Atlanta Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer once again encouraged Catholics to take whichever COVID-19 vaccine is available, despite concerns by some Catholic bishops about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
“I wish to reiterate and affirm my earlier statement in support of COVID-19 vaccines,” Hartmayer said in a statement this week. “In keeping with a recent statement from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, I urge Catholics to get whatever vaccine is available to them.”
The Archdiocese of Atlanta has 1.2 million Catholics and covers 69 North Georgia counties, including all of metro Atlanta and Athens.
Earlier this week, two committee leaders in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement on the J&J vaccine, which has received emergency approval for use in the United States.
Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades, chairman of the Committee on Doctrine, and Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities, raised concerns that the newest vaccine is “morally compromised” because it is produced using cell lines derived from aborted fetuses. They encouraged people to take the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines, if available. If not, though, the two bishops did not recommend people skip getting the J&J shot.
The statement on behalf of their committees said that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines used fetus-derived cell lines for testing them, but not in their production.
The USCCB is the assembly of the Catholic bishops in the U.S., it does not have governance over the bishops or their dioceses, but the conference provides resources to them, such as the statement on the moral permissibility of the COVID vaccines. It is up to each local bishop, who is the leader of their diocese, to provide guidance locally to their parishioners.
For instance, the Archdiocese of New Orleans last week, called the Johnson & Johnson vaccine “morally compromised.”
Johnson & Johnson is defending its vaccine.
“In developing our vaccine, we have held ourselves to the highest bioethical standards and guidelines,” said a statement from the company. “Our single-shot COVID-19 vaccine uses an inactivated non-infective adenovirus vector – similar to a cold virus – that codes for the coronavirus “spike” (S) protein, and there is no fetal tissue in the vaccine.”
The Vatican makes clear that vaccinations can be used in “good conscience” and that using them doesn’t constitute “formal cooperation with the abortion from which the cells used in production of the vaccines derive,” said Hartmayer in the statement.
Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI received their first COVID shots earlier this year, according to Vatican News.
And the pontiff has often spoken out about the need for people to take the virus seriously.
He called taking the vaccine “an ethical action,” according to the Vatican official news service.
Bishop Stephen D. Parkes, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah, echoed Atlanta’s Hartmayer. “... Because the COVID pandemic is a serious health concern and no other options are available, it is morally permissible to receive one of the three approved COVID vaccines, he said in a statement.
The Catholic Church does not forbid the use of morally compromised vaccines but does encourage discernment regarding their use, the statement said.
" As other COVID-19 vaccines receive FDA approval and consumer choice is restored, I ask that vaccine recipients give careful consideration to the development and production of all available vaccines and make decisions based on an informed conscience,” said Parkes’ statement.
The Savannah diocese serves about 77,000 Catholics,
A lifelong Catholic, Belisa M. Urbina, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Ser Familia, also echoed Hartmayer’s call for people to take whatever vaccine is available.
“We’ve provided services every day throughout the pandemic,” said Urbina. “We’ve had clients die from COVID and I want to keep my staff safe. Things are too complicated right now. We won’t see the end of the tunnel if we don’t get the vaccine. Things won’t get back to normal if we don’t get the vaccine.”
Urbina is a member of the newly-created Georgia Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 Health Equity Council. The group will aid the department’s efforts to increase the effectiveness of public health programs statewide, ensure equity in vaccination distribution, and improve outreach to those most affected by the virus.
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