Boston cardinal: Getting COVID vaccine 'morally correct thing to do'
- Jan 20, 2021
African bishops have responded to Pope Francis’s new encyclical on human fraternity insisting that “brotherhood” is the remedy to the global challenges posed by the COVID-19 coronavirus and calling for the document’s rapid implementation.
One year after a high-stakes meeting for their Golden Jubilee, Africa’s continental body of bishops has had to adjust their bold new vision for evangelization due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has offered both challenges and unexpected opportunities.
Cardinal Philippe Ouedraogo, president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, has urged courage in Africa, as cases of COVID-19 increase amid adoption of containment measures and prayers to defeat the pandemic.
Cardinal Philippe Ouédraogo, who is now recovered after contracting the coronavirus, has issued a statement insisting that the pandemic is not a punishment from God, and appealing for debt forgiveness to help cushion Africa from the economic devastation of the pandemic.
Archbishop John Bonaventure Kwofie assured Burkina Faso Cardinal Philippe Ouedraogo of the continent’s solidarity after the cardinal tested positive for COVID-19.
The Pan African Congress in Nigeria concluded with a call for theological and pastoral liberation.