I would invite readers who are so inclined to read the full piece<\/a> but I will offer a summary for the average reader of my blog below.<\/p>\n This piece will explore a very specific question: has the Church ever taught that a medicine being tested on fetal cell lines is a significant enough moral issue to skip that medicine?<\/p>\n I will cover three prerequisites, look at the various teachings on vaccines,\u2026 and end with on why this matters.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n There are things the Church says in official magisterial documents. These are official Church teachings. All we will deal with here are ordinary, not extraordinary magisterium so not infallible\u2026\u00a0Then there are theological opinions which can vary\u2026 One can have a theological opinion different from the ordinary magisterium, but an ecclesial spirit would require that it be stated as such not as \u201cmagisterium\u201d or \u201cChurch teaching.\u201d This is even more so if the Magisterium is silent on the topic\u2026<\/p>\n In a way, almost every act has negative moral consequences that could be considered a moral issue. But some are so small as to be functionally irrelevant in making moral decisions because they are so extremely remote\u2026 The issue in the opening question is worded: \u201ca significant enough moral issue to skip that medicine.\u201d Thus, it speaks of a moral issue that is significant enough for some to skip but not significant enough that all Catholics must avoid it. It would also include issues where all must avoid but not an issue so minor that it was never even suggested one might want to avoid it\u2026<\/p>\n This article will limit itself to the issue of fetal cell lines used in testing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Vatican has made 4 statements on the ethics of vaccines. The Pontifical Academy for Life (PAL) \u2013 not magisterium \u2013 made statements in 2005 and 2017. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) \u2013 magisterium \u2013 made statements in 2008 and 2020. All but the 2017 statement clearly point to an ethical issue that may make Catholic choose not to use a vaccine grown on or produced using fetal cell lines. I cannot see any arguing that fetal cell line testing is \u201ca significant enough moral issue to skip that medicine.\u201d [I will only cover the two CDF statements here: read the PAL statements in the original<\/a>.] \u2026<\/p>\n Dignitas Personae in 2008 was the first magisterial document to address vaccines produced on fetal cell lines. The relevant quote: \u201cGrave reasons may be morally proportionate to justify the use of such \u2018biological material.\u2019 Thus, for example, danger to the health of children could permit parents to use a vaccine which was DEVELOPED using cell lines of illicit origin.\u201d\u2026\u00a0Two things\u2026 are worth noting.<\/p>\n First, \u201cgrave reasons\u201d is being used to justify most using the rubella vaccine (part of the MMR) when\u00a0rubella kills<\/a>\u00a0about 1 in 5,900 vs. 1 in 50-200 for COVID. If rubella is sufficiently grave, a disease 30x deadlier\u00a0a fortiori<\/em>\u00a0has sufficiently grave reasons to justify its use.<\/p>\n Second, the word \u201cdeveloped\u201d in English could be ambiguous as referring to production alone or also tests before production. However, versions in other languages make it crystal clear that \u201cdeveloped\u201d means produced and does not include vaccines only tested on fetal cell lines\u2026<\/p>\n The only magisterial statement I can see that might refer to vaccines tested on fetal cell lines is in this document<\/a>: \u201cIt is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process.\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n Later, after noting that vaccines are voluntary, it speaks of the ethics of those not vaccinating: \u201cThose who, however, for reasons of conscience, refuse vaccines produced with cell lines from aborted fetuses, must do their utmost to avoid, by other prophylactic means and appropriate behavior.\u201d\u2026 It is also worth noting that it only foresees Catholics skipping vaccines produced\/grown on fetal cell lines over remote cooperation, and thus indicates those could be boycotted by Catholics. It does not mention those developed using cell lines or those tested on cell lines. Vaccines tested on fetal cell lines had just been approved when this document was posted, so if the Vatican wanted to include them here, they could have. The exclusion of vaccines tested on fetal cell lines appears to be a conscious decision, not a mere afterthought\u2026<\/p>\n We return to the original question: \u201chas the Church ever taught that a medicine being tested on fetal cell lines is a significant enough moral issue to skip that medicine?\u201d Unless someone can show me a document I missed, the answer must be in the negative.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This matters because many people have stated their theological opinion as though it were Church teaching. This is very confusing to the faithful especially when done by people who are called to explain such things to the faithful. This also shows a lack of ecclesial spirit or dishonesty on their part in misrepresenting what the Church teaches.<\/p>\n For example, the\u00a0National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC) vaccine exemption template letter<\/a> states: \u201cAn individual Catholic may invoke Church teaching to refuse a vaccine developed or produced using abortion-derived cell lines.\u201d As it has been established above that the Church has never taught there is a significant enough moral issue to refuse a medicine tested or developed on a fetal cell line, such a Catholic could only invoke Church teaching for \u201ca vaccine produced using abortion-derived cell lines.\u201d I fully support Catholics who make such a determination as ones not grown on a fetal cell line are available as a more ethical option\u2026<\/p>\n The NCBC is free to hold this as a theological opinion and present it to the faithful as such. However, they should not present what is a theological opinion\u00a0as if<\/em> it were Church teaching. I personally question this theological opinion as a certain degree of appropriation of evil is impossible to avoid so should not become a reason for avoiding otherwise good acts. For example. I would question renouncing US citizenship because the original 13 colonies had legal slaves and testing on a fetal cell line is on that kind of level of remote appropriation\u2026<\/p>\n I do not intend to solely attack the NCBC here as I have seen similar things on popular Catholic websites and from clergy. However, the NCBC has a special importance in not misrepresenting Church teaching.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Church teaching clearly indicates that being grown on a fetal cell line is a significant enough moral issue that one is free to boycott a vaccine in certain circumstances, and it would seem to apply to other medicine if this came to pass. However, there is no Church teaching saying the same about vaccines or any other medicines if merely tested on fetal cell lines. This should lead US and Canadian Catholics to prefer the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines over those offered by Johnson & Johnson or Astraeneca (the last one only in Canada now). However, the astronomically remote connection with abortion is not a reason for a Catholic to skip the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine. If you want to see more about how remote this connection to abortion is,\u00a0see<\/a>\u00a0these<\/a>\u00a0pieces<\/a>.Even one of\u00a0the NCBC statements<\/a>\u00a0I critiqued above notes, \u201cBeing vaccinated can be an act of charity that serves the common good.\u201d In fact, I would go beyond \u201ccan be\u201d to \u201cBeing vaccinated is, in the vast\u00a0of majority of cases, an act of charity that serves the common good.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n If you are so inclined, feel free to read the more extensive piece<\/a>. I tried to grab a few sections so my average reader could get the point.<\/p>\nPrerequisites<\/h3>\n
Vatican Statements on Vaccines<\/h3>\n
![\"Palazzo](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/959\/2021\/10\/Congregation_for_the_Doctrine_of_the_Faith-300x242.jpg\")
<\/a>Dignitas Personae<\/h5>\n
2020 CDF Statement on COVID Vaccines<\/h5>\n
Why This Matters<\/h3>\n
Conclusion<\/h3>\n