The Church of Christ, Scientist teaches that the material world, including disease, is an illusion, and so the way to overcome disease is through prayer, not medicine or vaccination. Grabenstein, a vaccinologist and practicing Catholic, surveyed a wide range of world religions and couldn’t find any that had anti-vaccine teachings.Įxcept one. In fact, religious opposition to vaccines is vanishingly rare. Scalia was right about vaccines and civic obligation, but it’s odd that he had to worry about vaccine requirements in the first place. Under examination, they turn out to be a policy in search of a rationale-ostensibly designed to protect religious faith, but instead overwhelmingly used in bad faith. What’s clear for now is that there are still millions of Americans who say they will refuse to be vaccinated and very little stopping most of them from claiming a religious exemption if they want to.Īll of which makes now a good time to reconsider the whole idea of religious exemptions from vaccine mandates. The success or failure of those lawsuits will go a long way toward determining how many people end up claiming exemptions. In Texas, employees are suing United Airlines over its policy of placing religious objectors on unpaid leave, one of many legal challenges to mandates around the country. On Facebook, people swap tips for couching vaccine hesitancy in religious terms. In Washington state, a church-affiliated group hosts “vaccine exemption workshops” for state employees, health workers, and school staff. The Bishop’s letter also included a template that can be used by a person who wishes to request a conscientious, religious exemption from any vaccine mandate.Covid vaccine mandates are proliferating-and so, inevitably, are attempts to evade them by claiming a religious exemption. Both documents can accompany a person’s request for an exemption from the vaccine. Priests can assist in the process by providing two documents that can accompany an individual’s request for a conscientious exemption, a Statement of Resource issued by the National Catholic Bioethics Center and a Question & Answer resource provided by the USCCB. Since no one can speak for the conscience of another person, only the person who arrived at such a conclusion can write a letter affirming their conclusion,” he said. As such, their request is really an affirmation of the person’s conscientious objection, informed by their personal faith and personal circumstances. “When a Catholic decides to forgo the reception of the Coronavirus vaccine, that person is making the conscientious decision to hold themselves to a more rigorous religious practice than recommended by the Roman Magisterium. However, “because such a decision is made in conscience, informed by faith, for which only the person making the decision can attest,” the priest cannot write a letter directly endorsing the exemption, the Bishop said. The Bishop said that when people come forward requesting a letter of exemption from the vaccine, it is important that the priest meet with the individuals and explore the reasoning that led them to this conclusion. In such cases, the person may feel obligated in conscience to refrain from what is morally permissible for a variety of legitimate reasons. However, while the Church has urged Catholics to get vaccinated for the common good, the Bishop said it also recognizes that a Catholic, whose conscience is properly informed on the subject after prayerful reflection, can arrive at a personal decision to refrain from receiving the vaccine. Further, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has made it clear that the Johnson and Johnson vaccine can be received by Catholics in those cases where there are no alternative vaccines available. The Bishop reiterated that the Magisterium of the Church has clearly taught that there is no moral prohibition for any Catholic to receive the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine. Those who do not wish to be vaccinated must be reminded of their moral obligation to do whatever is reasonable and required by local authorities to avoid becoming infected and transmitting the virus to others.” “Our Holy Father and the CDF have taught us that reception of the vaccine fulfills the moral imperative to protect the health of our neighbor and the common good of society. “As you well know, this is a very complex issue, made more complicated by a great amount of misinformation that is found on the internet and via social media,” the Bishop said. In an August 17 letter to clergy the Bishop noted that his guidance is offered in response to inquiries clergy have received from parishioners seeking a letter to claim a religious exemption from any requirement to receive the Coronavirus vaccine. Caggiano has issued guidance for those who seek letters of exemption from the Covid-19 vaccine.
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