfelt grief" for the victims of yesterday's violent school shooting that took the lives of 28 people, 20 of whom were children.
"In the aftermath of this senseless tragedy, he asks God, our Father, to console all those who mourn and to sustain the entire community with the spiritual strength which triumphs over violence by the power of forgiveness, hope and reconciling love," Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State of the Vatican, said in the Dec. 15 telegram.
According to the telegram, when the Pope learned of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. he asked Cardinal Bertone to "convey his heartfelt grief and assurance of this closeness in prayer to victims and their families, and to all those affected by this shocking event."