WelCom September 2020
Speaking in a recent private General Audience, Pope Francis decried the possibility that the use of the pandemic vaccine might worsen existing injustices against the poor and vulnerable.
‘How sad it would be if, for example, access to a Covid-19 vaccine were made available only to the rich, and not to others in equal or greater need!’
Addressing English speakers on the current global pandemic, he reflected: ‘we have seen that it has made us sensitive to an even graver virus affecting our world: that of social injustice, lack of equal opportunity and the marginalisation of the poor and those in greatest need. Christ’s example and teaching show us that a preferential option for the poor is an essential criterion of our authenticity as his followers.’
Christian charity, the Argentine Pontiff highlighted, demands that, beyond social assistance, we listen to their voices and work to overcome all that hinders their material and spiritual development.