Fauci, US officials to take part in Vatican healthcare conference
Several leading U.S. healthcare officials, the heads of two major companies that developed coronavirus vaccines and a number of celebrities will be taking part in a virtual Vatican-sponsored conference on advances in medical technology scheduled for later this week.
Among those set to take part in the "Unite to Prevent and Unite to Cure" conference, co-hosted by the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Culture and the U.S. non-profit Cura Foundation, is Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
In an email to NCR, Fauci said he is honored to be part of the event and hopes it will facilitate applying lessons learned during the coronavirus pandemic "in order to prepare to respond to future emerging and re-emerging infectious disease outbreaks and public health threats."
Fauci also told NCR that he will encourage those taking part in the conference to recognize that responses to the continuing coronavirus pandemic and future health crises will require "a novel coordinated and collaborative global effort of scientists, industry, and community partners."
You can read more of the story here.
More background:
- Anthony Fauci and Christine Grady were recently honored for their work against the coronavirus with Catholic Theological Union's "Blessed are the Peacemakers" award.
I'm a Filipina American and racism makes me afraid for me, for my family
Clarissa Valbuena Aljentera says she could be the next victim of anti-Asian hate.
In her commentary for NCR, Aljentera, a Filipino American, writes that following recent violent attacks against Asian Americans, including the March mass shooting in Atlanta, that she is angry at the realization that any one of her family or friends could be the next victim.
"My community is facing various tragedies, from the pandemic that rages on to the hate-fueled rhetoric people needlessly and carelessly associate with the virus," she writes.
"This is a time when Asian Americans need their leaders to stand up and provide a bold defense," Aljentera continues. "President Joe Biden introduced a nearly $50 million plan to address this type of violence. But where is the Catholic Church in these times of crisis? During the early months of the pandemic, the U.S. bishops' conference put forth a statement regarding discrimination and xenophobia that members of the Asian American community experienced. Members of the bishops' conference shared concerns for many communities whose members had experienced racism. But statements need actions behind them to move toward transformation."
You can read more of Aljentera's commentary here.
More background:
- In an NCR editorial,
we say that we must no longer ignore the trauma experienced by citizens
of Asian descent throughout U.S. history and instead learn to uplift
the Asian experience, from our Catholic schools to our parishes to our
media.
- An April 8 panel hosted by the University of Notre Dame's Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies discussed escalating racist violence against Asian American people in the United States, emphasizing it is not without deep history.
More headlines
- An online panel hosted by Georgetown University
called for action to fight racism, but did not directly address
critiques of the university's efforts to make amends to the descendants
of the people it enslaved.
- At Global Sisters Report,
read a Q&A with Holy Family of Nazareth Sr. Crina Cardozo, who
walks miles to visit tribal people's homes in hilly, forested areas of
Goa, India, and teaches academics to children and career-oriented
courses for women and youth.
- ICYMI: Pope Francis launched a monthlong, global recitation of the rosary, pleading for Mary's intercession for the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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