If you love thy neighbor, you’ll get a COVID-19 vaccine, according to Pope Francis.
In association with the non-profit Ad Council, the pontiff tells his followers, “Getting the vaccines that are authorized by the respective authorities is an act of love.”
The three-minute PSA features Pope Francis, 84, speaking to the camera in Spanish with English subtitles, as well as brief messages from a number of church leaders in Spanish-speaking countries, including Archbishop Jose Gomez from the US, Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes from Mexico.
“Thanks to God’s grace and to the work of many, we now have vaccines to protect us from COVID-19,” says Pope Francis, who got the jab earlier this year along with his predecessor former Pope Benedict XVI. “They bring hope to end the pandemic, but only if they are available to all and if we collaborate with one another.”
“Getting the vaccines that are authorized by the respective authorities is an act of love. And helping the majority of people to do so is an act of love,” he continues. “Getting vaccinated is a simple yet profound way to care for one another, especially the most vulnerable.”
Pretty sad really. He also pontificates on such things as global warming and politics and certain politicians. He needs stay in his own lane.
I wasn't happy about his supporting the fake climate crisis based on the manufactured(not authentic) science but at least this time, he has the authentic science on his side also, to go along with the moral position.
The Vatican has been pushing the vaccine for a long time.
| Dr. Francis Collins: Vatican's COVID-19 vaccine push 'extremely helpful' www.ncro |
In recent months, the Vatican has used its global megaphone to remind Catholics that the COVID-19 vaccines are morally acceptable, call on wealthy countries to equitably distribute the vaccine and has even turned a papal audience hall into a vaccination clinic for the poor of Rome.
For these efforts, the head of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, is praising the Vatican's leadership in the push for vaccine acceptance as "extremely helpful."
"Having a leader in the Catholic Church who has been so outspoken and so willing to lay out the facts and not be dissuaded by a lot of the myths and even conspiracies has been really helpful," Collins told NCR in an interview. "I'm really delighted the Vatican has taken on this role."
Pope Francis has not minced words on the topic, suggesting that a refusal to take the vaccine is "suicidal."
Collins, who is a practicing Christian and was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to the Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Sciences in 2009, says he agrees with Francis' assessment and "not just because he and I have the same name."
"He is making a very good point. We have something here that is safe and effective. In the United States alone, almost 600,000 people have lost their lives and we're not done with this yet," Collins said.
This came out late last year from the Vatican which was not related to the COVID vaccine being safe and effective:
 | Vatican CDF says use of anti-Covid vaccines “morally acceptable” - Vatican News A note from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which was approved by Pope Francis, gives the green light during the pandemic to the use of vaccines produced with cell lines derived from two fetuses aborted in the 1960s. www.vaticannews.va |