In a BBC interview conducted by Katy Kay at the grounds of Georgetown University, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and current Distinguished University Professor at Georgetown University, has shared his personal perspective on faith and his decision to step away from traditional religious practice.
In a clip shared on social media, Dr. Fauci pointed out Dahlgren Chapel, a significant landmark in his life where he and his wife Christine were married, prompting Kay to delve deeper into his current relationship with the church.
“That’s where you were married?” Kay asked.
“Yeah. Yeah,” he responded with a note of nostalgia.
“It’s beautiful,” added Kay, to which Fauci simply agreed.
However, when the conversation turned to his current religious practices, Fauci’s response was straightforward: “No.”
“You don’t practice anymore?” Kay pressed.
“No,” Fauci confirmed.
Kay, seeking deeper understanding, probed further. “Why?”
“Uhh, a number of complicated reasons,” said Fauci.
“Go on. We have a whole corridor,” Kay insisted.
According to Fauci, his “own personal ethics” are “enough” to keep him going on the right path. In short, he believes he is God.
“First of all, I think my own personal ethics on life are—I think—enough to keep me going on the right path. And I think that there are enough negative aspects about the organizational church that you’re very well aware of. I’m not against it.”
“I identify myself as a Catholic; I was raised, I was baptized, I was confirmed, I was married in the church. My children were baptized in the church. But, as far as practicing it, it seems almost like a pro forma thing that I don’t really need to do.”
WATCH:
Anthony Fauci explains that although he identifies as Catholic, his “personal ethics on life” are so strong that he has no need to practice the religion. “It seems like a pro forma thing that I don’t really need to do.” pic.twitter.com/r5YbCs2gbM
— Laura Powell (@LauraPowellEsq) December 9, 2023
Social media platforms have been set ablaze following Fauci’s comments regarding his personal religious practices.
One user wrote, “A number of complicated reasons,” he said when asked why he had stopped practicing. “First of all, becoming a messiah figure for a competing religion made it kind of AWKWARD. Plus, as the literal incarnation of The Science, I just thought it would be a bad look.”
“A number of complicated reasons,” he said, when asked why he had stopped practicing.
“First of all, becoming a messiah figure for a competing religion made it kind of AWKWARD.
Plus, as the literal incarnation of The Science, I just thought it would be a bad look.” https://t.co/TnAqJKmnjG
— Newman Nahas (@NahasNewman) December 9, 2023
“Why would Saint Fauci practice religion like mere mortals? After all, he is the science,” Kanekoa wrote.
Why would Saint Fauci practice religion like mere mortals?
After all, he is the science. pic.twitter.com/thCYUd2A9z
— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) December 10, 2023
Kanekoa’s comment referred to Fauci’s statement in which he suggested that if Republicans criticize him, they are, in effect, criticizing science itself, as he is science.
“If you are trying to get at me as a public health official and a scientist, you’re really attacking, not only Dr. Anthony Fauci, you are attacking science,” Fauci said during an interview with MSNBC.
In another interview with CBS “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan, Dr. Fauci said that “it’s easy to criticize, but they’re really criticizing science, because I represent science,” he said. “That’s dangerous.”