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We congratulate and thank our Senior Altar Servers for their years of service to OLM and God’s Holy Altar We promise our continued prayers as they depart for college. God’s Blessings upon them!
Left to right with Fr. Healey: Casey McQuesten, Senior Lector and Senior Altar Servers: Dylan
Brunner, Grace Truslow, Grace Dobrzynski, Catherine Clements, Katie O’Connell, and Giabella Childs
OLM Class of 2021 get ready for Graduation Ceremony.
Class of 2021, you made it!! After everything, you made it. Congratulations. You know, I stood here a year ago speaking to our Class of 2020 about how strange their eighth-grade year had been. But I think you have them beat. So much of what you expected from eighth grade never came to pass: dances and field trips, First Friday Masses, Christmas festivities, and everything else that you had looked forward to throughout your years at OLM. And while there are greater sufferings in life than missing out on eighth grade events, the absence of them leaves a sense of loss, and even sadness that lingers over our celebration this evening.
It makes sense to ask yourself what you ought to do with that sadness. And you can start by acknowledging it and recognizing it as real. The truth is that you have borne a burden this year that was not yours to bear. It has not been fair. And the old saw is that life is not fair, which, quite frankly, is a very annoying thing that adults say to children and would be supremely annoying for me to say to you right now. But there is more wisdom in that line than you might think, because for us to meet the standard of fairness is to meet the standard of justice. If we suffer for our own sins, if we bear the burdens we deserve, that is justice. But to carry those burdens we have not merited is something greater: that is mercy. That is love. Carrying the cross for others was the fundamental act of Christ, when as a perfectly sinless man, He took upon Himself all the sins of the world. The Crucifixion was the most unfair act in the history of the world. It was also the act that saved it. And you, over the past fifteen months, have engaged in the imitation of Christ, carrying a cross that was not of your making.
You have begun to walk the path of the saint. And that is a good thing. It is the saint who calls people back to God. When Christianity stood in turmoil after the fall of the Roman Empire, it was St. Benedict who launched a spiritual renewal with his monastic rule, one of whose adherents would become Pope St. Gregory the Great and restore order to the Church and the civilization that depended on it. One thousand years later, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Thomas More, and others led a Catholic revival in response to the criticisms of the Protestant Reformation. And now here we stand five hundred years later, in challenging, uncertain times of our own, waiting for the saints who will show us the way.
You may not be blessed with easy times. You certainly have not been for the past fifteen months. But history does not remember those who lived in ease. We do not look up to George Washington or Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, or Abraham Lincoln because their paths were smooth. Nor did our Church raise men and women like St. Joan of Arc, St. Francis of Assisi, Pope St. John Paul II, or St. Teresa of Calcutta to the altars because they faced no obstacles. Rather, we honor them because they lived lives of heroic virtue right on through their many challenges, and in so doing, they left the world better for those that followed them. Those are the examples for you to emulate.
Do not set your sights on the multitude of celebrities who have gained fame more for their vices than their virtues. Resist a culture that screams for your attention at every moment, and that draws it away from prayer, the sacraments, and the only truth that satisfies. Aim for virtue. Aim for sanctity. Aim to be the next Washington, Tubman, Douglass, or Lincoln, the next Joan, Francis, John Paul, or Mother Teresa. Aim to conform yourself to Christ, to call out the best that God has placed in you, and then to draw out the same in everyone around you. That is what your community, your country, your Church, and the world itself need from you. It is a time to stand up for truth, for love, for God. He is calling you to something great. Stand ready to answer.
