Catholic bishops clarify stance on vaccine

The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference issued a statement Thursday acknowledging that most people don’t have a choice as to which COVID-19 vaccine they’re offered, and that it’s morally acceptable to accept any of the vaccines currently authorized.

That comes a day after a statement from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that said, if given the choice, Catholics should avoid the most recently authorized vaccine, produced by Johnson & Johnson. That statement said the new vaccine raised “moral concerns” because it was produced from cells derived from cells originally obtained from aborted fetuses.

The U.S. conference statement said that when possible, Catholics should seek one of two earlier authorized vaccines — developed by Pfizer and Moderna. While they said those vaccines also raised concerns, they said the connection to abortion was more remote because such cell lines were used to test but not to produce the vaccines.

But the lengthy U.S. conference statement, and an earlier declaration from the Archdiocese of New Orleans, had given some the impression the church was opposing use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine altogether.

The Pennsylvania conference statement said: “In essence, we recognize that at this time individuals are not given a choice of which vaccine to receive and that this should not prevent Catholics from getting vaccinated as soon as possible. Catholics may in good conscience, receive any vaccine, in order to protect themselves. Once again, being vaccinated safely against COVID-19 should be considered an act of love of our neighbor and part of our moral responsibility for the common good.”

The state conference reiterated the church’s opposition to using cell lines derived from aborted fetuses but said

receiving the vaccine is an act of charity in response to the suffering caused by the pandemic.

The Diocese of Pittsburgh, which on Wednesday pointed the faithful to the statement from the U.S. conference, said in a statement on Thursday: “Multiple news reports have been inaccurate, indicating that the Diocese of Pittsburgh has cautioned parishioners to refuse the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. This is simply not true. We hope this clarification in the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference statement ... is helpful.”