Saying he will be vaccinated himself next week, Francis described the refusal to get the vaccine as suicidal.
Pope Francis said he would be vaccinated against the coronavirus as early as next week, calling it a lifesaving, ethical obligation and the refusal to do so suicidal, according to remarks made to an Italian television news program. He also said the storming of the United States Capitol astonished him and should be condemned. In an interview with the newscast TG5 that is expected to air Sunday evening, Francis called on everyone to get the vaccine. A transcript of the pope’s vaccination remarks, which were not immediately confirmed by the Vatican, was provided by Fabio Luca Marchese Ragona, the TG5 Vatican reporter who conducted the interview. “It’s an ethical choice, because you are playing with health, life, but you are also playing with the lives of others,” Francis told the station. “I’ve signed up. One must do it.” According to the transcript, the pope added, “I don’t understand why some say, ‘No, vaccines are dangerous.’ If it is presented by doctors as a thing that can go well, that has no special dangers, why not take it? There is a suicidal denial that I wouldn’t know how to explain.
