Holy See Representative says Pope Francis will visit Timor-Leste if a large part of the population is vaccinated against COVID-19
The Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Fidelis Manuel Leite Magalhães, welcomed the Chargé D’Affaires of the Apostolic Nunciature, Monsignor Marco Sprizzi, on October 14th, 2021, at the Government Palace.
During the meeting, the Holy See Representative congratulated the Government for its commitment to the vaccination campaign that is taking place in all municipalities of the country and which has allowed increasing the national percentage of vaccination against COVID-19.
Monsignor Marco Sprizzi stated that “the Church, the Holy See, the Vatican, Priests, Nuns, Bishops, are also committed so that the people, the faithful, may understand that vaccination is an act of love, an act of responsibility, an act of collaboration between us all, to achieve health security conditions for all”.
The Vatican Chargé D’Affaires called on the entire population to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and argued that the vaccine is safe, “because if it were dangerous, the Pope himself, who is 84 years old, would not have been vaccinated”.
Monsignor Marco Sprizzi mentioned that Pope Francis intends to visit Timor-Leste next year. However, this visit should only take place if a large part of the population is vaccinated. Otherwise, and given that the Papal visit always gathers a large number of faithful, causing large crowds, this visit could endanger the population.
So far, throughout the country, about 490,000 people have already received the first dose of the vaccine and about 310,00 have completed the vaccination.
