Washington D.C., Oct 13, 2021 / 10:20 am
Service members should not be forced to receive a COVID-19 vaccine against their conscience, the archbishop of the U.S. military archdiocese said on Tuesday.
In a Oct. 12 statement “on Coronavirus Vaccines and the Sanctity of Conscience,” Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA stated that “no one should be forced to receive a COVID-19 vaccine if it would violate the sanctity of his or her conscience.”
“The denial of religious accommodations, or punitive or adverse personnel actions taken against those who raise earnest, conscience-based objections, would be contrary to federal law and morally reprehensible,” he said.
In August, the Pentagon announced that all service members would have to be vaccinated against COVID-19. In advance of that announcement, Archbishop Broglio said that receiving one of the COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in the United States was morally permissible, and that a vaccine mandate “seems prudent” and would be “very similar” to mandates already enforced in the military.