Vatican conference features Fauci, Francis — and Aerosmith

ROME (AP) — An eclectic mix of participants are taking part in a unique three-day Vatican conference on COVID-19, other global health threats and how science, solidarity and spirituality can address them.

Along with Pope Francis, the event includes Dr. Anthony Fauci, soprano Renee Fleming, the CEOs of Pfizer and Moderna and the lead guitarist of Aerosmith.

The conference, which begins Thursday and ends Saturday with a virtual audience with the pope, was planned well before the pandemic erupted last year. Organizers say it has only taken on more relevance amid a growing appreciation of the need for global access to health care, new advances in vaccine technology and greater understanding of the mental health cost of loneliness.

Fauci, who is leading the U.S. pandemic response, told the online conference in recorded remarks Thursday that the pandemic had confirmed to him that faith and science are constantly evolving — and that scientists in particular must humbly admit they don’t have all the answers all the time.

One answer Fauci said he did have was that the key to overcoming current vaccine hesitancy is pairing the right medical message with the right messenger.

“You have someone who’s a deeply religious person who will listen to their clergy. That’s different than me with a suit going into an area telling people to do something,” he said.

He was referring to the religiously inspired resistance to taking COVID-19 vaccines that were indirectly developed using lines of cells derived from aborted fetuses. The Vatican has declared that all COVID-19 vaccines are not only morally licit, but that people have a moral responsibility to get the jabs to protect others.

Fauci is opening the multidisciplinary conference, which was originally scheduled to take place at the...