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As the vaccination campaigns that began in March continue, numerous African bishops have spoken out in favor of anti-Covid vaccines
By Lucie Sarr | Benin
In some countries in Africa -- such as Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Senegal -- the Catholic bishops have been publicly involved in the fight against COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. Now they are speaking out in favor of vaccines.
In most countries across the vast African continent, vaccination campaigns were launched in early March. And the bishops are raising their voices in a context of mistrust towards vaccines.
Support for the vaccination campaign
The bishops of Ghana, Kenya and South Africa were the first Catholic prelates in Africa to come out in favor of vaccinations.
The Ghanaian bishops encouraged "priests, consecrated men and women and all Christ's faithful, and indeed every Ghanaian" to be vaccinated in early March.
"When one accepts the vaccine, one not only protects oneself from the disease, but also protects others by stopping transmission," they insisted in a March 3 statement.
They were confronting rumors that "the vaccine can transmit the COVID-19 disease, cause infertility, change DNA, is the mark of the beast spoken of in Revelation 13, 16-17".
The bishops in this English-speaking, West African country urged people to be confident that state and health authorities had properly vetted the safety of the vaccine.
A few days later, the Catholic bishops in Kenya also spoke out in favor of vaccinations.
The bishops' conference of the East African country stated in a March 9 message that it is "licit and ethically acceptable to receive all COVID-19 vaccines that the Ministry of Health recognizes as clinically genuine, safe and effective".
At the same time, it harshly reprimanded the Catholic Doctors Association of Kenya for advising the faithful not to be vaccinated.
The episcopal conference of Senegal has not issued such a joint statement, but a number of bishops have encouraged people to get vaccinated.
"At the beginning of Lent, we prayed to stop this disease. With the arrival of the vaccine, we can say that our prayers have been answered," said Cardinal Théodore Adrien Sarr, archbishop-emeritus of Dakar, on February 26, after receiving his first dose of the vaccine.
The bishop of Thies, in western Senegal, and his confrere Kaolack, in the center of the country, also urge people of their dioceses to be vaccinated in order to protect themselves and others.
The Togolese bishops noted during their February 23-26 plenary session that many people mistrust the vaccines and urged "the government to provide appropriate information and explanations".
Then six months later, Archbishop Nicodème Barrigah-Bénissan of Lomé made an urgent appeal for people to get vaccinated during the August 18 funeral of a 30-year-old priest who died of Covid.
"With great emotion, I urge everyone to get vaccinated to protect themselves and others, as long as their health does not present any contraindication, because it is a matter of public health," the archbishop said.
In neighboring Benin, Hubert Kèdowidé, the priest who serves as spokesperson for Archbishop Roger Houngbedji of Cotonou, intervened in the debate on vaccination as the country worried about the upsurge in cases.
"The Beninese government, in recommending the vaccination to us, cannot throw us to the dogs," he said.
"Certainly, checks have been made and scientific discussions have enabled them to ensure that the vaccines received in Benin are reliable," the priest said.
Tanzania: "Every priest must be vaccinated"
Archbishop Jude Thaddaeus Ruwai'chi of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania has urged the priests of his diocese to be vaccinated.
"Every priest should be vaccinated," he warned on Aug. 24 during a homily at the funeral Mass of one of his priests.
"Stop playing around with COVID-19. This is a disease that affects us deeply because it takes the lives of our loved ones. Let's be serious about this," he said.
In the southern part of Africa, the bishops of South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland have also spoken out in favor of vaccination.
Furthermore, on World Refugee Day (June 20) they joined their voices to denounce the exclusion of refugees from the COVID-19 vaccination process.
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