Pope Francis said he would be vaccinated against the coronavirus as early as this coming 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 US Capitol astonished him and should be condemned.
In an interview for the TG5 newscast 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 said in the interview.
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.”
Footage of some of the pope’s remarks was made public in a clip promoting the interview, including his reaction to the storming on Wednesday of the US Capitol by a mob supporting President Donald Trump.
“I was astonished,” Francis said, “because it is a people so disciplined in democracy, no?” But even in a mature society, he added, there is always “something that isn’t right, something with people who take a path against the community, against democracy, against the common good.”
“This should be condemned, this movement, regardless of the people,” the pope said, clarifying that he meant the violence. “Violence is always like this, no?”
He said that all societies have been afflicted by violence over time and that people should learn from history so the seeds of discontent are understood. “We must understand it well, not to repeat it. To learn from history,” Francis said. “These noncompliant groups not well integrated in society will sooner or later” turn to violence.
