Pope Francis during his Easter sermon today urged Catholics to keep hope alive described the covid-19 vaccine as an “essential tool” in ending the pandemic urging the authorities to consider the poor countries. Being the holiest holiday for the 1.3billion Catholics from across the globe as the coronavirus threatened the world, the pope dwells his massage on the vulnerable, the sick, the migrant, people with economic hardship, and those ravaged by war like Syria, Yemen, and Libya. Pope said, “The pandemic is still spreading, while the social and economic crisis remains severe, especially for the poor,” the 84-year-old Argentine said, speaking to a congregation of only around 100 people inside the vast St. Peter’s Basilica.
“Vaccines are an essential tool in this fight,” he said, calling on the international community to overcome delays in distributing vaccines “especially in the poorest countries”.
The cleric in September had addressed the public during the United Nations (UN) briefing, dwelling more on the predicament of the vulnerable groups since he became pope in 2013 and warning rich nations against hoarding of the vaccine.
He described it as “scandalous” that arm conflict has refused to stop despite the perceived effort to end it.
The cleric called on the giants sponsoring war in Syria to consider the vulnerable they are inflicting pains on their lives and Yemen whom their plight was greeted with defining ears.
He applauded the Myanmar youths for being resilient in support of democracy; he called for dialogue between Palestine and Israel where he also called for an end of violence in Africa especially Nigeria, the Sahel, the Tigre, and Delgado in Mozambique.
The Pope revealed that as April marks the awareness day against landmines, he said “There are still too many wars and too much violence in the world,”
The pope’s Easter slogan “Urbi et Orbi” (“To the city and the world”) message in the Vatican came as 60 million Italians spent the holiday under lockdown due to the pandemic.
Italy has been declared a “high-risk zone” from Saturday through Monday, where movement and public gatherings were restricted.
Though there are some challenges, however, the vaccination is ongoing in the country as the infection rate soured by March ending as health facilities have been overstretched.
According to the Coronavirus commissioner of Italy, the country plan to vaccinate 300,000 persons per day for two weeks in the three regions.
The regions which include Venice, are planning to loosen up the protocol of the pandemics from Tuesday passing from being the red zone to an orange zone.