UPDATE: Lafayette Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel has issued a statement on the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
The new vaccine "has some moral concerns we must acknowledge," the bishop says, but he also encourages everyone to get vaccinated, and says if you can't get anything but the Johnson and Johnson vaccine to get it, and view getting vaccinated as "an act of charity" toward your neighbors.
"Given our present situation and the need to protect ourselves and one another from this virus, my guidance to the faithful of the Diocese of Lafayette is to accept as your first choices the vaccines created by Pfizer and Moderna, but if for any reasonable circumstance you are only able to receive the vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, you should feel free to do so for your safety and for the common good," the bishop says.
Deshotel's statement is similar to that of Baton Rouge's bishop, but differs somewhat from that of the Archdiocese, which describes the new vaccine as "morally compromised."
Here's his full statement:
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage populations around the globe. Worldwide over 2.5 million have died. In the United States the death toll is over half a million, with Louisiana’s death toll approaching 10,000. Thankfully, vaccines have been developed to reduce the spread and effects of this virulent killer.
As I announced in a previous communication,
“Vaccines are now being made available to various groups throughout the United States. I have reviewed these remedies along with the Bishops of the United States and we have determined, reinforced by the Holy Father Pope Francis, that receiving the new Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are justifiable and morally acceptable ways to help end this pandemic. Being vaccinated should be considered as an act of charity toward others in our communities. I encourage all of the faithful of the Diocese of Lafayette to take this moral evaluation to heart as you make your decision to receive the coronavirus vaccinations as they become available.”
I continue to encourage everyone to receive a vaccination, but the new vaccine from Johnson & Johnson has some moral concerns we must acknowledge. Unlike the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, Johnson & Johnson uses a line of stem cells procured from abortions performed over 30 years ago in the production of its vaccine. To the question of whether a person should receive this vaccine in good conscience, the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith stated on December 21, 2020,
· “All vaccinations recognized as clinically safe and effective can be used in good conscience with the certain knowledge that the use of such vaccines does not constitute formal cooperation with the abortion from which the cells used in production of the vaccines derive…..the 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.”
· “In the absence of other means to stop or even prevent the epidemic, the common good may recommend vaccination, especially to protect the weakest and most exposed.”
· This mirrors the teaching of Pope Benedict XVI in Dignitas Personae.
Given our present situation and the need to protect ourselves and one another from this virus, my guidance to the faithful of the Diocese of Lafayette is to accept as your first choices the vaccines created by Pfizer and Moderna, but if for any reasonable circumstance you are only able to receive the vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, you should feel free to do so for your safety and for the common good. In addition, I have consulted with Catholic health care representatives, and I understand and appreciate their serious challenges as to the acquisition and equitable distribution of all three vaccines. I therefore support their policy of administering any of the vaccines as circumstances require.
Again, as I have stated in my original letter to the Diocese, “I encourage all of the faithful of the Diocese of Lafayette to take this moral evaluation to heart as you make your decision to receive the coronavirus vaccinations as they become available.”
The vaccine, which was approved for emergency use recently, has been the topic of much discussion among Catholics.
On Friday, The Archdiocese of New Orleans advised Catholics to avoid taking the new Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
The reason behind the announcement is due to the debate about moral and ethical questions about vaccine development, more specifically "abortion-derived cells."
"The archdiocese must instruct Catholics that the latest vaccine from Janssen/Johnson & Johnson is morally compromised as it uses the abortion-derived cell line in development and production of the vaccine as well as the testing."
The Johnson and Johnson one-shot vaccine was approved for emergency use over the weekend. Doses of the vaccine are expected to be in use by this week. The Archdiocese does recommend the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines as they "do not rely on cell lines from abortions in the manufacturing process and therefore can be morally acceptable for Catholics as the connection to abortion is extremely remote."
New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond tested positive for COVID-19 in April 2020.
In Baton Rouge, the Associated Press reports that Bishop Michael Duca expressed similar concerns but expressly added that the faithful should feel free to receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine if the others are unavailable.
The full statement from New Orleans is below.
"There has been much discussion of late over the COVID-19 vaccines becoming available to the public as a means of bringing the pandemic under control. For Catholics in particular there has been much discussion and debate about moral and ethical questions around the development of the vaccines in regards to their use of morally compromised cell lines created from two abortions that occurred, one in the 1970s and one in the 1980s.
The Archdiocese of New Orleans, in light of guidance from the Vatican, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and The National Catholic Bioethics Center affirm that though there was some lab testing that utilized the abortion-derived cell line, the two vaccines currently available from Pfizer and Moderna do not rely on cell lines from abortions in the manufacturing process and therefore can be morally acceptable for Catholics as the connection to abortion is extremely remote.
It is under the same guidance that the archdiocese must instruct Catholics that the latest vaccine from Janssen/Johnson & Johnson is morally compromised as it uses the abortion-derived cell line in development and production of the vaccine as well as the testing.
We maintain that the decision to receive the COVID-19 vaccine remains one of individual conscience in consultation with one’s healthcare provider. We also maintain that in no way does the Church’s position diminish the wrongdoing of those who decided to use cell lines from abortions to make vaccines. In doing so, we advise that if the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine is available, Catholics should choose to receive either of those vaccines rather than to receive the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine because of its extensive use of abortion-derived cell lines."
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