For these working stiffs, ambivalence rather than amore from the Pope
- Apr 18, 2021
Participants in a Jan. 14 webinar sponsored by the Institute for Human Ecology at The Catholic University of America discussed concerns raised by some over a fetal cell line being used in some phase of COVID-19 vaccine development but concluded the cell line is probably sufficiently removed from the “original evil” to ameliorate Catholic apprehensions.
An English bishop expressed solidarity with the family of a man on feeding tubes as a court decision on their removal was delayed pending an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
The U.S. bishops’ conference is encouraging Catholics to get a coronavirus vaccination because it’s a “moral responsibility for the common good,” even is some vaccines are connected to abortion-derived cell lines.
Brian Brock is Professor of Moral and Practical Theology at the University of Aberdeen. He is also a husband and father of three children, including Adam, who is 16, who has Down Syndrome and autism.
Ireland’s bishops say “safe and effective vaccination is an essential aspect” of COVID-19 prevention and are encouraging Catholics to support vaccination programs, “not only for their own good, but for the protection of life and the health of those who are vulnerable and for the common good of humanity.”
Scotland’s Catholic bishops are urging the development of “satisfactory protocols” for treating or withholding treatment from patients and the exclusive use of “ethically sourced material” for the development of vaccines in a new pastoral letter.
Calling a vaccine the “most effective” way to stop COVID-19, England’s bishops say each person “has a duty to protect others from infection with its danger of serious illness, and for some, death.”
A UK court has ruled children are unable to consent to taking drugs to change gender, in a landmark case welcomed by Catholic doctors and a bishop.