Two months after students in Uvalde wrote handwritten letters to Pope Francis, they have finally received a response.
In August, students at Sacred Heart Catholic School reached out to the Pope, asking him for advice, prayers and well wishes, the school said in a news release. Many of the students at Sacred Heart transferred from Robb Elementary School after the shooting through scholarships from the Catholic Extension. This letter-writing project from the Catholic Extension features letters from students injured in the shooting and students who lost friends in the deadly attack.
Maria Luisa Aldape, a minister in the Uvalde parish school, prefaced the letters students wrote with a letter of her own. "We have invited the children to write you and share with you their pain and their hopes for the future. Some bear the scars on their flesh and all in their hearts," she wrote.
The Vatican responded earlier this month in a letter that says Pope Francis himself has received the letters written by the students. "He appreciates the sentiments which led them to share their stories and thoughts with him. His Holiness will remember the students, their families and all of those suffering from the recent act of violence in Uvalde in his prayers," the letter said.
Here's a look at the letters students wrote to Pope Francis: