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It appears the Vatican is mandating a “vaccine passport” of sorts to visitors, employees, and citizens of the city-state.
Lovely. Just lovely.
Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, announced a new ordinance on Saturday that will require proof of vaccination, certification of recovery from SARS-CoV-2, or a negative PCR or antigen test of everyone visiting Vatican City “regardless of their title.” The new mandate will take effect on October 1.
Fortunately, it appears that there is an exception for those who are going to worship.
One notable exception applies for people wishing to attend Masses and other liturgical services, as long as their stay doesn’t extend beyond the duration of the service, and that all other COVID guidelines are respected as explained in the document:
An exception is made for those wishing to participate in liturgical celebrations, only for the time strictly necessary to carry out the service and without prejudice to the current health regulations on social distancing, the use of personal protective equipment, circulation or gathering restrictions, and on the adoption of specific hygiene rules.
In his ordinance, Bertello recalls that during an audience on September 7, Pope Francis stated that “it is necessary to ensure the health and well-being of the working community while respecting the dignity, rights and fundamental freedoms of all its members,” asking the governorate to “issue this ordinance in order to adopt all appropriate measures to prevent, control, and combat the current public health crisis in progress in the Vatican City State …”
Source: LifeSite News
JUST IN: As of Oct 1, 2021, entry into the Vatican is permitted exclusively to persons holding the “Vatican Green Pass”, “European Green Pass, or foreign green #Covid_19 certification proving vaccination, recovery, or negative rapid molecular or antigenic test. via @HolySeePress pic.twitter.com/bYgcy1SaIg
— Diane Montagna (@dianemontagna) September 20, 2021
What would Jesus think of this, do you think?
Pope Francis just closed the doors to the Vatican for those who without the vaccine passport.
I remember in the Bible when Jesus turned away the people who didn’t have a leprosy vaccine…
Oh wait.
— Amy Tarkanian (@MrsT106) September 20, 2021
For a very long time — since somewhere around Day 17 of “15 Days to Slow the Spread” — I’ve been very concerned about the way that churches, in particular, have handled the ‘Rona. Although I was annoyed with the initial response in my area as we hadn’t really been hit with the Wuhan Virus, I had understood the concern for public health. As time went on, however, it was clear that this wasn’t that.
Where I live, — a city of about a million people — in March of 2020, there were literally 2 known cases when we shut down everything for two weeks, and we didn’t hit triple-digits in case counts until the fall. Nevertheless, churches were shut and forced to hold services virtually if they had that capability. Most leaders just went along with that.
Churches here are still not permitted to hold services at capacity, and there is no plan to move in that direction from our political leaders.
They simply don’t care.
But it seems, neither do many of our church leaders. There hasn’t been much of a peep out of them because they feel the coronavirus restrictions are consistent with the command to “love thy neighbor.”
My own view is a little different. I am truly concerned that acquiescing to government diktats on how and when to worship without any acknowledgment of the infringement that this is on religious liberties is unintentionally sending the message that the temporal is more valuable than the eternal. This focus on what happens in this life rather than on the life to come is completely antithetical to sound Christian doctrine.
Isn’t that what the Vatican is hinting at with the Vatican Green Pass?
Now, that’s not to say that God didn’t care about the life that we live on Earth — after all, the sick were brought to Jesus, right? But as things stand in many places, we’re keeping healthy people away from gathering with other believers — the Body of Christ — because people are absolutely terrified of a virus with a survival rate of 99.9%.
Has the Wuhan Virus killed millions of people around the globe? Yes, it has. And that is truly tragic. But that’s not the only thing that people have died from between November 2019 and now. People need to stop behaving like that’s the case. We’ve seen a spike in suicides and exacerbated health conditions that didn’t get treatment as a result of lockdowns. Those deaths are directly attributable to the response to the virus.
Perhaps if churches had kept their doors open, we would be able to have some tough public conversations about mortality that the many atheists and agnostics in the Corporate Media, and those who idolize their ideology, the government, or the environment haven’t grappled with and don’t want to acknowledge — one day, we’re all going to die.
There are probably some other tough things we should talk about, too. Like…
Age is a significant factor in serious illness and death with regard to SARS-CoV-2 — so is obesity.
Healthy people can also get seriously ill with the Wuhan Virus and may even die — statistics are just statistics and there are exceptions.
Some people experience serious side effects from the vaccines.
There are no guarantees in this life.
The government cannot actually protect you from an airborne respiratory virus.
The vaccines are waning in efficacy.
Continued boosters aren’t the answer.
Natural immunity is real. (Though we’re not sure for how long.)
These mandates are an imposition on civil liberties and are further dividing our already divided nation.
And most importantly…
Jesus loves you. He died on the cross for your sins. And He wants you to come to Him just as you are. He doesn’t even care about your vaccination status.
Someone should remind the Vatican of that last one.
