Pope Francis is urging people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, calling the decision an “act of love.”
The pope — appearing alongside several other Catholic bishops serving in North, Central, and South America — insisted in a video message released Wednesday by the Ad Council the shots can end the suffering brought on the coronavirus pandemic.
“Thanks to God and to the work of many, we now have vaccines to protect us from COVID-19,” Francis said. “They grant us the hope of ending the pandemic, but only if they are available to all and if we work together.”
“Getting the vaccines that are authorized by the respective authorities is an act of love,” the pontiff said. “And helping the majority of people to do so is an act of love. Love for oneself, love for our families and friends, and love for all peoples.”
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Archbishop Jose Gomez, head of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, also appeared in the advertisement. He beckoned God’s grace to help ensure that “vaccines are available for all so that we can all get immunized.”
The message comes at a time when U.S. leaders are urging more individuals to get vaccinated as new COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations increase in much of the country amid the spread of the more contagious delta variant. Booster shots for immunocompromised people are also on the horizon, with the Biden administration expected to approve additional shots as soon as next week.
It also serves as a follow-up to an announcement the Vatican made back in December declaring it “morally acceptable” for the church’s faithful to receive COVID-19 vaccines, despite the involvement of cell lines from aborted fetuses in research and development processes.
“It is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have been used in their research and production process,” the church’s Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith wrote. “All vaccinations recognized as clinically safe and effective can be used in good conscience with the certain knowledge that the use of such vaccines does not constitute formal cooperation with the abortion from which the cells used in production of the vaccines derive.”
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Federal data show that 50.9% of the total U.S. population is fully vaccinated as of Wednesday, with 59.9% having received at least one vaccine dose.
