The men leading the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic in the country are also men of faith.
Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Francis Collins, National Institutes of Health’s Director, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, NIH’s senior infectious disease specialist, combine faith and science in battling the deadly virus, reports Crux Now.
One of the great things about faith is, you can approach life with a sense of hope—no matter what the challenges you’re dealing with, that there’s a path forward. —Dr. Robert Redfield, director of CDC
An expert at fighting viruses, Redfield credits his faith in keeping him centered when facing public health crises such as responding to the earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010. “One of the great things about faith is, you can approach life with a sense of hope—no matter what the challenges you’re dealing with, that there’s a path forward,” he said.
Redfield, an active parishioner in Baltimore’s Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, believes that science alone cannot win the war against the SARS-like disease, as he stresses the important role the faith community will play, reports Canada-based Christian music radio station, CVHN Radio.
“I have witnessed firsthand the impact of the faith community’s work in global disease outbreaks,” Redfield said. “The same compassion, counsel, and care will be just as important as we confront this new virus and as many Americans and others around the world experience disruption in their daily lives.”
Another committed Christian, NIH Director Collins established a nonprofit, BioLogos Foundation, which celebrates “the harmony between science and biblical faith.” He advocates the close relationship between religious belief and science, believes that one alone cannot answer all the questions about the universe.
“I see science as the most reliable way to study nature—and that includes this virus,” Collins wrote. “But science doesn’t help me with deeper questions like why suffering exists, what we are supposed to learn from it, what is the meaning of life, and whether there is a loving God who grieves with us at a time like this.”
Meantime, Fauci may have distanced himself from religion, but he acknowledges his Jesuit education for instilling in him the value of public service and developing the “principles that I run my life by.” The 79-year-old scientist said in a 2015 interview, “I’m less enamored of organized religion than I am with the principles of humanity and goodness to mankind and doing the best that you can.”
