• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
A woman lights a candle Feb. 5, 2025, the day after a deadly school shooting at the adult education center at the Risbergska school in Örebro, Sweden, that left at least 11 people dead, including a gunman, in the deadliest mass shooting in the country's history. (OSV News photo/Christine Olsson, TT News Agency via Reuters) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. SWEDEN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN SWEDEN.

Pope Francis, Sweden’s cardinal mourn victims of deadly mass shooting

February 5, 2025
By Junno Arocho Esteves
OSV News
Filed Under: Gun Violence, News, Vatican, World News

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

MALMÖ, Sweden (OSV News) — Pope Francis said he was “deeply saddened” by the tragic shooting in a Swedish school, sending “assurance of his spiritual closeness to all affected by this traumatic incident,” in which 10 students of an adult education center lost their lives.

The Feb. 5 telegram, signed by the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said that the pontiff “offers prayers for the repose of the souls of those who have died,” as well as “consolation of their grieving families and friends, and for the speedy recovery of the injured” in the Feb. 4 attack in which the gunman took his own life after the rampage.

As the pope invoked upon the Swedish people “Almighty God’s gifts of unity and peace,” Swedish Cardinal Anders Arborelius of Stockholm lamented the rise of violence in Sweden after 11 people, including a gunman, were killed in the deadliest mass shooting in the country’s history Feb. 4.

Police technicians work at the adult education center at the Risbergska school in Örebro, Sweden, Feb. 4, 2025, following a deadly shooting attack that left at least 11 people dead, including a gunman, in the deadliest mass shooting in the country’s history. (OSV News photo/Pontus Lundahl, TT News Agency via Reuters)

In a statement published Feb. 5, the cardinal said the country’s Catholics mourned “the victims of the violent act in Örebro,” a northern city located roughly 120 miles west of Stockholm.

“Violence and shootings only seem to increase and increase,” the cardinal said. “We ask for God’s help so that goodness and harmony may prevail in our country.”

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Stockholm told OSV News that the cardinal, who is in Rome for the Jubilee pilgrimage sponsored by the Nordic bishops’ conference, will return to Sweden Feb. 6.

“This coming Sunday, we (will) pray in all our churches for those who have been killed and for God’s mercy,” the cardinal said.

The cardinal’s statement included a message from St. Eskil’s Church, a Catholic parish in Örebro, saying it would remain open for personal prayers and celebrate an evening Mass Feb. 5 to “pray for our city and those affected by Tuesday’s events.”

Although police were still investigating, local media reported that a masked man entered the Campus Risbergska, an adult education center, and opened fire Feb. 4 in the afternoon, killing 10 people before turning the gun on himself.

Police have yet to identify the shooter but described him as a 35-year-old male “not known to police.” Investigators also warned of false information on social media regarding the shooter’s motives, which are currently unknown.

The shooter, police said, was a resident of Örebro with no prior criminal convictions and a valid weapons license.

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden called the shooting a “terrible atrocity” he learned about with “sadness and dismay” and expressed his condolences to the victims, as well as thanking police and first-responders “who worked intensively to save and protect human lives on this dark day.”

At a press conference hours after the shooting, Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer said the shooting “has shaken our society to its core.”

“It is something that one would have read about with horror in other countries but would never think it would happen in Sweden,” he said.

While such shootings are rare, Cardinal Arborelius’ concerns echoed those of many in the country due to a sharp increase in gang-related violence. According to a 2024 study published by the Nordic Journal of Criminology, Sweden is the only country in Europe that has seen a continuous increase in gun violence since 2005.

“Today, Sweden appears to have the highest rate of firearm homicides against men and young adults among the examined European Union countries and lies above the European average for homicide in general,” the report said.

Read More Gun Violence

Third annual gun buyback scheduled for Aug. 9

Slain Minnesota lawmaker, husband remembered for lives lived ‘with purpose, meaning’

Suspect arrested for murdering Minnesota lawmaker, husband

Minnesota lawmaker who once taught Catholic Sunday school shot and killed in apparent ‘politically motivated assassination’

On a day of ‘national tragedy,’ Austria mourns 9 victims of high school shooting

Catholic sisters’ ‘Put the Guns Down’ campaign hits city buses

Copyright © 2025 OSV News

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Junno Arocho Esteves

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Prince of Peace merges with St. Francis de Sales in Harford County

  • Construction underway on new north addition to St. Joseph’s Nursing Home 

  • Archbishop Wenski leads Knights on Bikes to pray rosary at Alligator Alcatraz

  • Radio Interview: Youth ministry changing with the times

  • Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants

| Latest Local News |

Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants

Third annual gun buyback scheduled for Aug. 9

Driver arrested after crashing into entrance of Esperanza Center

Construction underway on new north addition to St. Joseph’s Nursing Home 

Prince of Peace merges with St. Francis de Sales in Harford County

| Latest World News |

Parishes need to launch ‘revolution of care’ for the elderly, pope says

Broglio: Church teaching obligates the faithful to support pastoral care of migrants

Ireland’s abortion rates rise 62 percent over 5 years; Catholic advocates call it ‘a tragedy’

Miami archbishop presses for pastoral visitation at Alligator Alcatraz

Body of Blessed Frassati, relic of Blessed Acutis will be in Rome for Jubilee

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Parishes need to launch ‘revolution of care’ for the elderly, pope says
  • Broglio: Church teaching obligates the faithful to support pastoral care of migrants
  • Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants
  • Third annual gun buyback scheduled for Aug. 9
  • Ireland’s abortion rates rise 62 percent over 5 years; Catholic advocates call it ‘a tragedy’
  • Miami archbishop presses for pastoral visitation at Alligator Alcatraz
  • Movie Review: ‘Smurfs’
  • Body of Blessed Frassati, relic of Blessed Acutis will be in Rome for Jubilee
  • Artificial Intelligence, wholeism and prayer

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en