The Pope might be the literal face of all that is good and holy for Catholics around the world, but even he doesn’t have time for people’s anti-vaxxing bullsh*t in the middle of a pandemic that has killed more than 4.5 million people around the world, and counting.
As AP reports, the Pope doesn’t seem to quite be able to wrap his head around the number of people who are risking their lives—not to mention the lives of those around them—by opting out of one of the many COVID vaccines available. “Humanity has a history of friendship with vaccines,” the supreme pontiff said while traveling aboard the papal plane, a.k.a. the Flying Popemobile, on Wednesday.
Though he didn’t name names, His Holiness noted that even within the higher-ups of the Catholic Church, there are some non-believers—who could easily turn into non-breathers. “Even in the College of Cardinals, there are some negationists,” he said, explaining how one “poor guy” who refused to get vaccinated ended up testing positive for COVID and being hospitalized. (“That was an apparent reference to U.S. Cardinal Raymond Burke,” AP wrote, “who was hospitalized in the U.S. and placed on a ventilator last month after contracting the virus.”)
Pope Francis says vaccine deniers are creating division within the College of Cardinals and that one of them has been hospitalized with COVID.
"The ironies of life," he says. pic.twitter.com/a8ZCB8Ie2R
— The Recount (@therecount) September 15, 2021
What the Pope (and the rest of us) find most confusing is how and/or why so many people—especially parents with kids—have been happily vaccinated against measles, mumps, and polio, “and no one said anything.”
Of course, thanks in large part to conspiracy theorists/sh*t disturbers like followers of the 45th President of the United States and conservative media personalities, many people seem to view the COVID pandemic as less of a public health crisis and more of a political minefield. Not only did the Pope confirm that it was “morally acceptable” to receive the vaccine, but noted that not getting it was tantamount to “suicide.”
For those who are afraid of what might be in the vaccine, the Pope suggests it’s time to “talk with serenity.” And if Serenity isn’t picking up or your calls are going straight to voicemail, try Logic.
(Via AP)