Pope Francis offered prayers for the dead and the injured in three U.S. mass shootings this week. Francis told a crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the weekly Angelus: “I am spiritually close to the victims of the episodes of violence that have bloodied Texas, California and Ohio, in the United States, striking defenseless people.” He appealed to the faithful “to join my prayer for the people who lost their lives, the injured and their family members.” [1]