A pilgrim from Russia wears a mask and uses hand sanitizer in front of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican March 6, 2020. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.
Vatican City, Dec 15, 2020 / 05:00 am (CNA).- Vatican City will begin to offer coronavirus vaccinations in January, according to the Vatican director of health and hygiene.
“We believe it is very important that even in our small community a vaccination campaign against the virus responsible for COVID-19 is started as soon as possible,” Dr. Andrea Arcangeli, head of the Vatican health service, told Vatican News.
“In fact, only through widespread and widespread immunization of the population can real benefits in terms of public health be obtained to gain control of the pandemic.”
The Pfizer vaccine is expected to be made available to Vatican City residents, employees and their family members over the age of 18 in the first months of 2021.
Arcangeli said that the Pfizer vaccine was chosen because it is the only vaccine currently in the process of obtaining approval by the European and American health authorities. He added that later other vaccines produced by different methods may be introduced after evaluating their effectiveness and safety.
“It is understandable that there may be fears for a vaccine that has been developed in such a short time, but very rigorous safety tests have been carried out and there are assurances given by the world health authorities that before granting marketing authorization they conduct very rigorous studies,” he said.
Vatican City State, the world’s smallest independent nation-state, has a population of only around 800 people, but together with the Holy See, the sovereign entity that predates it, it employed 4,618 people in 2019.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, a total of 27 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Vatican City State. Among them, at least 11 members of the Swiss Guard tested positive for the coronavirus.
In October a person living at the pope’s residence in Vatican City, Casa Santa Marta, tested positive and was placed in isolation.
Italy has recorded the most coronavirus deaths in Europe, with 65,011 COVID-19 deaths recorded by the Italian Ministry of Health as of Dec. 14.
Nearly 29,000 people have died of coronavirus in Italy since Sept. 1.
The average age of Italy’s victims is around 80, according to AP, which noted that 65% of Italy’s coronavirus dead had three or more other health problems before testing positive.
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At his first general audience in St. Peter’s Square on May 21, 2025, Pope Leo XIV appeals for peace and the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, where, he said, children and elderly are suffering. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Vatican City, May 21, 2025 / 08:05 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV in the first general audience of his pontificate on Wednesday appealed for an end to hostilities in Gaza and for the entrance of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
Speaking before tens of thousands of attendees on an overcast day in St. Peter’s Square, the new pope ended his remarks by calling the situation in the Gaza Strip “increasingly worrying and painful.”
“I renew my heartfelt appeal to allow the entry of decent humanitarian aid and to end the hostilities whose heartbreaking price is paid by children, the elderly, and the sick,” he added.
The pope’s appeal comes as the numbers of dead and injured in the Gaza Strip continue to rise under Israel’s attacks. According to reports, while some humanitarian aid has been allowed to enter Gaza, it has not yet been released for distribution.
One month to the day since Francis’ death, Pope Leo also recalled with gratitude the “beloved Pope Francis, who just a month ago returned to the house of the Father.”
Leo closely followed his written remarks, only adding the comment on Gaza, during the May 21 public audience, which he began by taking a turn around the square in the popemobile to cheers, banners, and waving flags. Some people stood on their chairs to try to catch a glimpse of the new pope, who paused often to bless babies of all ages held out to him in outstretched arms.
Pope Leo XIV pauses to bless a baby during his trip around St. Peter’s Square in the popemobile before the start of his first general audience on May 21, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media
The inaugural catechesis of the first U.S.-born pope picked up the theme begun by Francis for the 2025 Jubilee Year: “Jesus Christ our hope.”
Reflecting on the Parable of the Sower, Leo noted the unusual behavior of the sower in the story, who “does not care where the seed falls. He throws the seeds even where it is unlikely they will bear fruit: on the path, on the rocks, among the thorns.”
“The way in which this ‘wasteful’ sower throws the seed is an image of the way God loves us,” he said, echoing a part of his first message from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica after his election on May 8, that God “loves us all unconditionally.”
“First and foremost in this parable Jesus tells us that God throws the seed of his Word on all kinds of soil, that is, in any situation of ours,” Leo underlined.
He continued: “God is confident and hopes that sooner or later the seed will blossom. This is how he loves us: he does not wait for us to become the best soil, but he always generously gives us his word. Perhaps by seeing that he trusts us, the desire to be better soil will be kindled in us. This is hope, founded on the rock of God’s generosity and mercy.”
