Catholics may be somewhat confused by reports of various messages about the acceptability of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine due to a cell line of an abortion used in production.
The differences have been resolved and the Catholic doctrine is clear: Catholics have a moral duty to protect themselves and others from COVID-19 by being vaccinated. However, according to the Vatican and the American Conference of Catholic Bishops, they should avoid the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
If they choose not to be vaccinated, they have a moral obligation to hide themselves, give up social distance and ‘do their best’ not to get infected or infect others, the Vatican said.
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The message was somewhat confused when the Diocese of Bismarck in North Dakota issued a statement on March 2 stating that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was ‘morally compromised and therefore unacceptable’ to be given or received by Catholics.
“The local bishop takes a tougher stance than the American Council of Catholic Bishops or the Vatican,” he said. G. Kevin Donovan, a Catholic bioethicist at the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University Medical Center, said.
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A week ago, however, the Bismarck diocese stepped back from its initial hard line.
“The Catholic Church’s concern about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is that it is being morally compromised as a cell line of aborted fetal tissue has been used in its development and production,” said Father Robert Shea, diocesan health care ethicist. ‘As the US bishops’ statement on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine indicates, it is possible to receive it with a clear conscience if there is no other choice, but this should be avoided if alternatives (such as Pfizer or Moderna) are available. ‘
A statement from the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in December made clear that the overarching moral mandate is to be vaccinated or to do the utmost not to pass on the virus.
“When ‘ethically irrevocable’ COVID-19 vaccines are not available, it is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines of aborted fetuses in their research and production process,” the statement read.
Neither the Pfizer nor Moderna vaccines are completely free of moral problems, as both used fetal cells from an abortion for early testing, although this was not the actual production of the vaccine.
Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI both received their first doses of Pfizer vaccine on January 13th.
Catholics’ duty is to protect ‘the common good’, according to the Vatican. The vaccines “can be used in good conscience knowing that the use of such vaccines does not form a formal collaboration with the abortion from which the cells used to produce the vaccines.”
Father Tad Pacholczyk, director of education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, notes that Catholics have an obligation to express their concerns no matter what vaccine they receive.
“End users have a duty to return and share their views on the continued use of these cells by researchers in the pharmaceutical industry and academia,” he said.
This could include writing letters to the companies, posting on social media or writing letters to the editor, he said.
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It is certainly permissible for an individual to refuse a vaccine that they find morally problematic, Donovan said. But they are then obliged to do everything in their power to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19 to themselves or others.
This will include masking, social distance and hand washing.
“It’s something you should not miss,” Donovan said. “We have a moral obligation not only to look after our own health, but to protect others where possible and in any reasonable way available.”
His statement reflects the Vatican, which says that people who refuse vaccines that refuse using cell lines from aborted fetuses have a responsibility to protect others.
They must “do their utmost to avoid, in other preventive ways and appropriate behaviors, becoming vehicles for the transmission of the infectious agent.”
The issue is about the PER.C6 line, which comes from retinal cells of an 18-week-old fetus that was legally aborted in the Netherlands 36 years ago.
In the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the cell line is used to create the vaccine, but it is not actually in the vaccine, said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Vaccination Center at Philadelphia Children’s Hospital, said.
‘It’s in the barrel; it does not go in your arm, ‘he said.
He added: “Waiting for a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine is a choice to take an unnecessary risk, which could harm others.”
This article originally appeared in the US today: Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine OK for Catholics, if only