This week’s US Catholic Bishops’ Conference encouraged Catholics to choose Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines over Johnson & Johnson, if possible, because the latter inoculation was developed from stem cells obtained during the two abortions of decades ago. for years.
Bishop Kevin Rhoades, chairman of the conference’s Doctrine Committee, and Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, chairman of the conference’s Pro-Life Activities Committee, in a statement Tuesday called on Catholics to choose the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine instead of Johnson & Johnson, if an option is available.
But they added that it is “morally acceptable” for worshipers to receive any COVID-19 vaccine if no choice is available, calling vaccination “an act of charity that serves the common good.”
Pfizer and Moderna used cell lines from fetal tissue to test their vaccines, according to several reports. However, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was developed from stem cells obtained from two abortions.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine became the third authorized candidate for emergency use in the United States earlier this month, after Moderna and Pfizer vaccinations were approved in December.
Catholic groups opposed to abortion have long criticized medical companies that use human cell lines from aborted fetuses.
Several US dioceses have expressed concern about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans last week called the Johnson & Johnson vaccine a “moral compromise” on the use of stem cells from abortions.
The Vatican issued instructions in December stating that it is acceptable for Catholics around the world to receive COVID-19 vaccines “that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production,” when “ethically flawless” coronavirus vaccines are not available. available.
Pope Francis
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Johnson & Johnson said in a statement to The Hill: “We are able to produce hundreds of millions of doses using our designed cell line system and look forward to delivering these doses worldwide and helping meet critical needs.
The statement also noted that the vaccine “uses an inactivated non-infectious adenovirus vector – similar to a cold virus – that encodes the spike” (S) coronavirus protein “and that” there is no fetal tissue in the vaccine. “
Updated: 7:25 p.m.