While the bishops of Colorado have confirmed they will support Catholics who object to the vaccine, New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan has instructed his priests NOT to do so.
Steve, a Catholic husband and father, is the sole breadwinner for his family. His wife stays at home to care for their four children while he works in sales for a large corporation. Recently, his company announced it will be requiring all employees to get the COVID-19 vaccination by October 1 or they will be let go. Steve, however, doesn’t want to receive the shot due to the vaccine’s connection with abortion.
Steve checks with HR and discovers that the company is allowing a religious exemption, provided that a religious leader signs a letter affirming the exemption. Steve approaches his pastor and asks him to write such a letter. The pastor hesitates, however, unsure if exemption is legitimate. Hasn’t the pope said we should all get the shot?
The scenario above is not a hypothetical one. Across the country, employers, schools, and retail businesses are requiring employees, students, and even customers to be vaccinated.
This poses a problem for American Catholics. Every COVID-19 vaccine currently available here has a connection to abortion. Whether the vaccine was developed using fetal cell lines from an aborted baby or was tested using those lines, they are all morally compromised. As we’ve covered here at Crisis before (here, here, here, here, and here), there is debate among Catholics regarding the morality of taking these vaccines, but the Church has made clear that no one should be obligated to get the shot, and that Catholics should push for the development of vaccines that are not morally compromised.
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TAKE ACTION: Contact your bishop and respectfully urge him to follow the lead of the Colorado bishops in supporting COVID vaccine religious exemptions for Catholics.