The Class of 2021
Lucas Ephraim Caporaso Bishop Hendricken High School
Brandon Thomas Carll North Kingstown High School
Patrick Joseph Cavanagh Bishop Hendricken High School
Emily Anne Chatowsky St. Mary's Academy, Bay View
Isabelle F. Crescenzi The Wheeler School
Mike A. DeOrsey La Salle Academy
Sophia Jennie D'Orsi St. Mary's Academy, Bay View
Ava Joy Durfey East Greenwich High School
Lily P. Endslow North Kingstown High School
Brandon G. Flood Bishop Hendricken High School
Evan Charles Franchina Bishop Hendricken High School
Ava Ferrin Hayes South Kingstown High School
Cameron Mitchell Hayes Barrington High School
Connor Kennedy Hayes Barrington High School
William D. A. Hinson Rocky Hill Country Day School
Aidan M. Igoe Bishop Hendricken High School
Jace P. LaPlante Bishop Hendricken High School
Quinn Legault The Prout School
Matthew Joseph Maligaya North Kingstown High School
Madeline Anne Medeiros St. Mary's Academy, Bay View
Mary Theresa Mita La Salle Academy
Ryan James Narcessian Bishop Hendricken High School
Quinn Michael O'Connell Bishop Hendricken High School
R. Camden Ouellette North Kingstown High School
William Oliver Roberti La Salle Academy
Isabelle P. Sammartino Rocky Hill Country Day School
Ian R. Sechio Bishop Hendricken High School
Jonah Hamilton Stockdill Rocky Hill Country Day School
Elizabeth Rose van Meeteren North Kingstown High School
Iris Joan-Marie Weiss St. Mary's Academy, Bay View
Henry Thomas Wind Bishop Hendricken High School
Father Healey and Father Mahoney after Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Francis Church in Wakefield, RI.
Bishop Tobin has assigned Father Daniel M. Mahoney as the new Associate Pastor of Our Lady of Mercy Church and School. Father begins his assignment on July 1, 2021. Bishop Tobin ordained Father Mahoney on Saturday, June 5, 2021, at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul.
Father Mahoney, 33, is the son of Terrance and Carol Mahoney, of Saint Francis Parish, Wakefield. He has three siblings and studied for the priesthood at Saint John’s Seminary, Brighton, Mass. He is an alumnus of Providence College, Rhode Island College, CCRI, and South Kingstown High School. On Sunday, June 6 he celebrated his Mass of Thanksgiving. at Saint Francis of Assisi Parish, Wakefield.
The newly ordained Father Mahoney imparts his first priestly blessing upon Bishop Tobin at the Ordination Mass on June 5, 2021.
The OLM Parish Office will be closed on Fridays during the months of June, July, and August. The office is open Monday thru Thursday from 8:00 am until 4:00 pm. You can contact the parish office at 401-884-4968 or by email at parish@olmparish.org
As Father Barrow announced last weekend, Bishop Tobin has appointed him as the new Pastor of St. Teresa of the Child Jesus Church and School in Pawtucket. He begins this new assignment on July 1, 2021. St. Teresa is large parish with a large parish school. Congratulations, Fr. Barrow!
We wish Fr. Barrow all the best in his first pastorate and assure him of our prayers. And we thank him for his five years of zealous priestly ministry here at OLM. As our Associate Pastor, he has done a tremendous job serving the parish and school. He is a joy to work and live with, and will be missed by many including myself.
At this time, Bishop Tobin has not named a replacement for Fr. Barrow. This year six priests are retiring from active ministry, and just two men are to be ordained. So please pray for an increase of priestly vocations in the Diocese of Providence.
Father Barrow's last Sunday at OLM is June 20, 2021. Appropriately enough, it is also Father's Day! On that weekend, we shall have a chance to officially say "Thank You" and "Farewell" to Father. So please mark your calendars.
We offer our heartfelt and prayerful best wishes to Sister Emma on the occasion of her 25th Anniversary of Religious Profession as a Franciscan Apostolic Sister. The OLM Parish and School community celebrated this special occasion with a Mass of Thanksgiving celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Robert C. Evans of Providence.
Bishop Evans presents Sister Emma with a Papal Blessing.
Bishop Tobin restores the Sunday Mass Obligation
Effective Sunday, June 6, 2021, on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi
Bishop Thomas J. Tobin announced today that he has signed a formal decree restoring the obligation to attend Sunday Mass in the Diocese of Providence effective Sunday, June 6, 2021, the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. Bishop Tobin emphasized that since the pandemic lingers, some individuals are not obligated to attend Sunday Mass, and perhaps should not attend Sunday Mass to protect their health and safety, and that of others.
Read Bishop Tobin's Letter to the Diocese
PRAYER OF THE ROSARY TO INVOKE AN END TO THE PANDEMIC
St Peter's Basilica - Gregorian Chapel
Saturday, 1st May 2021
Prayer before the recitation of the Rosary
At the beginning of the month dedicated to Our Lady, we unite in prayer with all the shrines across the world, with the faithful and all people of goodwill, to entrust into the hands of our Holy Mother all of humanity, sorely tried by this period of pandemic.
