Vatican

Racism is ‘spiritual’ virus that must be wiped out

By Catholic News Service
Wednesday, June 3, 2020

VATICAN CITY — Much like the coronavirus pandemic, racism is a “spiritual” virus that has spread throughout the world and must be eradicated, said Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

“I would compare (racism) to COVID-19, but it is a virus of the spirit, a cultural virus that, if not isolated, spreads quickly,” Archbishop Paglia told Catholic News Service June 1.

The Italian archbishop commented on the May 25 death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis and the subsequent protests throughout the United States.

He told CNS that just as people were called to self-isolate in order to care for one another, racism can only be defeated by people caring for each other.

“Today we must start a revolution of brotherhood. We are all brothers and sisters. Brotherhood is a promise that is lacking in modern times,” he said. “In my opinion, the true strength that supports us in our weakness is brotherhood and solidarity. And just as it defeats the coronavirus, it also defeats racism.”

The fight against racism, he added, is done “not with violence but in the style of Martin Luther King Jr.: with words, with culture, with faith, with humanism. It is fought the same way we fight against the coronavirus.”

 

 

 

Topics:

  • racism

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