Bishops say Catholics CAN REFUSE Abortion-tainted Covid-19 Vaccinations
Every Catholic needs to know that the current vaccines for COVID-19 (Coronavirus) have been tested on, or actually contain, cell lines that were originally derived from tissue of babies murdered by abortion.
Cell line HEK-293 is derived from kidney tissue taken from a baby murdered by abortion in 1972.
Cell line PER.C6 is derived from eye tissue taken from a baby murdered by abortion in 1985.
This reality must inform any judgement of conscience in supporting such a programme of vaccinations.
The leaders of the South Dakota Catholic Conference have now stated that they oppose vaccine mandates, and that Catholics can object to a Covid-19 shot on religious principles.
The bishops of South Dakota said accepting Covid-19 vaccines "...is not a universal moral duty.”
The South Dakota bishops also noted:
"...The Church teaches and right reason affirms that, as a general rule, free and informed consent is required prior to all medical treatments and procedures, including vaccination.
Consent is informed if a person knows the essential nature of the proposed treatment and its benefits; its risks, side-effects, consequences, and cost; and any reasonable and morally legitimate alternatives, including no treatment at all.
Consent is free if one has the ability to decline a medical intervention following discernment of relevant information and in accord with one’s certain conscience, without coercion or fear of punishment."
Notably, the South Dakota bishops stated that those Catholics who do not want to receive the Covid-19 shot are doing so consistent with Catholic moral principles.
[A] Catholic may, after consideration of relevant information and moral principles, discern it to be right or wrong to receive one of the available Covid-19 vaccines. If he or she thus comes to the sure conviction in conscience that they should not receive it, we believe this is a sincere religious belief, as they are bound before God to follow their conscience. We support any Catholic who has come to this conviction in seeking religious exemption from any Covid-19 requirement.
The statement by the South Dakota bishops comes after a similar statement by the Catholic bishops of Colorado.
The leaders of the Colorado Catholic Conference stated that they oppose vaccine mandates, citing the conscience rights of individuals and the constitutional freedoms of religious institutions.
The bishops unequivocally defended the rights of those who “have well-founded convictions that lead them to discern they should not get vaccinated.”
“We always remain vigilant when any bureaucracy seeks to impose uniform and sweeping requirements on a group of people in areas of personal conscience,” the bishops wrote:
"...Throughout history, human rights violations and a loss of respect for each person’s God-given dignity often begin with government mandates that fail to respect the freedom of conscience. In the case of the COVID-19 vaccine, we are convicted that the government should not impose medical interventions on an individual or group of persons. We urge respect for each person’s convictions and personal choices."
The bishops explained how the “Catholic Church teaches that a person may refuse a medical intervention, including a vaccination, if his or her conscience leads them to that decision,” and outlined a number of relevant teachings.
“Taken as a whole, these points [of Catholic teaching] mean a Catholic may judge it right or wrong to receive certain vaccines for a variety of reasons, and there is no Church law or rule that obligates a Catholic to receive a vaccine — including COVID-19 vaccines,” they wrote:
The three Colorado Catholic dioceses remain committed to working with public health and other secular authorities to protect the wellbeing of our communities, at the same time urging that personal freedoms of conscience and expression be fully supported, and the integrity and autonomy of religious institutions be respected. The vaccination question is a deeply personal issue, and we continue to support religious exemptions from any and all vaccine mandates.
In what may prove to be a groundbreaking move, the bishops went on to provide a template letter (see below) for Catholics who, faced with vaccine pressure or mandates, would like to request a religious exemption from the vaccine.
“If any person comes to an informed judgment that he or she should receive or not receive a vaccine, that person should follow their conscience, and they should not be penalized for doing so,” the bishops wrote:
"...We encourage any individual seeking exemption to consult their employer or school. The Colorado Catholic Conference also has a letter template available to be signed by pastors of the Faithful if a Catholic wants a written record that they are seeking exemption on religious grounds."
COVID vaccines "...should not be mandated by government or non-government entities,” said Colorado Catholic Conference Executive Director Brittany Vessely. “Human and constitutional rights to freedom of conscience and freedom of expression ought to be respected, and the integrity and autonomy of religious institutions must be respected as well.”
TEMPLATE FOR RELIGIOUS EXEMPTION FROM COVID-19 VACCINES:
NOTE: Neither the Colorado Catholic Conference nor the bishops or clergy of Colorado can sign this letter for Catholics outside of their dioceses. Individuals wishing to seek an exemption should take the letter to a member of clergy in their local diocese and ask if they will sign it.
[Date]
To Whom It May Concern,
[Name] is a baptized Catholic seeking a religious exemption from an immunization requirement. This letter explains how the Catholic Church’s teachings may lead individual Catholics, including [name], to decline certain vaccines.
