Italy’s Catholic military chaplain has responded forcefully to a former Vatican ambassador’s call for the military to oppose mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations, noting that “conspiracy theories” of the nuncio are a source of confusion and misinformation.
Archbishop Santo Marcianò wrote a letter to Italian security forces personnel in response to the latest missive from Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a former Vatican ambassador to the United States who rebelled in 2018 after calling for Pope Francis to resign over abuse scandals. clergy sex.
Vigano’s letters against Francisco are increasingly outrageous, especially since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, which he has denied and described as a criminal pretext of the “globalist oligarchy” to enslave humanity. However, he has some followers and recently appeared, through a video, at a protest in Rome that called for civil disobedience against mandatory vaccination.
Marciano did not identify Vigano by name in his Monday letter to the military, but clearly referred to him by mentioning a “former apostolic nuncio, known for his conspiracy theories, who has recently been urging men and women in the security forces to carry out acts of disobedience”.
As a priest, he said he felt the need to address the military in the face of “extreme positions that are in dissonance with the directives of the health and public authorities, as well as in direct contrast to the indications of the Church.”
His goal, he pointed out, was “to reinforce their commitment and reassure their consciences, reaffirming the position of our Church in terms of vaccination against COVID-19, fully and resolutely aligned with the teachings and testimony of the Holy Father.”
Italy requires that health workers, teachers, security forces and the population over 50 years of age be vaccinated. It has maintained strict rules on the use of the mask both indoors and outdoors and is beginning to register a significant drop in infections after the latest wave driven by the new omicron variant.
According to studies, omicron is less likely to cause serious illness in infected people, but it spreads more easily than previous variants and is already dominant in many countries. In addition, it is easier for it to infect people who have already been vaccinated or who have previously overcome the coronavirus.
Marciano thanked the work of the Italian armed forces and recalled that both civilians and soldiers have a responsibility to protect their lives and those of others.
Marciano is one of the few prelates to have publicly responded to Vigano, a prominent Francis critic whose missives are often ignored by the Catholic hierarchy.