Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone has been very vocal regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.
He even urges San Francisco churchgoers to get inoculated, but he himself has not gotten a shot yet, ABC7 reported.
The Catholic Church’s leader, Pope Francis, did not deny his struggle with vaccine disbelievers who turned down getting a COVID-19 vaccine. He even said in August that helping others to get their protection for the disease is showing them love.
Pope Francis and Archbishop Cordileone seemed to have a similar stance.
“I join Pope Francis and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in advising you to get vaccinated if your doctor recommends it,” the Archbishop said.
But Cordileone said in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle that he has not yet received any vaccine dose.
Cordileone said his “immune system is strong.”
He added that his personal doctor told him “it’s probably not necessary for me to be vaccinated.”
A person outside St. Mary’s Cathedral said: “That’s his opinion,” which obviously is different from the San Francisco Health Department’s stand as it continues to encourage the public to get their vaccinations against the disease.
“It’s really important. It helps protect you, it helps protect your family, it helps protect the community, it helps protect other vulnerable people,” SF Department of Public Health’s Dr. Grand Colfax said.
“I think he is entitled to his open opinion, but also, he’s a public figure so everything he says really has a lot of impact on other people,” a Cathedral visitor from Poland, Peter Plewinske, said.
Cordileone has also disobeyed some of the teachings of the Pope in the past.
The Pope in 2013 hit the international news as he reached out to gay Catholics. He said to reporters: “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”
Despite this, Cordileone has been vocal in disapproving of gays and same-sex marriages.
