Sweden is still in shock following the February 4 shooting at an adult education center in a town about 200 km from Stockholm.
It was the students themselves who uploaded videos to their social networks from inside, when the alarms were sounding; an attack that has left more than a dozen dead and several injured.
According to Swedish police, all indications are that the suspect acted alone and was not ideologically motivated, although the incident is still under investigation.
One of the first to speak out was Cardinal Arborelius, the bishop of Stockholm. In a statement, he said that the Church mourns the victims. He also noted that violence seems to be on the rise in the country and hopes that goodness and understanding will prevail.
The Prime Minister, who described the attack as the most serious in the history of the country, also received a telegram from the Pope. In the message, Pope Francis expressed his spiritual closeness at this traumatic moment and said he was praying for the dead.
The pontiff visited Sweden in 2016 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, a country where Catholics are a minority.
JH
