WISHES: In his traditional Christmas message, Pope Francis also asks for access to the vaccine for all
Pope Francis insisted this Friday in his traditional Christmas Day message on “the need for fraternity” across the continents in this period of the pandemic. “At this historic moment, marked by the ecological crisis, and by serious economic and social imbalances aggravated by the coronavirus pandemic, we need fraternity more than ever”, declared the sovereign pontiff.
He called for a concrete brotherhood, going beyond family, ethnicity, religion, language or culture. “And this is also true in the relations between peoples and nations”, insisted Pope Francis. This call for solidarity applies “especially to the most fragile people, the sick and all those who, during this period, found themselves without work or are in serious difficulty because of the economic consequences of the pandemic, as also towards women who, during these months of confinement, have suffered domestic violence ”.
A thought for the confined
The dream of fraternity in the face of social and economic inequalities, often opposed to “neoliberal dogma”, constitutes a flagship theme of nearly eight years of his pontificate. But he has become particularly present in his speeches since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, notably with the publication in October of a long plea in this direction, the encyclical “Fratelli tutti” (all brothers).
Finally, the Pope had a thought for the difficult reunion with the family, the opportunity for him to magnify the importance of it. “My thoughts are now with families: those who today cannot reunite, as well as those who are forced to stay at home,” he said at the end of his message.
“May Christmas be an opportunity for everyone to rediscover the family as the cradle of life and faith; a place of welcoming love, dialogue, forgiveness, fraternal solidarity and shared joy, source of peace for all humanity ”, he added before wishing“ Happy Christmas to all! “.
Pope Francis wants vaccines “accessible to all”
Referring to the vaccine discoveries that have arrived as “glimmers of hope” in “a period of darkness and uncertainty”, the Sovereign Pontiff insisted that these lights “must be accessible to all”. “We cannot allow closed nationalisms to prevent us from living as the true human family that we are,” Pope Francis said. “We also cannot let the virus of radical individualism overcome us and make us indifferent to the suffering of other brothers and sisters.”
For the Pope, “the laws of the market and invention patents” should not be the law in the face of “the health of humanity”. He, therefore, asks the leaders of States, companies and international organizations “to promote cooperation and not a competition, and to seek a solution for all: vaccines for all, in particular for the most vulnerable and the neediest in all. regions of the planet ”.
