VATICAN CITY - The Vatican on Monday declared that it is 鈥渕orally acceptable鈥 for Roman Catholics to receive COVID-19 vaccines based on research that used cells derived from aborted fetuses, guidance that came after some churchmen in the United States argued that such products were immoral.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican's watchdog office for doctrinal orthodoxy, said it had received several requests for 鈥済uidance鈥 during recent months. The doctrinal office pointed out that bishops, Catholic groups and experts have offered 鈥渄iverse and sometimes conflicting pronouncements鈥 on the matter.
Drawing on Vatican pronouncements in past years about developing vaccines prepared from cells derived from aborted fetuses, the watchdog office's statement was examined by Pope Francis, who ordered it to be made public.
The Catholic Church鈥檚 teaching says that abortion is a grave sin.
The Vatican concluded that 鈥渋t is morally acceptable to receive COVID-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses鈥 in the research and production process when 鈥渆thically irreproachable鈥 vaccines aren鈥檛 available to the public. But it stressed that the 鈥渓icit鈥 uses of such vaccines 鈥渄oes not and should not in any way imply that there is a moral endorsement of the use of cell lines proceeding from aborted fetuses."
The Vatican didn't name any of the COVID-19 vaccines already being given to people in some countries or authorized to be used soon.
In its statement, the Vatican explained that obtaining vaccines that do not pose an ethical dilemma is not always possible. It cited circumstances in countries 鈥渨here vaccines without ethical problems are not made available to physicians and patients鈥 or where special storage or transport conditions make their distribution more difficult.
Much of the Vatican's pronouncement had echoes in a statement last week by officials of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The U.S. conference officials said that 鈥渋n view of the gravity of the current pandemic and the lack of availability of alternative vaccines,鈥 receiving the vaccines being distributed in the United States is justified 鈥渄espite their remote connection to morally compromised cell lines.鈥
Getting vaccinated against the coronavirus 鈥渙ught to be understood as an act of charity toward the other members of our community," the U.S. bishops conference officials said.
Weeks earlier, two U.S. bishops, one in Texas and one in California, had denounced vaccines using cell lines from the tissue of aborted fetuses as immorally produced. One of the bishops said he refused to receive such a vaccine and encouraged rank-and-file Catholics to follow his lead.
The Vatican, in reassuring faithful Catholics that getting a COVID-19 vaccine would not violate the church鈥檚 moral teaching, noted that 鈥渉ealth authorities do not allow citizens to choose the vaccine with which to be inoculated." Given such circumstances, it is morally acceptable to receive vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses, the Vatican said.
The Vatican said the COVID-19 vaccines that are getting rolled out or are expected to be soon used cell lines 鈥渄rawn from tissue obtained from two abortions that occurred in the last century.鈥
The Vatican hasn鈥檛 said if and when Francis would be vaccinated against the coronavirus. The 84-year-old pontiff has a pilgrimage to Iraq planned for early March, and it's widely expected that he and the aides accompanying him would get vaccinated ahead of travel abroad.
The Roman Catholic church's doctrinal orthodoxy office said 鈥渧accination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation鈥 and must be voluntary. Still, it said, from an ethical point of view, 鈥渢he morality of vaccination depends not only on the duty to protect one's own health but also on the duty to pursue the common good.鈥
Those for reasons of conscience opting not to receive vaccinations produced by cell lines from aborted fetuses, 鈥渕ust do their utmost to avoid,鈥 by appropriate behaviour and preventive means, becoming 鈥渧ehicles鈥 for transmission, the congregation said.
In any case, there is also a 鈥渕oral imperative鈥 for the pharmaceutical industry, governments and international organizations to ensure that safe, effective and 鈥渆thically acceptable鈥 vaccines are accessible to the poorest countries and not too costly for them, the Vatican's doctrinal office said.