ROME, Italy — The Vatican condemned Saturday’s assassination attempt against former U.S. President Donald Trump, calling the assault a “wound” to democracy.
In a July 14 statement, the Holy See Press Office said that the politically motivated lethal shooting “wounds people and democracy, causing suffering and death.”
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The Holy See is “united with the prayers of the U.S. bishops for America, for the victims, and for peace in the country, so that the logic of violence may never prevail,” the statement said.
Donald Trump, the putative Republican candidate for the U.S. presidency, was injured by the gunfire at a Saturday evening rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and rushed offstage by the U.S. Secret Service.
Trump suffered a bullet wound to his right ear. One person attending the rally was shot dead and two others were critically injured.
The FBI has identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the perpetrator of the assassination attempt and has called for any information that may assist with the investigation.
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The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, said in a written statement, “Together with my brother bishops, we condemn political violence, and we offer our prayers for President Trump, and those who were killed or injured.”
“We also pray for our country and for an end to political violence, which is never a solution to political disagreements,” said Broglio, of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services.
“We ask all people of goodwill to join us in praying for peace in our country. Mary, Mother of God and Patroness of the Americas, pray for us,” the archbishop added.
