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Pfizer CEO Francis Bourla and Pope FrancisBourla by Win McNamee/Getty Images. Pope Francis by nine/Shutterstock

VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) – It has emerged that Pope Francis secretly met with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla in two officially unconfirmed meetings during 2021.

Writing in the National Catholic Register, Vatican journalist Edward Pentin broke the news that in 2021 Pope Francis met twice with Bourla, the CEO and chairman of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. The meetings took place at the Vatican in a circumstance Pentin likened to Pope Francis’ secret 2019 meeting with Melinda Gates.

The revelation is perhaps no great surprise, given that the Vatican exclusively administers (and now mandates) Pfizer’s abortion-tainted COVID-19 injection for employees, and Pope Francis has been one of the foremost promoters of COVID shots. 

Pentin wrote that the meetings were confirmed by “Vatican sources” as the meetings were not included in the Vatican’s daily announcements, noting also that the topics discussed were still a mystery.

LifeSiteNews contacted both the Vatican’s press office and Pfizer for further comment on the meetings, but as yet has received no reply. When Pentin queried Pfizer about the meetings, he was told: “We can’t confirm or deny as, per our policy, the movements of our executives are considered confidential.”

The Holy See Press Office “did not respond to repeated requests to confirm the meetings,” Pentin added.

U.K. author and catechist Deacon Nick Donnelly commented that the revelations explained Pope Francis’ persistent promotion of the COVID-19 injections.

Pfizer and Pope Francis’ Vatican

Pfizer has developed a close link with the Vatican since its abortion-tainted injections have been in use there since January 2021, when Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI were among the first in the sovereign state to receive one of the injections. At the time, head of the Vatican health service Dr. Andrea Arcangeli suggested the Vatican would initially be using the Pfizer vaccine, but that others would be administered subject to approval. 

However, the Vatican’s agreement with Pfizer is to only offer the Big Pharma’s injection to employees and residents. 

Bourla later made a public appearance at the Vatican in May 2021, joining a host of abortion supporters at the Vatican’s fifth International Health Conference on “Exploring the Mind, Body & Soul.” 

Taking the virtual stage with CNN’s Sanjay Gupta, Bourla’s discussion dealt with: “The global response to COVID-19 has been accelerated by collaboration in data sharing, research, and epidemiological surveillance. As we re-examine our global health architecture, how do we improve future rapid response and build on lessons learned around preparedness, new vaccine development and distribution and, importantly, prevention?” 

Pope Francis gave a private address to the members of the conference. It is not known whether one of his meetings with Bourla occurred at this time. 

Pfizer’s production of abortion pills, along with its production of a COVID-19 injection involving tests using the HEK 293 cell line – derived from kidney tissue taken from a healthy baby who was aborted in the Netherlands in the 1970s – has not seemed to deter the Pontiff from meeting with Bourla. 

The link between the Vatican, which solely uses Pfizer’s jab, has been further strengthened as the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, recently mandated a COVID jab for Vatican employees and visitors, removing the option to test “negative” for the virus, and allowing only proof of recovery from the virus as an alternative to the injection. 

A mandate has been in place for some time in the Vatican for certain employees, resulting in three Swiss Guards being sent home to Switzerland after they refused to comply with the mandated shot. 

In comments to the National Catholic Register about his most recent mandate, Cardinal Parolin echoed the language of Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, and defended Pfizer’s jab from those concerned about its connection to abortion. 

He acknowledged that cell lines from an aborted baby were used “in the preliminary stages of vaccine testing in the laboratory,” but rejected any moral objection to the shot on this basis. “Therefore, it seems that not wanting to undergo vaccination with this motivation cannot be justified, since the vaccine that is currently used is precisely the Pfizer that uses the mRNA method,” Parolin stated. 

Bourla and Francis consistently pushing COVID shots

At the time of the May 2021 conference, Pfizer was hailed for creating an “effective” injection against COVID-19, and Bourla spoke of the many potential applications of the mRNA technology.

In April 2021, he had even claimed the injection was “100%” effective against the CDC’s definition of “severe” COVID-19. 


However, only days ago, Bourla backtracked on the claimed efficacy of his company’s jab. “We know that the two doses of the vaccine offer very limited protection, if any,” said Bourla in an interview with Yahoo! Finance.

Bourla instead pushed the booster jab, saying “three doses with a booster, they offer reasonable protection against hospitalization and deaths – against deaths, I think, very good, and less protection against infection.” 

Speaking to the BBC in December, Bourla pushed for normalizing COVID shots, suggesting that they could be part of normal life for “years to come.”

Pope Francis has also regularly pushed for people to take the COVID shots, with his rhetoric becoming even stronger in recent days when he spoke of the “moral obligation” of taking the abortion-tainted injections. In August 2021, Francis notably joined a number of cardinals in issuing a public service announcement video, saying the shots bring “hope” of an end to the pandemic and called receiving the vaccine “an act of love.”

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