VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican praised President Barack Obama’s proposals for curbing gun violence, saying they are a “step in the right direction.”
The Vatican’s chief spokesman the Rev.
Federico Lombardi, said Saturday that 47 religious leaders have appealed
to members of the U.S. Congress “to limit firearms that are making
society pay an unacceptable price in terms of massacres and senseless
deaths.”
“I am with them,” Lombardi said, in an
editorial carried on Vatican Radio, lining up the Vatican’s moral
support in favor of firearm limits.
`’The initiatives announced by the
American administration for limiting and controlling the spread and use
of weapons are certainly a step in the right direction,” Lombardi said.
Obama is trying to rally support for
reinstating a ban on assault weapons and requiring background checks on
all gun sales. He faces stiff opposition in the U.S. Congress and from
powerful gun lobbies.
Considering that Americans possess
`’about 300 million firearms,” Lombardi said, `’people cannot fool
themselves that it is enough to limit the number and use (of guns) to
impede in the future horrendous massacres like that of Newtown that
shook the conscience of America and world, as well as that of children
and adults. `’
He was referring to the Newtown,
Connecticut, elementary school where 20 children and six adults were
killed by a sole attacker last month.
`’But it would be worse to be satisfied
with words” of condemnation alone, Lombardi said. And while massacres
are `’carried out by unbalanced or hate-driven persons, there is no
doubt that they are carried out with firearms,” the Vatican spokesman
said.
Lombardi renewed Vatican appeals for
disarmament and encouragement for measures to fight “the production,
commerce and contraband of all types of arms,” an industry fueled by
`’enormous economic and power interests.”
No comments:
Post a Comment