The Vatican issued a decree saying that employees who do not receive the COVID-19 vaccine will lose their jobs before withdrawing the statement amid widespread criticism.
The February 8 edict of Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, the governor of the Vatican, said that workers who refused to be vaccinated without sufficient reason would be subject to a 2011 law requiring “varying degrees of consequences that could lead to dismissal.”
Thousands of workers commute to the small city-state of Italy, and many Italians have taken to social media to break the order, calling it ruthless and contrary to the teachings of Pope Francis.
On Thursday night, Bertello said “alternative solutions” will be found for government employees who refuse to receive the vaccine.
Some abortion advocates have ethical objections to coronavirus vaccines that were created using stem cells.
In December, Vatican officials approved COVID-19 vaccinations in a statement that read: “It is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production.”
Pope Francis received his first blow alongside former Pope Benedict in January, when the Vatican launched its COVID-19 vaccination program.
The fragile leader of the Catholic Church has asked journalists covering his trip to Iraq next month to receive the vaccine.
Only about 800 people live in the 108-acre country, which has had fewer than 30 cases of coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic; most of them among the Swiss Guard, who live in a communal barracks.
With Post threads