Each day of this month of May we will entrust to You, Mother of Mercy, the many people who have been touched by the virus and continue to suffer its consequences: from our deceased brothers and sisters to the families who are living the pain and uncertainty of tomorrow; from the sick to the doctors, scientists, nurses who are engaged on the front lines of this battle; from the volunteers to all the professionals who have rendered their precious service in favor of others; from the people in mourning and pain to those who, with a simple smile and a kind word, have brought comfort to those in need; from those — especially women — who have suffered violence within the walls of their homes due to forced closure, to those who wish to enthusiastically resume the rhythms of daily life.
Mother of Relief, welcome us under your mantle and protect us, sustain us in the hour of trial and enkindle in our hearts the light of hope for the future.
After reciting the Rosary, the Pontiff said a concluding prayer
The Holy Father, Pope Francis, prays the Rosary invoking an end to the pandemic.
Under your protection, we seek refuge, Holy Mother of God. In the present dramatic situation, full of suffering and anguish that grips the entire world, we turn to you, Mother of God and our Mother, and seek refuge under your protection.
O Virgin Mary, turn your merciful eyes upon us in this coronavirus pandemic, and comfort those who are lost and weeping for their deceased loved ones, sometimes buried in a way that wounds the soul. Support those who are anguished over their sick because — so as to prevent contagion — they cannot be close to them. Instill confidence in those who are anxious about the uncertain future and the consequences for the economy and for work.
Mother of God and our Mother, implore for us from God, Father of Mercy, that this hard trial may end and that a horizon of hope and peace may return. As at Cana, you intervened with your divine Son, asking him to comfort the families of the sick and the victims, and to open their hearts to trust.
Protect the doctors, nurses, healthcare personnel, and volunteers who in this time of emergency are on the front lines and put their lives at risk to save other lives. Accompany their heroic efforts and give them strength, goodness, and health.
Be close to those who night and day assist the sick and to the priests who, with pastoral solicitude and evangelical commitment, seek to help and support everyone.
Holy Virgin, enlighten the minds of men and women of science so that they may find the right solutions to overcome this virus. Assist the leaders of nations so that they may work with wisdom, solicitude and generosity to help those who lack the necessities of life, planning social and economic solutions with foresight and a spirit of solidarity.
Most Holy Mary, touch consciences so that the enormous sums used to increase and perfect weapons may instead be used to promote adequate studies to prevent similar catastrophes in the future.
Beloved Mother, make the world grow in the sense of belonging to one great family, in the awareness of the bond that unites us all, so that with a spirit of brotherhood and solidarity we may come to the aid of the many poor and destitute situations. Encourage firmness of faith, perseverance in serving, constancy in praying.
O Mary, comforter of the afflicted, embrace all your afflicted children and obtain that God intervenes with his omnipotent hand to free us from this terrible epidemic, so that life may resume its normal course in serenity. We entrust ourselves to You, who shine on our path as a sign of salvation and hope.
O merciful, O pious, O sweet Virgin Mary, may you guide the steps of your pilgrims who wish to pray to you and love you in the shrines dedicated to you throughout the world, under the most varied titles that recall your intercession. May you be a sure guide for everyone. Amen.
L'Osservatore Romano, Weekly Edition in English, 7 May 2021
The Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization explains that “in response to the Holy Father’s heartfelt wish, the month of May will be dedicated to a ‘marathon of prayer, to ask for the end of the pandemic, which has afflicted the world for more than a year now, and to ask for the resumption of social and work activities".
“At the beginning of this month dedicated to Our Lady,” the Holy Father said, “We join together in prayer with all the sanctuaries spread throughout the whole world, with the faithful, and with all persons of goodwill, to entrust into the hands of our Holy Mother the whole human race, sorely tried by this period of pandemic.”
Each day of the coming month, he said, “the many people who have been affected by the virus, and who continue to suffer the consequences of the pandemic,” will be entrusted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, “Mother of Mercy.”
Congratulations & Welcome!
The Newly Initiated & Received into the Church
Fr. Barrow poses with Gigi Helena Gravel after the Easter Vigil Mass, April 3, 2021.
