The Vatican praised President Barack Obama’s proposals for curbing gun violence on Saturday, saying they are a “step in a right direction.”
Vatican’s chief spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi, in an editorial said 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 declared, 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.