Vaccination in fore of Pope’s annual address to diplomatic corps

January 10, 2022

In his annual address to the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, Pope Francis gave top billing to Covid vaccination, saying that vaccines are “the most reasonable solution for the prevention of the disease.

“It is therefore important to continue the effort to immunize the general population as much as possible,” the Pope said in his January 10 address. He called for international cooperation to ensure that all of the world’s people have equal access to the vaccines. He lamented “ideological” opposition to the worldwide vaccination campaign, saying that resistance is based upon inaccurate information.

The annual papal address to the Vatican diplomatic corps is traditionally seen as a “State of the World” address, and has regularly been used as an opportunity to review the world’s trouble spots and present the Vatican’s diplomatic agenda. In this talk, Pope Francis led with comments on the Covid epidemic, then reviewed his own travels in the past year, and spoke about migration and the effectiveness of international organizations, before turning to current armed conflicts.

The Pontiff mentioned the July 1 day of prayer for Lebanon that he had organized, and his trips to Iraq, Hungary, Slovakia, Cyprus, and Greece.

In mentioning his visit to Greece, Pope Francis focused on the island of Lesbos, where he met with migrants. He spoke of the “need to overcome indifference and to reject the idea that migrants are a problem for others.” He said it is “essential” that the European Union reach a consensus on the handling of migrants.

As he pleaded for international cooperation, the Pope said that “multilateral diplomacy has been experiencing a crisis of trust,” and remarked on the “diminished effectiveness of many international organizations.” He attributed the problem in part to nationalism.

However the Pope also charged that some international organizations are harming their own standing, because their “agendas are increasingly dictated by a mindset that rejects the natural foundations of humanity and the cultural roots that constitute the identity of many peoples.” He decried this “ideological colonization,” and said that it amounts to a “cancel culture”—using the English phrase, in an address delivered in Italian.

Later in his talk the Pontiff said that the world is experiencing “a growing collective awareness of the urgent need to care for our common home.” He argued that climate change has aggravated the damage done by natural disasters, citing the recent typhoon in the Philippines.

Regarding armed conflicts, the Pope observed with dismay that fighting continues in what he described as “proxy wars” in many places. He mentioned Syria, Yemen, the Holy Land, Libya, South Sudan, and Ethiopia. In all these places, he charged, the violence is worse because arms dealers profit from continued fighting. He condemned the international arms trade, and called for new initiatives to promote disarmament.

Pope Francis concluded his address by reminding the assembled diplomats of his own message for the World Day of Peace, in which he had spoken of education as the best means of safeguarding a peaceful future.

 

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Further information:

• Audience with the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See for the presentation of wishes for the new year (Vatican press office)
• Pope decries politicization of COVID pandemic, vaccines (Crux)
• Pope Francis laments ‘cancel culture’ in annual address to diplomats (CNA)
• Pope calls for ‘reality check’ against misinformation about vaccines (CNS)
• On COVID vaccinations, Pope says health care is a 'moral obligation' (NPR)
• Pope backs COVID immunisation campaigns, warns of ideological misinformation (Reuters)