Baptism, First Communion & Confirmation
Dhara Victoria Teresa Dumont
Reception, First Communion & Confirmation
Elizabeth Edith Stein Plotkin
Gigi Helena Gravel
Baptism & First Communion
Brandon Grady Flood
Lilly Nancy Flood
Cody James Simeone
Michael Arthur Dennis
First Communion
Daniel David Anter
Reception into Catholic Church
Daniel Albert Anter
Confirmation
Thomas Pius Lima
Paulo Anthony Cechinel
Joseph Michael Sinotte
Hunter Peter DePetrillo
Annual Youth Ministry Diocesan Awards
St. Timothy Award
Congratulations to OLM Parishioner and Senior Altar Server Grace Dobrzynski, a LaSalle Academy Senior, for receiving the St Timothy Award, the highest National Catholic Award is given to youth. The St. Timothy Award is a National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry Award given by a diocese to a Catholic youth who lives as a disciple of Christ, sets a positive example for other youth. witnesses to their faith by exhibiting Catholic morals and integrity and demonstrates Gospel values through service to others in their parish, school, and within their community.
Companions on the Journey Award
Congratulations to the 2021 “Companions on the Journey Award” recipient, OLM Parishioner, Cynthia Cavanagh, a teacher at the Prout High School. The Companions on the Journey is a National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry Award given by a diocese to adults who demonstrate a commitment to young people and provide a Catholic faith witness and excellence and outstanding leadership in youth ministry.
CELEBRATION OF PALM SUNDAY OF THE PASSION OF THE LORD
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
St Peter's Basilica
Sunday, 28 March 2021
Every year this liturgy leaves us amazed: we pass from the joy of welcoming Jesus as he enters Jerusalem to the sorrow of watching him condemned to death and then crucified. That sense of interior amazement will remain with us throughout Holy Week. Let us reflect more deeply on it.
From the start, Jesus leaves us amazed. His people give him a solemn welcome, yet he enters Jerusalem on a lowly colt. His people expect a powerful liberator at Passover, yet he comes to bring the Passover to fulfilment by sacrificing himself. His people are hoping to triumph over the Romans by the sword, but Jesus comes to celebrate God’s triumph through the cross. What happened to those people who in a few days’ time went from shouting “Hosanna” to crying out “Crucify him”? What happened? They were following an idea of the Messiah rather than the Messiah. They admired Jesus, but they did not let themselves be amazed by him. Amazement is not the same as admiration. Admiration can be worldly, since it follows its own tastes and expectations. Amazement, on the other hand, remains open to others and to the newness they bring. Even today, there are many people who admire Jesus: he said beautiful things; he was filled with love and forgiveness; his example changed history, … and so on. They admire him, but their lives are not changed. To admire Jesus is not enough. We have to follow in his footsteps, to let ourselves be challenged by him; to pass from admiration to amazement.
What is most amazing about the Lord and his Passover? It is the fact that he achieves glory through humiliation. He triumphs by accepting suffering and death, things that we, in our quest for admiration and success, would rather avoid. Jesus – as Saint Paul tells us – “emptied himself… he humbled himself” (Phil 2:7.8). This is the amazing thing: to see the Almighty reduced to nothing. To see the Word who knows all things teach us in silence from the height of the cross. To see the king of kings enthroned on a gibbet. Seeing the God of the universe stripped of everything and crowned with thorns instead of glory. To see the One who is goodness personified, insulted and beaten. Why all this humiliation? Why, Lord, did you wish to endure all this?
Jesus did it for us, to plumb the depths of our human experience, our entire existence, all our evil. To draw near to us and not abandon us in our suffering and our death. To redeem us, to save us. Jesus was lifted high on the cross in order to descend to the abyss of our suffering. He experienced our deepest sorrows: failure, loss of everything, betrayal by a friend, even abandonment by God. By experiencing in the flesh our deepest struggles and conflicts, he redeemed and transformed them. His love draws close to our frailty; it touches the very things of which we are most ashamed. Yet now we know that we are not alone: God is at our side in every affliction, in every fear; no evil, no sin will ever have the final word. God triumphs, but the palm of victory passes through the wood of the cross. For the palm and the cross are inseparable.
Let us ask for the grace to be amazed. A Christian life without amazement becomes drab and dreary. How can we talk about the joy of meeting Jesus, unless we are daily astonished and amazed by his love, which brings us forgiveness and the possibility of a new beginning? When faith no longer experiences amazement, it grows dull: it becomes blind to the wonders of grace; it can no longer taste the Bread of life and hear the Word; it can no longer perceive the beauty of our brothers and sisters and the gift of creation. It has no other course than to take refuge in legalisms, in clericalisms and in all these things that Jesus condemns in chapter 23 of the Gospel of Matthew.
