Pope Francis calls corona vaccine “a light in the dark”

“The corona vaccine is a light in the dark if it benefits everyone,” Pope Francis said in his traditional Urbi et Orbi speech on Christmas Day.

“Market laws and patents must not stand in the way of the law of love and the health of mankind,” the pope said in the speech held at the almost deserted St. Peter’s Basilica but followed by millions of Catholics around the world.

A few believers also found their way to St. Peter’s Square, where they followed the pope’s speech via their mobile phones.

“We can not let strong nationalism prevent us from living as the family we are and let the virus of individualism make us indifferent to the suffering of others,” the pope said.

In Latin, Urbi et Orbi means “to the City and to the World.” 

A message to the world

The head of the Catholic Church highlighted the difficulties that millions of unemployed people now face, many of them thrown into unemployment due to the corona pandemic.

Women who are abused in the home, where they have been imprisoned as a result of the pandemic since last spring, were also given special attention by Pope Francis.

In the speech, he also called for compassion for the many victims of wars, conflicts, disasters, and accidents in the world and highlighted countries such as Yemen, Syria, Ukraine, and Venezuela.

Pope Francis, who was born in Argentina, also expressed hope “for the American continent, which has been hit extra hard by the coronavirus, which has so greatly increased people’s suffering, often exacerbated by corruption and drug trafficking.”

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today