Pope Francis recently launched a powerful appeal for people to get vaccinated, calling it “an act of love.”

In a video message, the pope praised the work of researchers and scientists in producing a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. “Thank to God’s grace and to the work of many,” he said, “we now have vaccine to protect us from COVID-19”

I’m not Roman Catholic, but as a retired clergy and chaplain of a Protestant faith group in civilian, military and health care settings, I applaud the pope for his courage and insight to encourage us to get the vaccine to protect ourselves and the others around us as an expression of love.

I agree also with Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institute of Health and an Evangelical Christian who said that the vaccine is a gift from God and an answer to our prayers.

In the words of Collins, “roll up your sleeve,” and “unwrap that gift.”

The Rev. Paul L. Yeun, is a retired United Methodist minister who served 10 years in churches in Ohio; 20 years in the US Air Force chaplaincy; and 18 years as the director of pastoral services at Chambersburg Hospital in Pennsylvania. He and wife now live in Atlanta.

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The renovation of Jekyll Island's Great Dunes golf course includes nine holes designed by Walter Travis in the 1920s for the members of the Jekyll Island Club. Several holes that were part of the original layout where located along the beach and were bulldozed in the 1950s.(Photo by Austin Kaseman)

Credit: Photo by Austin Kaseman