During this Holy Week, let us lift our eyes to the cross, in order to receive the grace of amazement. As Saint Francis of Assisi contemplated the crucified Lord, he was amazed that his friars did not weep. What about us? Can we still be moved by God’s love? Have we lost the ability to be amazed by him? Why? Maybe our faith has grown dull from habit. Maybe we remain trapped in our regrets and allow ourselves to be crippled by our disappointments. Maybe we have lost all our trust or even feel worthless. But perhaps, behind all these “maybes”, lies the fact that we are not open to the gift of the Spirit who gives us the grace of amazement.
Let us start over from amazement. Let us gaze upon Jesus on the cross and say to him: “Lord, how much you love me! How precious I am to you!” Let us be amazed by Jesus so that we can start living again, for the grandeur of life lies not in possessions and promotions, but in realizing that we are loved. This is the grandeur of life: discovering that we are loved. And the grandeur of life lies precisely in the beauty of love. In the crucified Jesus, we see God humiliated, the Almighty dismissed and discarded. And with the grace of amazement we come to realize that in welcoming the dismissed and discarded, in drawing close to those ill-treated by life, we are loving Jesus. For that is where he is: in the least of our brothers and sisters, in the rejected and discarded, in those whom our self-righteous culture condemns.
Today’s Gospel shows us, immediately after the death of Jesus, a splendid icon of amazement. It is the scene of the centurion who, upon seeing that Jesus had died, said: “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Mk 15:39). He was amazed by love. How did he see Jesus die? He saw him die in love, and this amazed him. Jesus suffered immensely, but he never stopped loving. This is what it is to be amazed before God, who can fill even death with love. In that gratuitous and unprecedented love, the pagan centurion found God. His words – Truly this man was the Son of God! – “seal” the Passion narrative. The Gospels tell us that many others before him had admired Jesus for his miracles and prodigious works, and had acknowledged that he was the Son of God. Yet Christ silenced them, because they risked remaining purely on the level of worldly admiration at the idea of a God to be adored and feared for his power and might. Now it can no longer be so, for at the foot of the cross there can be no mistake: God has revealed himself and reigns only with the disarmed and disarming power of love.
Brothers and sisters, today God continues to fill our minds and hearts with amazement. Let us be filled with that amazement as we gaze upon the crucified Lord. May we too say: “You are truly the Son of God. You are my God”.
Prayer for Palm Sunday and Holy Week
This prayer is designed to be said within the family before a Crucifix on Palm Sunday and during Holy Week.
Dearly beloved, in Holy Week, when the most bitter sufferings of Jesus Christ are put before us by the liturgy, the Church invites us to come to Calvary and follow in the blood-stained footsteps of the divine Redeemer, to carry the Cross willingly with him, to reproduce in our hearts his spirit of expiation and atonement, and to die together with him. We ought to glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ in whom is our salvation, life, and resurrection. (From the words of Pope Pius XII On the Sacred Liturgy. )
Let us pray. All-powerful, eternal God, you have chosen to give mankind a model of humility; our Savior took on our flesh and subjected himself to the Cross. Grant us the grace to preserve faithfully the lessons he has given us in His Passion and to have a share in his resurrection. This we ask of you through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son. Amen.
A Prayer Before a Crucifix
A candle or vigil light is lit before the crucifix; with the electric lights turned off, the natural light of a candle aids concentration on the action of prayer. If at all possible, the entire family is present and participates. At the beginning or end, a hymn could well be included—providing a setting that will be cherished in most family groups.
O good and dearest Jesus, I kneel before your face. With all my heart I ask you to place in my heart more faith, hope, and charity. Give me a true sorrow for my sins and a strong will to do better With great sorrow and grief I look upon your five wounds and think about them. Before my eyes are the words that the prophet David said of you, O good Jesus: "They have pierced my hands and feet They have numbered all my bones."
Sister Soledad, FAS
We are happy to announce that Sr. Soledad Simbe Salgado, who has been working at the Scalabrini Villa Nursing Home and is to now reside at the OLM Franciscan Covent and work with the FAS Sisters at OLM. She begins her ministry here on Monday, February 1, 2021, and will move into the convent this week.
