The bishop of the Des Moines Catholic Diocese says the church stands ready to help the families and colleagues of two murdered police officers through their grief, but Bishop Richard Pates is also urging the community to have a conversation about the “proliferation” of guns.

A 14-year-old boy was shot in the head in downtown Des Moines as he rode in a car along a busy street last week and there was a shooting at a stoplight near a Des Moines shopping mall on Monday. Pates says it is “within the realm of common sense” to address gun issues. Pates says his heart goes out to the families directly involved in Wednesday’s murders, as well as the central Iowa law enforcement community struggling with this “enormous tragedy.”

Pates and other leaders from the Des Moines-area religious community held an interfaith service last night in Urbandale.