catholic letter vaccine religious exemptions

Catholic letter vaccine religious exemptions full#

We support any Catholic who has come to this conviction in seeking religious exemption from any Covid-19 requirement.” “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. Trump romps in Iowa, a traditional stronghold for social conservatives Read article In Bishop McElroy’s view, an exemption letter asks a pastor “not to endorse what the Church does teach on the question, but rather what individuals might discern as their chosen pathway, even when their pathway is built upon a rejection of the Church’s objective teaching on the morality of the Covid vaccines.”īishop Garcia’s actions on the matter are also similar to that of the New York archdiocese, which has warned priests against granting religious vaccine exemptions for Catholics. Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego has asked that priests in his diocese not sign religious exemption letters from coronavirus vaccine mandates.

Catholic letter vaccine religious exemptions full#

Food and Drug Administration, the administration reportedly might issue full approval of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine within weeks.īishop Garcia is not the first California bishop to speak on this matter. Conference of Catholic Bishops has since stated that all three vaccines approved for use in the United States are “morally acceptable” for use because of their remote connection with abortion, but if one has the ability to choose a vaccine, Pfizer or Moderna’s vaccines should be chosen over Johnson & Johnson’s.Īlthough the three vaccines authorized for use in the United States currently have only an emergency use authorization from the U.S. Those produced by Pfizer and Moderna were tested on cell lines derived from elective abortions decades ago, while the vaccine created by Johnson & Johnson was directly produced using the cell lines. Healthcare workers in California will soon be required to take the vaccine as well, though that order does include a religious exemption.īefore and as COVID-19 vaccines began to roll out, some Catholics raised concerns about the drugs’ remote connection to aborted fetal tissue. Last week, California became the first state to require all teachers, both public and private, to get the vaccine or else submit to weekly testing. States and employers across the country have rolled out COVID-19 vaccine mandates in recent weeks. “For these reasons, I will not issue, and I have directed our clergy not to issue, any Letters of Religious exemption because it would contradict the clear objective teaching of the Catholic Church and the Holy See on this matter,” Garcia wrote. 13 letter, adding that “the Bishops of California have also encouraged vaccination for the same reasons.”

“Pope Francis has highly encouraged the vaccination as an act of safeguarding one’s own health as well as that of others – pointing us to the importance of the common good, such a key element of Catholic Social Teaching,” Bishop Garcia wrote in his Aug. Bishop Daniel Garcia of Monterey on Friday directed clergy not to provide letters of religious exemption for Catholics wishing not to receive a coronavirus vaccine.