Sister was born in the Philippines and is the fourth of five children. She joined the Franciscan Apostolic Sisters in 1962. She is now a perpetually professed Sister. She holds B.S and M.A. Degrees in Education and over the years she has done pastoral work taught religion and served as a principal. She has worked in various diocesan, parish, and FAS schools at both the elementary and secondary level in the
Philippines and United States.
Sister Soledad arrived in the U.S. in 1988 to serve in the Diocese of Providence at Our Lady of Victory Parish in Woonsocket, becoming a U.S. citizen in 1994. Following her pastoral work at Our Lady of
Victory, then served briefly in the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois before being assigned in 1995 as a
religion teacher at St Joseph School in York, Nebraska. Following her work there, she was assigned to the staff of St. Gregory the Great Seminary in Lincoln, Nebraska until 2001. From 2001 through 2006, Sister took a leave to care for her aging and infirm Father. She then served until 2008 at the FAS Motherhouse in the Philippines.
In 2008, she returned to Illinois to work as a member of the staff of the Bishop of Peoria. From 2009 until 2019, she served again as a religion teacher at St. Joseph School in Nebraska. In August 2019, Sister joined the pastoral staff at the Scalabrini Villa Nursing Home, working along with 3 other FAS Sisters.
We are most grateful to Mother Josephine, Superior of the Franciscan Apostolic Sisters, for assigning Sr. Soledad to Our Lady of Mercy Church and School. May God bless her pastoral ministry here to OLM.
Almighty Father,
You sent forth your Son as a beacon of hope for all people.
As a Teacher, he has given us the prime example of the importance of education.
As disciples, we look to him for inspiration and strength.
Thank you for the many sisters, brothers, priests, and laypeople who have dedicated their lives in service to our Catholic schools.
Thank you to the teachers and administrators who sustain our schools today.
Thank you to the parents who have given support and witness to the importance of Catholic education in their daily lives.
Thank you to the students who work hard to further their education.
Bless Our Lady of Mercy School and the many people who advance our mission.
May our building be a home for those who seek to grow in faith, knowledge, and service of others.
May our community always support one another and exhibit hospitality to newcomers.
Fill our minds with knowledge and wisdom.
May our understanding of the world help us to grow in appreciation for it.
Fill our hearts with gladness.
May we always turn to you in times of need.
Fill our hands with the tools we need to serve others.
May we show them your unceasing love through our actions.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, pray for us.
St. John Neumann, pray for us.
St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.
Our Lady of Mercy, pray for us.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Answers to Key Ethical Questions
About COVID-19 Vaccines
The development of vaccines to combat the COVID-19 pandemic has received much public attention and raised several ethical questions related to their development and use. This document is intended to provide concise answers to some of those ethical questions as well as links to more in-depth resources.
Is it true that there is a connection between some vaccines and abortion?
Yes. Several decades ago, tissue harvested from the bodies of aborted babies was used to create certain cell lines for research purposes. The cells in these lines are, in effect, the descendants of those cells that were originally harvested. They have been made to replicate themselves and some cell lines can be reproduced indefinitely. These abortion-derived cell lines are used as a “factory” to manufacture certain vaccines (e.g. rubella, chickenpox, some of the COVID-19 vaccines, etc.).i The cells themselves, however, are not present in the vaccines that patients receive.
What does the Church say about abortion-derived cell lines and their connection to vaccines?
The Holy See, through the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Pontifical Academy for Life, has provided guidance on this topic on four occasions.ii This guidance has made it clear that it is wrong to create abortion-derived cell lines and for pharmaceutical companies to utilize them, that the use of vaccines produced with such cell lines should be avoided if comparable alternatives with no connection to abortion are available, that grave reasons (e.g., serious health risks) may justify the use of vaccines produced with these cell lines when there are no such alternatives, and that everyone concerned for the sanctity of life should protest the use of these cell lines and advocate for the development of vaccines with no connection to abortion.
Do COVID-19 vaccines use abortion-derived cell lines?
