Montreal, Canada, Feb 9, 2022 / 15:00 pm
The Catholic bishops of Quebec, while registering their opposition to the province's imposition of COVID-19 vaccine passports as a requirement to attend religious services, said this week that they accept the requirement for now, and continue to petition the government to end it.
“[I]t seems reasonable to us in the present circumstances to accept certain compromises that contribute to the safety and health of all,” the bishops wrote in a Feb. 3 statement.
“For the moment, we accept that vaccination passports are required to access worship spaces, even if this measure upsets us deeply. However, we remain in contact with government authorities to remind them that this requirement goes against our beliefs and to ensure that it will be lifted as soon as it is safe to do so.”
Quebec’s vaccine passport system, whereby an electronic record functions as a pass for vaccinated individuals to access certain places or activities, has been in place since Sept. 1, 2021.