Page 24 - Vaccines

Vaccines and Catholic morality

immuno-depressed after chemo-therapy, could not go to
school for fear of contracting the contagion, until the
principal persuaded parents to allow their children to be
vaccinated. This latter case shows how resistance to
vaccination had led to the loss of herd immunity to the
disease. In effect, Grignolio's contribution notes the
enormous value of vaccinations as such and his appeal
to “civic duty” corresponds to the common good.1⁷

d. Some necessary qualifications which are
not to be ignored
Notably absent from Grignolio’s presentation was any
reference to the immoral origins of the vaccines against
coronavirus; since he seems to work with Eurostemcell,1⁸
it may be surmised that he sees no problem about this. A
utilitarian and technological focus can incorporate ele-
ments of justice with regard to the common good and to
just distribution of vaccines; Grignolio ignores the key
question of the immoral origins of the vaccines. The recent
interventions by the Pontifical Academy for Life and by
the Pontifical Commission on the virus seem to advert to
this question indirectly. The statement of Cardinal Pujats
and of his fellow bishops identifies this as the key question
in relation to scandal and cooperation.
When Pope Francis said that the Church “is not an expert
in the prevention and in the cure of the pandemic”,1⁹ this
must be taken to mean both that she is not competent as
such in medical science and also that she does not always
have a ready answer to every moral question that arises.

1⁷ Presentation by Andrea Grignolio, researcher on human stem
cells at Eurostemcell, on Sky Tg24 in Italy on 22nd and again on
23ʳᵈ January, 2021.
1⁸ See www.eurostemcell.org.
1⁹ Pope Francis, General audience, 5ᵗʰ August, 2020.

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