As of the date of this writing, hundreds of vaccines for COVID-19 are in development worldwide, and more than a dozen are in the final stages of testing. Some don’t use abortion-derived cell lines at all, some have used such cell lines to test the vaccine’s efficacy, and some are using such cell lines in the development and/or the production phases. There are currently two vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) being distributed for use in the United States, and there are others that are likely to be made available in the coming months (e.g., AstraZeneca, Janssen, etc.).iii Neither Pfizer nor Moderna used an abortion-derived cell line in the development or production of the vaccine. However, such a cell line was used to test the efficacy of both vaccines. Thus, while neither vaccine is completely free from any use of abortion-derived cell lines, in these two cases the use is very remote from the initial evil of the abortion. The AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines raise additional moral concerns because an abortion-derived cell line is used not only for testing, but also in development and production.
Is it morally acceptable to receive a COVID-19 vaccine that uses abortion-derived cell lines?
Given that the COVID-19 virus can involve serious health risks, it can be morally acceptable to receive a vaccine that uses abortion-derived cell lines if there are no other available vaccines comparable in safety and efficacy with no connection to abortion. If it is possible to choose among a number of equally safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, the vaccine with the least connection to abortion-derived cell lines should be chosen.iv If a vaccine with no connection to abortion-derived cell lines is not readily available, vaccines that used such cell lines only for testing would be preferable to those that use such cell lines for ongoing
production. Such choices may not be possible, however, especially in the early stages of vaccine distribution. In that case, one may receive any of the clinically recommended vaccines in good conscience with the assurance that reception of such vaccines does not involve immoral cooperation in abortion.v
Is there a moral obligation to receive a COVID-19 vaccination?
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has noted recently that “vaccination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation and that, therefore, it must be voluntary. In any case, from the ethical point of view, 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.”vi And it said that “in the absence of other means to stop or even prevent the epidemic” vaccination may promote the common good, “especially to protect the weakest and most exposed.” For a vaccine to be effective in protecting society, most people need to be vaccinated in order to break the chain of disease transmission from person to person throughout the community. The Congregation also said that those who refuse to get vaccinated must do their utmost, by taking all the necessary precautions, to avoid “becoming vehicles for the transmission of the infectious agent. In particular, they must avoid any risk to the health of those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or other reasons, and who are the most vulnerable.”
What can those who uphold the sanctity of life do to protest against the use of abortion-derived cell lines and advocate for ethical vaccines?
First, inform yourself and others about how some vaccines are connected to abortion through the use of abortion-derived cell lines, and about which vaccines use such cell lines. Second, inform your doctor about this connection and ask him or her to provide ethical vaccines, when possible. Third, urge pharmaceutical companies and medical researchers to discontinue using abortion-derived cell lines, and thank them when they do.vii
Are the COVID-19 vaccines safe and effective?
The bishops are not and do not claim to be authorities on the safety and efficacy of vaccines. People should rely on information from authoritative sources in the field of medicine and public health, such as the Food and Drug Administration and qualified health care professionals. The FDA affirms that the vaccines authorized for emergency use in the U.S. have met all the safety and efficacy standards required for such authorization.
Where can I find more information on this topic?
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (www.usccb.org/prolife/biomedical-research) National Catholic Bioethics Center (www.ncbcenter.org)
Charlotte Lozier Institute (www.lozierinstitute.org/category/genetics)
i See Charlotte Lozier Institute at www.lozierinstitute.org/category/genetics.
ii Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction on Certain Bioethical Questions (Dignitas Personae) (2008), nos. 35-36 and “Note on the morality of using some anti-COVID-19 vaccines” (21 December 2020).
Pontifical Academy for Life, “Moral Reflections on Vaccines Prepared from Cells Derived from Aborted Human Foetuses”, (9 June 2005); and Note on Italian Vaccine Issue (31 July 2017).
iii https://www.hhs.gov/coronavirus/explaining-operation-warp-speed/index.html; https://www.defense.gov/Explore/Spotlight/Coronavirus/Operation-Warp-Speed/.
iv As of the date of this document, there are no available COVID vaccine options that are completely free from a connection to abortion-derived cell lines. But there are some COVID vaccines in development that may end up free of such connection. v Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith “Note on the morality of using some anti-COVID-19 vaccines” (21 December 2020), no. 3.
vi CDF Note no. 5.
vii The USCCB Pro Life Office helps with such advocacy through the USCCB Action Center. To receive action alerts, sign up at www.usccb.org/prolife/biomedical-research.
MORE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT THE USCCB WEBPAGE FOR PRO-LIFE ACTIVITIES