Rome, 13 April, 2020 / 11:00 am (ACI Africa).
In his Easter message, the president of Caritas Internationalis called on governments to ensure access to healthcare and social protections for all amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, said it was time for world leaders to “rise to the challenge” to promote unity and shared responsibility.
“The pandemic is making the suffering of vulnerable people -- migrants and refugees, the elderly, the sick, the poor and unemployed -- even deeper. We urge our governments to ensure access to healthcare and social protection for everyone – particularly the most vulnerable,” Tagle wrote in an Easter message published on the Caritas Internationalis website.
“Can our governments admit that many of them got it wrong when they didn’t allow everyone to belong to the human family in a dignified way? Can our societies put aside economic concerns and show that they care for everyone without exception?” the cardinal asked.
Tagle said he saw signs of hope in changes that had occurred as a result of the pandemic, temporarily resolving certain global problems that previously had seemed insoluble.