Rome Newsroom, Feb 23, 2021 / 07:05 am
Catholic leaders in Europe have urged the European Union to be guided by solidarity, fraternity, and social justice as it distributes and administers the COVID-19 vaccine.
In a joint statement Feb. 23, Caritas Europa and the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the EU (COMECE) said that "commitment to solidarity must be the decisive criterion in this historic moment."
"It is urgent to implement mass vaccination campaigns quickly," they said. "We urge the European Union to promote wide-scale vaccination not only for Europe's own safety and protection, but also for global public health as a public good, benefiting people living in poorer nations as much as they benefit people living in countries with the resources to create and produce the vaccines."
The statement urged EU leaders to quickly define in detail the vaccine strategy.