VATICAN CITY: The Vatican is praising U.S. President Barack Obama's proposals for curbing gun violence as "certainly a step in the right direction."

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi says no one can fool themselves into thinking that limiting the number of firearms will impede more massacres like the shooting at a Connecticut school last month that killed 26 people.

But Lombardi said in an editorial carried by Vatican Radio on Saturday he supports appeals by U.S. religious leaders to American lawmakers to limit firearms. He says American society is paying an "unacceptable price" in terms of senseless deaths.

Obama is trying to rally support for reinstating a ban on assault weapons and requiring background checks on all gun sales. He faces stiff opposition in the U.S. Congress.