CNA Staff, Dec 16, 2020 / 12:30 pm
Bishop Daniel Flores has released a pastoral letter reaffirming the morality of Catholics receiving the coronavirus vaccines. Flores, the Bishop of Brownsville, Texas, was elected by the other American bishops last month to serve as the next chair of the USSCB's committee on doctrinal affairs.
In a December 8 letter to his diocese, Flores said that he wants "to assure Catholics that it is morally permissible for us to make use of the various vaccines when they become available," and that claims that the vaccines are "morally tainted" due to an association with abortion is an "inaccurate appraisal."
Vaccine distribution began in the United States on December 14.
"It is important to note that neither the Pfizer nor the Moderna vaccines, which are now being prepared for distribution, used aborted fetal cells in the development or production of their vaccine," he said. The bishop did note that "early lab testing, though, seems to have involved use of a tainted cell line."