ROME
\nPope Francis suggested Monday that getting vaccinated against the coronavirus was a \u201cmoral obligation\u201d and denounced how people had been swayed by \u201cbaseless information\u201d to refuse one of the most effective measures to save lives.
\nFrancis used some of his strongest words yet calling for people to get vaccinated in a speech to ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, an annual event in which he takes stock of the world and sets out the Vatican\u2019s foreign policy goals for the year.
\nFrancis, 85, has generally shied away from speaking about vaccination as a \u201cmoral obligation,\u201d though his COVID-19 advisory body has referred to it as a \u201cmoral responsibility.\u201d Rather, Francis has termed vaccination as \u201can act of love\u201d and that refusing to get inoculated was \u201csuicidal.\u201d
\nOn Monday he went a step further, saying that individuals had a responsibility to care for themselves \u201cand this translates into respect for the health of those around us. Health care is a moral obligation,\u201d he asserted.
\nHe lamented that, increasingly, ideological divides were discouraging people from getting vaccinated.
\n\u201cFrequently people let themselves be influenced by the ideology of the moment, often bolstered by baseless information or poorly documented facts,\u201d he said, calling for the adoption of a \u201creality therapy\u201d to correct this distortion of human reason.
\n\u201cVaccines are not a magical means of healing, yet surely they represent, in addition to other treatments that need to be developed, the most reasonable solution for the prevention of the disease,\u201d he added.
\nSome Catholics, including some conservative US bishops and cardinals, have claimed vaccines based on research that used cells derived from aborted fetuses were immoral, and have refused to get the jabs.
\nThe Vatican\u2019s doctrine office, however, has said it is \u201cmorally acceptable\u201d for Catholics to receive COVID-19 vaccines based on research that used cells derived from aborted fetuses. Francis and Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI have been fully vaccinated with Pfizer-BioNTech shots.
\nFrancis repeated his call for universal access to the shots, particularly in the parts of the world with low vaccination rates, and called for revisions to patent rules so that poorer countries can develop their own vaccines.
\n\u201cIt is appropriate that institutions such as the World Trade Organization and the World Intellectual Property Organization adapt their legal instruments lest monopoliztic rules constitute further obstacles to production and to an organized and consistent access to health care on a global level,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ROME Pope Francis suggested Monday that getting vaccinated against the coronavirus was a \u201cmoral obligation\u201d and denounced how people had been swayed by \u201cbaseless information\u201d to refuse one of the most effective measures to save lives. Francis used some of his strongest words yet calling for people to get vaccinated in a speech to ambassadors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-238041","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n