Pope Francis is urging Christians around the world to be “profoundly shaken” by the coronavirus outbreak and to work to “eliminate inequalities,” the Associated Press reports.
“This is not some ideology,” Francis said, adding, “It is Christianity.”
In a homily, he said that the outbreak of the virus has reminded the world that, “We are all frail, all equal, all precious.”
“May we be profoundly shaken by what is happening all around us,” he said at the Santo Spirito church. “The time has come to eliminate inequalities, to heal the injustice that is undermining the health of the entire human family!”
Last week, Francis penned a letter in which he called for a universal basic wage, as IJR has previously reported.
He wrote, “This may be the time to consider a universal basic wage which would acknowledge and dignify the noble, essential tasks you carry out.”
“It would ensure and concretely achieve the ideal, at once so human and so Christian, of no worker without rights,’ he added.
Francis is not the only one who has called for measures to improve society in light of the coronavirus. The head of the United Nations, Secretary-General António Guterres, called for the end of hostilities around the world, as IJR has previously reported.
“To warring parties, I say: Pull back from hostilities. Put aside mistrust and animosity. Silence the guns. Stop the artillery. End the airstrikes,” he said.
According to the latest reports, there are more than two million cases of the coronavirus worldwide, with over 164,000 coronavirus related deaths.