Pope Francis called on Sunday for international scientific cooperation to discover a vaccine for the coronavirus and said any successful vaccine should be made available around the world.
Francis, who has been delivering his Sunday address from the papal library instead of St. Peter’s Square because of the lockdown in Italy, thanked all those around the world who were providing essential services.
He encouraged international cooperation to deal with the crisis and combat the virus, which has infected nearly 3.5 million people and killed more than 240,000 people worldwide.
“In fact, it is important to unite scientific capabilities, in a transparent and impartial way to find vaccines and treatments,” he said.
Francis said it was also important to “guarantee universal access to essential technologies that allow each infected person, in every part of the world, to receive the necessary medical treatment.”
On Sunday, the pope also backed a proposal by an inter-religious group known as the Higher Committee on Human Fraternity for an international day of prayer and fasting on May 14 to ask God to help humanity overcome the pandemic.
