Bishop Larry Silva celebrates a deacon ordination Mass in face mask Jan. 8. (Photo courtesy of Dann Ebina)
By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
“This new year brings some hope in controlling the virus through vaccines,” Bishop Larry Silva wrote in a Jan. 8 letter (see page 2) to Hawaii’s Catholics, while acknowledging that some may have “moral or ethical concerns” because of the use of cell lines from abortions in the vaccines’ development. He concluded by saying that receiving the vaccine could be seen as “our obligation of charity to one another.”
“I will probably get the vaccine when it is available,” the bishop told the Hawaii Catholic Herald Jan. 10.
“I am not sure how ‘essential’ I am considered,” he said in reference to criteria used to determine who gets the vaccine first, “but since I am in good health, I will take my turn so that others whose health may be a little more precarious can get the vaccine sooner.”
To address the morality of receiving the vaccine, the bishop included in his letter two long paragraphs from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ document, “Moral Considerations Regarding the New Covid-19 Vaccines.”
The U.S. bishops cite guidance from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that “affirms that a serious health danger could justify use of ‘a vaccine which was developed using cell lines of illicit origin, while keeping in mind that everyone has the duty to make known their disagreement and to ask that their healthcare system make other types of vaccines available.’”
Bishop Silva provided a digital link to the U.S. bishops’ full document, which further addresses the specific vaccines in question.
“In view of the gravity of the current pandemic and the lack of availability of alternative vaccines, the reasons to accept the new COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are sufficiently serious to justify their use, despite their remote connection to morally compromised cell lines,” the bishops write. “In addition, receiving the COVID-19 vaccine ought to be understood as an act of charity toward the other members of our community … and part of our moral responsibility for the common good.”
The bishops conclude, “Given the urgency of this crisis, the lack of available alternative vaccines, and the fact that the connection between an abortion that occurred decades ago and receiving a vaccine produced today is remote, inoculation with the new COVID-19 vaccines in these circumstances can be morally justified.”
Bishop Silva said that “our obligation of charity to one another” means following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local government instructions for “masking, social distancing, gatherings, etc. and could include receiving a vaccine for the protection and dignity of the lives of those in our communities.”
The decision to receive the vaccine “rests with the individual,” he said, and with the parents or guardians of minors.
