regarding the moral liceity of the Covid-19 vaccines by J O H N S M E AT O N a n d M A R I A M A D I S E
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he debate regarding vaccines against the coronavirus has become more heated rather than cooled down since Calx Mariae published an initial article on the topic (Autumn, no. 11). Prominent figures in this debate have taken the view that it is morally illicit under any circumstances for a Catholic to have recourse to the vaccines in light of the fact that virtually all currently available options have been developed using cell lines from aborted children at some point in the course of production or testing. However, in their understandable concern to redress the appalling weakness of so many bishops and bishops’ conferences throughout the world in forming the consciences of the faithful on abortion, they appear to have chosen the wrong target and, thereby, they risk increasing confusion and distress amongst the faithful. The horror of abortion, which rightly informs discussion on the evil of abortion, does not add weight to the point they seek to make in the current debate regarding the moral licitness of receiving abortion-tainted vaccination.
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pro-life action
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS On the other hand, pro-life organisations all over the world are being contacted by distressed supporters, not least the elderly, who have taken the vaccine and are now worried that they have committed a mortal sin because of what they have heard from some trusted pro-life source or other. Many others are being dismissed in their families and communities as not fully pro-life or fully Catholic for considering the vaccines morally licit. Therefore, in a few months, the moral issue of the vaccination against the coronavirus has shifted from a discussion of an ethical question to a tragic dividing line between people who oppose abortion, culminating in a call for a new pro-life movement which would focus on the issue of vaccines. However, the only binding authority for the faithful in this matter is the Church, and our primary concern must be to seek the truth constantly in the light of her teaching. Whether we find ourselves in a situation where vaccination is a hypothetical option, or whether it is a recommendation or even
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