Vatican, US Catholic bishops, world leaders, condemn attack on Trump

The Vatican, Catholic bishops in the United States, and world leaders were unequivocal in condemning the assassination attempt on former U.S. president Donald Trump.

Trump, also the current Republican presidential candidate, survived an assassination attempt July 13 at an election rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The alleged attacker was immediately shot and killed by Secret Service agents, but not before the shots killed a man at the rally and seriously injured two others. Trump, with blood on his face, was rushed to the hospital with a bullet wound to his right ear.

“I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place,” Trump wrote on his social media site.

Violence, which wounds people and democracy

The Vatican, in a statement condemning the assassination attempt, expressed “concern” about “last night’s episode of violence, which wounds people and democracy, causing suffering and death.” The Vatican also stated it was “united with the prayer of the United States bishops for America, for the victims, and for peace in the country, so that the logic of the violent never prevails.”

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) also issued a 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 Archbishop Timothy Broglio, the president of the conference, calling on “all people of goodwill to join us in praying for peace in our country.”

Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh, whose diocese includes Butler, where the assassination attempt took place, expressed deep shock and called “for the health and safety of all, for healing and peace, and for an end to this climate of violence in our world.”

U.S. President Joe Biden, Trump’s opponent in the upcoming election, immediately spoke with Trump and denounced the “sick” attack. “I’m grateful to hear that [Trump is] safe and doing well. I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally as we await further information,” he later wrote on X. “There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it.”

The assassination attempt on Trump was the most recent attack on a former or current president. The last was in 1981 when Ronald Reagan was shot six weeks before St. John Paul II was almost fatally shot at St. Peter’s Square. During Reagan’s administration, the United States and the Vatican established formal diplomatic relations. When Reagan died in 2004, at 93, Pope John Paul II paid tribute, saying his efforts to bring down communism “changed the lives of millions of people.” When in 1963, President John F. Kennedy, the first Catholic president of the United States, was assassinated, Paul VI said he was “shocked” and “profoundly saddened.” “We deplore this unhappy event. We express the heartfelt wish that the death of this great statesman may not damage the cause of the American people, but rather reinforce its moral and civil sentiments, and strengthen its feeling of nobility and concord,” the then-pope said.

Worldwide condemnation

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was “appalled” by the attack. “Never should violence prevail,” and expressed the hope that “America emerges stronger from this.” Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called the incident “irrational and inhumane.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a close Trump ally, said he was “shocked.” French President Emmanuel Macron took to social media to say that the assassination attempt “is a tragedy for our democracies. France shares the shock and indignation of the American people.” Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “Political violence is never acceptable.”

The UK’s newly elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer sent the former president his best wishes and said his thoughts were with all the victims of the attack. Similarly, Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his thoughts were with all those affected and called the attack “despicable.” “Such acts of violence threaten democracy,” he added. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “deeply concerned” by the attack on his friend, while China’s President Xi Jinping “expressed his condolences” and said that China was “concerned” about the shooting.