The Pope Urges Vaccination

Nico Bers

// Plea May Explain High Catholic Vaccination Rate //

85-year-old Pope Francis made his position on COVID-19 vaccination clear on January 10th: get the shot. Though this is the first direct papal call for urgency regarding vaccination, Pope Francis has subtly expressed his opinion on inoculation throughout the pandemic. The Pope even went so far as to call getting vaccinated a “moral obligation.” The vaccination rate of American Catholics, meanwhile, is reported to be over 82%, likely caused by Catholic leaders pushing for vaccination. Therefore, in order to increase the vaccination rates of other religious groups, religious leaders should follow the example the Pope has set in publicly promoting inoculation.

The Pope’s leadership regarding vaccination and adherence to COVID protocols demonstrates the good that can come from religious leaders who use their positions to spread information that followers may not otherwise believe in. In a time when just 56% of Americans say they have trust in political leaders, the dissemination of information to citizens needs to come from a different source: the Pope and other religious leaders. The Pew Research Center has recently found that the pandemic has strengthened the faith of almost one-quarter of Americans while only weakening that of 2% of the population, hinting at a shift towards greater reliance on religious institutions for guidance. Furthermore, since they are, for the most part, separate from partisan politics, they are able to reach a wider audience. In this way, the Pope is serving as an example and model for effectively encouraging the public to immunize.

Other religious groups, such as Protestants, are only 66% vaccinated, which may in part result from their right-leaning tendencies. However, Catholics are also fairly conservative, suggesting that politics is not the deciding factor when it comes to vaccination. This is where the Pope and the Catholic Church come into play: since the Catholic Church is solely led by one person, the Pope can directly influence Catholics more effectively than a decentralized Protestant structure. Although data for other religions, such as Muslim and Jewish vaccination rates, are more difficult to find, the decentralization of those religions suggests that the same trend may occur. Although this decentralization could prove a challenge to disseminating vaccine information, if enough leaders are willing to contribute, then vaccination rates will likely rise.

The Pope’s call to inoculate is just what is needed to inspire other influential religious leaders to encourage their own followers to get vaccinated. This is critical to stymie vaccine misinformation and boost inoculation rates.

Religion and Vaccination Statistics from Pew Research Center