ROME — Pope Francis said he would be vaccinated against the coronavirus as early as next week, calling it a lifesaving, ethical obligation and the refusal to do so suicidal, according to remarks made to an Italian television news program.
He also said the storming of the United States Capitol astonished him and should be condemned. We condemn it too, just as we condemned the sustained violence and looting by BLM during the summer of 2020.
Interestingly, the Pope characterized the individuals who ‘stormed’ the US Capitol as “people who take a path against the community, against democracy, against the common good.” He also called the pro-Trump protesters, “non compliant” individuals, in contrast to his own support for the Black Lives Matter protests on June 10—11.
As one commentator, Howie Carr put it, “some riots are more equal than others.” Like Carr, I condemn what happened at the Capitol last week. But I also wonder where all this outrage was among the chattering classes when the orgy of rioting, looting, arson and murder was gripping the nation last summer.
In an interview with the newscast TG5 that is expected to air tonight, Francis called on everyone to get the vaccine.
“It’s an ethical choice, because you are playing with health, life, but you are also playing with the lives of others,” Francis told the station. “I’ve signed up. One must do it.”
According to the transcript, the pope added,
“I don’t understand why some say, ‘No, vaccines are dangerous.’ If it is presented by doctors as a thing that can go well, that has no special dangers, why not take it? There is a suicidal denial that I wouldn’t know how to explain.”
Francis has sometimes come under criticism for not wearing a woke mask during the pandemic. But he is a big fan of vaccines.
In his “Urbi et Orbi” message on Christmas Day, Francis called for “vaccines for all,” especially the world’s most vulnerable people.
“Today, at this time of darkness and uncertainty because of the pandemic, there appear different lights of hope,” he said in his Christmas remarks, “such as the discovery of vaccines.”
We are hearing more and more about the “common good” as a motivator for mask compliance, and now for vaccine compliance.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church likewise issued a pro-vaccine statement on December 18, 2020, saying that Adventist Health Ministries and its health emphasis is firmly based on the Bible, and the instructions of the Spirit of Prophecy through Ellen White.
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