As a last resort, the Vatican may sanction employees who refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine for non-medical reasons, according to a new Vatican decree.
Vatican
Vatican Laments ‘Massacre of Elderly’ Due to COVID
After the “massacre of the elderly” due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Vatican is calling for the world to re-think the way it cares for old people.
In ‘State of the World’ Speech, Pope Francis Talks COVID, Myanmar, 9/11
Pope Francis said Monday that the COVID-19 pandemic shows there are parts of the world that are “seriously ill,” not as a result of the virus but in its natural environment, its economic and political processes, and even more so in in its human relationships.
Naming Undersecretaries for Synod, Pope Francis Gives a Woman a Vote
Xaviere Missionary Sister Nathalie Becquart will not be the first woman undersecretary of a major Vatican office, but she will be the first woman with a right to vote at a meeting of the Synod of Bishops.
Cardinal Maradiaga, Close Papal Adviser, Hospitalized With COVID-19
Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, who leads the council of cardinals that advises Pope Francis on the reform of the Catholic Church’s central government, was hospitalized after presenting COVID-19 symptoms.
Biden’s Previous Encounters With Pope Francis May Offer Insight Into his Future Relationship With the Church
In line with papal tradition, Pope Francis relayed well wishes and messages of hope and prayer to President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20. Biden is the second Catholic president, following John F. Kennedy, who was elected as the United States’s 35th president in Nov. 1960.
Analysis: Mixed Messages on Biden Reveal Not Just Competing Camps, But Divided Hearts
Among the many traditions surrounding a presidential inauguration, Catholics seem to have created one of their own, especially when it’s a Democrat: Mixed messages from the Vatican and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Vatican Financial Is Reform Going in the Right Direction, Cardinal Pell Says
Australian Cardinal George Pell, formerly the Vatican’s top official on financial affairs, said he believes the pope’s recent reforms signal progress, and called for additional competent laypeople to be involved in the process.
Popes Francis, Benedict Receive Their First Doses of COVID-19 Vaccine
Both Pope Francis and retired Pope Benedict XVI have received the first dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 after the Vatican started vaccinating its employees and residents Jan. 13.
For Ash Wednesday, Vatican Asks Priests to ‘Sprinkle’ Ashes on Heads
The Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments asked priests to take special anti-COVID-19 precautions this year when distributing ashes on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17, including sprinkling ashes on the top of people’s heads rather than using them to make a cross on people’s foreheads.