The theme of personal transformation was also repeated later in the catechesis, when Leo said, “Jesus is the Word, he is the Seed. And the seed, to bear fruit, must die. Thus, this parable tells us that God is ready to ‘waste away’ for us and that Jesus is willing to die in order to transform our life.”
Chuma Asuzu, who is Nigerian-born and living in Canada, is happy to have attended Pope Leo XIV’s general audience on May 21, 2025 with his wife and children. Credit: Kristina Millare/CNA
Husband and father Chuma Asuzu from Canada came to the square early in the morning with his family to attend the pope’s first general audience.
“It was good and I think it was interesting how he explained the seeds and how it’s the word of God,” Asuzu shared with CNA. “I really appreciate it.”
“He made the point to drive around a lot because it was his first audience and he looked emotional at the beginning,” he added.
Instead of taking an example from literature or philosophy, as Pope Francis often did, Pope Leo used Vincent Van Gogh’s painting, “The Sower at Sunset,” to prompt a meditation on hope.
Vincent Van Gogh’s “The Sower at Sunset”. Public Domain.
“That image of the sower in the blazing sun also speaks to me of the farmer’s toil,” he said. “And it strikes me that, behind the sower, Van Gogh depicted the grain already ripe. It seems to me an image of hope: one way or another, the seed has borne fruit. We are not sure how, but it has.”
“At the center of the scene, however, is not the sower, who stands to the side; instead, the whole painting is dominated by the image of the sun, perhaps to remind us that it is God who moves history, even if he sometimes seems absent or distant,” the pope noted. “It is the sun that warms the clods of earth and makes the seed ripen.”
The pontiff’s final thought was to remind those present to ask the Lord for the grace to welcome the seed of his Word: “And if we realize we are not a fruitful soil, let us not be discouraged, but let us ask him to work on us more to make us become a better terrain.”
Leo closed the audience in the customary way, singing the “Our Father” prayer in Latin and then giving his apostolic blessing.
Among the pilgrims present on Wednesday was Father Rolmart Verano, who is leading a group of jubilee pilgrims from the Diocese of Surigao, Philippines.
“I never thought that one day I will come here [to Rome],” he told CNA. “It is one of my wildest dreams that came true!”
Father Rolmart Verano, from the Diocese of Surigao, Philippines, tells CNA at the general audience on May 21, 2025, that it was a dream come true for him to travel to Rome and see the pope. Credit: Kristina Millare/CNA
“The striking point of Pope Leo XIV’s general audience is when he said that the Word of God should take root in each one of our hearts,” he said. “It should serve as a guide for our daily lives no matter that it be ordinary or difficult circumstances.”
As one of 40 members of a pilgrim group from the Diocese of Mumbai, India, Sandesh Almeida said he was immediately impressed by the kindness shown by the new pontiff at the audience.
“Peace is a good message from him,” he said. “Now with India and Pakistan … we should go for peace and the pope is mostly focusing on peace.”
New Delhi, India, Feb 21, 2018 / 12:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Compared to 2016, attacks against Christians in India by Hindu extremists more than doubled in 2017 amid efforts to label the religious minority a danger to the state.
The persecution ranges from threats and physical violence to destruction of church property, but false allegations against Christians have also increased.
“It is a new trend to accuse Christians of serious crimes,” said Shibu Thomas, founder of the ecumenical forum Persecution Relief.
The allegations are “a clear indicat[ion] that those opposed to Christians want to portray them as serious threats to the nation’s safety and security,” he told UCA News.
According to a report from Persecution Relief, last year 736 incidents of attacks occurred throughout India compared to the 348 that happened in 2016. Most of these are “daring physical attacks,” the report said, but the victims of these attacks were also accused of sedition, discrimination, and destruction of religious property.
“When victims reach for police help, they find themselves accused of violations. … This is a dangerous sign. Unfortunately, the police are in league with fanatics and elects members support their actions,” Thomas said.
Attacks against Christians have increased since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party won the general election in 2014, naming Narendra Modi as prime minister.
The party has now the largest representation in the country’s parliament. A majority of the attacks stem from four of India’s 29 states – Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Chhattisgarh – three of which are governed by the BJP.
“Christians are not safe anymore in India under the current situation,” said Anil Andrias, who leads a protestant congregation in Uttar Pradesh.
Andrias told UCA News that the persecution against Christians could be physical attacks and false allegations, but he also said Christians have been denied government services, such as collecting public water or using public roads.
Christians make up 2.3 percent of India’s population, with 80 percent identifying as Hindu.
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