FIRST CAME THE Covid-19 coronavirus and it claimed lives in thousands across the nations. Then the world came to a halt deeming the living habits of mankind in need of an overhaul. Staying home became the new normal while researchers raced against time in search of an antidote. When the first news of possible vaccines broke, a big concern was the about the beneficiaries of such vaccines.
A genuine fear of the hapless poor, with little access to the costly vaccine, being left off gripped the Church. In his Christmas Day address, Pope Francis appealed to the nations to share the new Covid-19 vaccines with the most needy saying, “Today, in this time of darkness and uncertainty regarding the pandemic, various lights of hope appear, such as the discovery of vaccines. But for these lights to illuminate and bring hope to all, they need to be available to all.”
While production and supply of the vaccines, and making them available for the most vulnerable and needy of all regions will be a daunting task in the months to come, some bishops disagree on receiving it. They call the vaccine unethical because they are developed or tested using cell strains derived from the tissues of foetuses aborted decades ago.
One of the most challenging tasks for a netizen these days is to differentiate the truth from fiction. Fact travels fast and deceit even faster. The faithful are sometimes misinformed on matters of faith, doctrines, liturgy and ethics, and remain confused. They are unsure if, by receiving Covid-19 vaccine, one might give the impression that one approves the past abortions and posthumous harm that led to the development of the foetal cell lines.
In December 2020, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) issued a statement on the morality of accepting Covid-19 vaccines. The guidelines, based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, permit acceptance of vaccines developed, researched, or tested utilising foetal cell lines when no alternative vaccine is available or accessible. The CDF explains that: “From the ethical point of view, the morality of vaccination depends not only on the duty to protect one’s own health, but also on the duty to pursue the common good.” Thus, being vaccinated safely against Covid-19 should be considered an act of love of neighbour and part of our moral responsibility for the common good.
The CDF guideline reads: “An action that involves remote cooperation in evil is permissible, or even encouraged, when there are grave moral reasons … The proportional moral reasons for acceptance of the vaccine are the promotion of community health and prevention of serious risk of harm, which are grounded in the fundamental moral and social principle of the common good.”
But the critics believe that Pope Francis is being too lenient with Church’s teachings on abortion. In fact, the Church’s teachings on the use of vaccines were well articulated by the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAL) in 2005.
It was during the pontificate of Pope St. John Paul II, with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger heading the CDF that PAL studied the case of the ethics of Rubella Vaccine. Later, the 2008 document on bioethics, Dignitas Personae also explained under what circumstances it is permitted to receive vaccines developed, researched, or tested utilising foetal cell lines. In nutshell, the Church does not hold such vaccines as unethical.
In early January this year Pope Francis called receiving Covid-19 vaccine “a lifesaving, ethical obligation and the refusal to do so is suicidal.” jose CMF
