Pope Francis Condemns Nationalism, Calls For 'Global Unity', Internationalism Over Vaccines

In Christmas message curbed by COVID, pope calls on nations to share vaccines

Philip Pullella

Pope Francis in his Christmas message on Friday said political and business leaders must not allow market forces and patent laws to take priority over making Covid 19 vaccines available to all, condemning nationalism and “the virus of radical individualism”

In a sign of the times, Francis delivered his traditional “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) message virtually from a lectern inside the Vatican instead of from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica before tens of thousands.

The pandemic and its social and economic effects dominated the message, in which Francis called for global unity and help for nations suffering from conflicts and humanitarian crises.

“At this moment in history, marked by the ecological crisis and grave economic and social imbalances only worsened by the coronavirus pandemic, it is all the more important for us to acknowledge one another as brothers and sisters,” he said.

Stressing that health is an international issue, he appeared to criticise so-called ‘vaccine nationalism’, which U.N. officials fear will worsen the pandemic if poor nations receive the vaccine last.

“I beg everyone, heads of state, companies and international organisations to promote cooperation and not competition, to find a solution for everyone - vaccines for all - especially for the most vulnerable and needy in all areas of the planet,” he said.

“The most vulnerable and needy must be first,” he said, in the Vatican’s Hall of the Benedictions, with only about 50 Vatican staff wearing masks sitting along the long walls.

“We can’t put ourselves before others, putting market forces and patent laws before the laws of love and the health of humanity,” he said. “We cannot let closed nationalisms block us from living like the true human family that we are.”

Francis also appeared to criticise people who have refused to wear masks because it violates their freedom, an attitude that has become widespread in nations such as the United States.

“And neither can we allow the virus of radical individualism to triumph over us and make us indifferent to the suffering of other brothers and sisters,” he said.