WHO leader supports Pope’s call for fair access to vaccine
The head of the World Health Organization, which has been strongly advocating rapid, fair, and equitable access to potential Covid-19 vaccines worldwide, has voiced support for Pope Francis’ similar call for global protections.
The Pope made appeals both on Twitter and at his weekly general audience insisting that any vaccine developed for the novel coronavirus help everyone, not just the wealthiest or one nation over another.
“The response to the pandemic is therefore dual. On the one hand, it is essential to find a cure for this small but terrible virus, which has brought the whole world to its knees. On the other, we must also cure a larger virus, that of social injustice, inequality of opportunity, marginalisation, and the lack of protection for the weakest,” the Pope said on Twitter.
“I couldn’t agree more with Your Holiness,” the WHO’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, replied as he retweeted the papal tweet on his account.
Peruvian bishops announce programme to improve Covid-19 response
Peru’s Catholic bishops have stepped up their response to the Covid-19 emergency, announcing a new pastoral program and moving ahead with projects to improve the country’s health response.
The bishops presented an open letter to the country that coincided with the rollout of the sweeping pastoral program, ‘Arise Peru Now’, designed to coordinate actions as the coronavirus continues to spread in the country.
The letter, which plays on the Spanish word for resurrection, highlighted the important efforts that have been made to reduce suffering from the pandemic. Peru is now sixth in the world for Covid-19 cases, with more than 588,000 as of August 20. The virus has already claimed nearly 27,000 lives.
Catholic Church in Belgium sees rise in adult baptisms
The Catholic Church in Belgium has reported a significant rise in adult baptisms.
CathoBel, the website of the Catholic Church in Belgium, reported that 305 adults will be baptised this year, an increase of 61 compared to 2019.
The number of adult baptisms has grown steadily from 143 in 2010, to 180 in 2015, to more than 300 in 2020.
Although the majority of Belgium’s 11.5 million population are baptised Catholics, Sunday Mass attendance is below 7%.
The largest number of adult baptisms will take place this year in the Diocese of Tournai, a primarily French-speaking area in western Belgium. The diocese will baptise 127 adults, compared to 93 in the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels.
JPII rose added to White House Rose Garden
A rose named for the late Pope St John Paul II has been included in a renovation of the White House Rose Garden. The Pope John Paul II rose [pictured], a white tea rose cultivar, is included in a redesign of the Rose Garden overseen by First Lady Melania Trump, which was unveiled August 22.
The Rose Garden, a space of about 1,700 square feet, sits outside the Oval Office.
The Pope St John Paul II rose was bred by American horticulturist Keith Zary in 2006. It has since been planted in the Vatican Gardens. The rose, which produces large white blossoms, is said to be among the most fragrant of rose cultivars.