catholic letter vaccine religious exemptions

#Catholic letter vaccine religious exemptions free

First of all, why are you exercising your pastoral solicitude in this manner of exemptions?īishop Athanasius Schneider: Sure. OnePeterFive: Your Excellency thank you for taking the time to talk with us today. Johnson & Johnson used the fetal cell line that it did because it is “a well-studied industry standard for safe and reliable production of viral vector vaccines,” Lawler said.An Interview with His Excellency Bishop Athanasius Schneider Those cells are thousands of generations removed from the original fetal tissue, said Lawler. James Lawler, an infectious disease expert at Nebraska Medicine. Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna used cell lines originating from fetal tissue to test their vaccines but are not used in vaccine manufacturing or production, whereas fetal cell lines were used in Johnson & Johnson’s “development, confirmation and production,” according to Dr. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops, as well as at least 6 other dioceses from across the country released statements expressing “moral concerns” over the shot due to its use of lab-grown cells that descend from cells taken in the 1980s from the tissue of aborted fetuses. Some US bishops discourages Catholics from getting Johnson & Johnson vaccine if others are availableīut in March, some Catholic Bishops raised concerns over the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and urged members to get another vaccine where available. The month before receiving a vaccine in January, Pope Francis said that “the use of such vaccines does not constitute formal cooperation with the abortion from which the cells used in production of the vaccines derive.” Las Vegas is in Clark County, where on Wednesday the Southern Nevada Health District reported the county had surpassed 300,000 coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic.ĭiscussion over the church’s stance on vaccines began early in the distribution and centered around the use of fetal cell lines in research and production.

#Catholic letter vaccine religious exemptions free

“Parishioners are free to assert their right to declare conscience objections on medical or moral grounds should they so desire,” Thomas said. Thomas also noted the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Doctrine “ affirmed the moral acceptability of the Covid vaccines.” And helping the majority of people to do so is an act of love – love for oneself, love for our families and friends and love for all peoples.” Some religious groups have been entwined in the debate, as they have said that Covid-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates violate their religious expression.ĭespite early controversy over vaccines in the Catholic Church early in the pandemic, Pope Francis said in a public service announcement released August 18 that “getting the vaccines that are authorized by the respective authorities is an act of love. Health experts say mandates are vital to getting enough of the population protected to curb the spread of the virus, while some officials and segments of the population are arguing such mandates impinge on personal freedom. The announcement comes as much of the nation debates mandates over vaccines.

Religious groups eye legal challenges to Delta variant restrictions and vaccine mandates