The Catholic Church teaches that a person may be required to refuse a medical intervention, including a vaccination, if his or her conscience comes to this judgment. While the Catholic Church does not prohibit the use of most vaccines, and generally encourages them to safeguard personal and public health, the following authoritative Church teachings demonstrate the principled religious basis on which a Catholic may determine that he or she ought to refuse certain vaccines:
Vaccination is not morally obligatory in principle and so must be voluntary.[1]
There is a moral duty to refuse the use of medical products, including certain vaccines, that are created using human cells lines derived from abortion; however, it is permissible to use such vaccines only under case-specific conditions—if there are no other alternatives available and the intent is to preserve life.[2]
A person’s assessment of whether the benefits of a medical intervention outweigh the undesirable side-effects are to be respected unless they contradict authoritative Catholic moral teachings.[3]
A person is morally required to obey his or her conscience.[4]
A Catholic may judge it wrong to receive certain vaccines for a variety of reasons consistent with these teachings, and there is no authoritative Church teaching universally obliging Catholics to receive any vaccine. An individual Catholic may invoke Church teaching to refuse a vaccine that used abortion-derived cell lines at any stage of the creation of the vaccine. More generally, a Catholic might refuse a vaccine based on the Church’s teachings concerning therapeutic proportionality. Therapeutic proportionality is an assessment of whether the benefits of a medical intervention outweigh the undesirable side-effects and burdens in light of the integral good of the person, including spiritual, psychological, and bodily goods.[5]
The judgment of therapeutic proportionality must be made by the person who is the potential recipient of the intervention,[6] not by public health authorities or by other individuals who might judge differently in their own situations.
The Catholic Bishops of Colorado have affirmed this in two letters dated December 14, 2020 and March 17, 2021, concerning COVID-19 vaccines, stating:
“The bishops of Colorado affirm that the use of some COVID-19 vaccines is morally acceptable under certain circumstances…. However, if individuals have serious moral objections or health concerns about vaccines, those concerns should be respected by society and government, and those individuals should not be forced into vaccination, contrary to their conscience. The government should not impose the COVID-19 vaccines on its citizens.”[7]
Furthermore, the free-exercise clause of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment requires state accommodation of individuals who object to vaccinations on religious grounds. Government neutrality also requires religious accommodation when the state offers secular exemptions, which is the case in Colorado for medical and non-medical exemptions[8] and exemptions through the Americans with Disabilities Act and Civil Rights Act of 1964.[9]
Vaccination is not a universal obligation and a person must obey his or her own conscience. Therefore, if a Catholic comes to an informed judgment that he or she should not receive a vaccine, then the Catholic Church requires that the person follow this judgment of conscience and refuse the vaccine. The Catechism is clear: “Man has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral decisions. ‘He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters.’”[10]
Sincerely,
[Name and Title of Pastor]
[1] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), “Note on the Morality of Using Some Anti-COVID-19 Vaccines,” December 17, 2020, n. 5: “At the same time, practical reason makes evident that vaccination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation and that, therefore, it must be voluntary.”
[2] See Pontifical Academy for Life, “Moral Reflections on Vaccines Prepared from Cells Derived from Aborted Human Foetuses,” June 9, 2005; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction Dignitas personae, 2008, nn. 34-35; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, “Note on the Morality of Using Some Anti-COVID-19 Vaccines,” nn. 1-3. When there is a sufficiently serious reason to use the product and there is no reasonable alternative available, the Catholic Church teaches that it may be permissible to use the immorally sourced product under protest. In any case, whether the product is used or not, the Catholic Church teaches that all must make their disagreement known and request the development of equal or better products using biological material that does not come from abortions.
[3] See United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, 6th ed. (Washington, DC: USCCB Publishing, 2018), n. 28. Hereafter “ERDs.”
[4] “A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience. If he were deliberately to act against it, he would condemn himself…” Catechism of the Catholic Church (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1993), www.vatican.va, n. 1790. Hereafter “CCC.”
[5] See ERDs, nn. 32-33; nn. 56-57; Part Three, Introduction, para. 2; Part Five, Introduction, para. 3.
[6] See ERDs, nn. 56-57. Both of these directives state that the proportionality of medical interventions is established “in the patient’s judgment.”
[7] A Letter to the Faithful from the Colorado bishops on Covid-19 Vaccines. Colorado Catholic Conference. (2020, December 15). https://cocatholicconference.org/a-letter-to-the-faithful-from-the-colorado-bishops-on-covid-19-vaccines/.
[8] Vaccine Exemptions. Department of Public Health and Environment. https://cdphe.colorado.gov/vaccine-exemptions.
[9] Pandemic Preparedness in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/pandemic-preparedness-workplace-and-americans-disabilities-act.
[10] CCC, n. 1782, citing Second Vatican Council, Dignitatis humanae, December 7, 1965, n. 3.