Pope "distressed" by school shooting in Brazil

Pope Benedict has sent words of condolence to the victims and their families of a school shooting in Rio de Janeiro.

10 girls and two boys aged from 12 to 15 were gunned down on Thursday by an alumnus of the school, who then shot himself.

The Holy Father said in a telegram that he was distressed by the attack carried out against defenseless children, and expressed his solidarity and gave his spiritual comfort to the families who lost children.

The Pope said the path to the future is not through violence, and called on all to seek to build a society founded on justice and respect for people, especially the weakest and most defenceless.