DUBUCH, Iowa (KCRG) – Archbishop Michael Jackels of Dubuque issued a statement to help answer questions that Eastern Iowa Catholics may have about whether they can, in good conscience, receive the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Janssen pharmaceutical companies Johnson & Johnson.
The declaration is as follows:
“Originally, it did not seem necessary to make a statement about the Johnson and Johnson (Janssen) vaccine; any message would be essentially the same as what was said in December 2020 regarding other vaccines.
However, some Catholics are a little confused about whether they can get the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Therefore, some clarifications are needed:
If Catholics can choose which COVID vaccine to receive, they should choose the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine instead of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Why?
Because Johnson and Johnson used cell lines from the fetal tissue of an aborted baby in the production of their vaccine, while Pfizer and Moderna used them only for laboratory tests.
It is a subtle distinction. All three companies used these ethically compromised cell lines; only that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, because they have limited use, are even more removed from the evil of abortion than the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
However, if Catholics cannot choose which vaccine to receive, it is morally acceptable that they use the Johnson and Johnson vaccine against the serious health risk of the coronavirus.
In this regard, it seems that, at this time, and in the foreseeable future, no one is being offered the choice of vaccines.
In addition, as stated above, there is currently no COVID vaccine available that does not use these abortion-derived cell lines in laboratory design, development, production and / or testing.
Therefore, if Catholics have the opportunity to be vaccinated and cannot choose vaccines, they should be grateful for what is available; the sooner the better.
The common good of protecting public health against a contagious and potentially deadly virus takes precedence over any reservations that Catholics may have about being treated with any of the available vaccines.
Michael Jackels
Archbishop of Dubuque ”
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