The NCBC published a ‘Vaccine Exemption Resource for Individuals’ on July 21 as a guide to those Catholics whose ‘informed conscience’ has come to the ‘sure judgement’ that the experimental COVID-19 vaccines are either morally, medically, or legally impermissible.

The NCBC laid out four key principles by which individual faithful may determine their responsibility to take or refuse medical interventions:

• Vaccination is not morally obligatory in principle and so must be voluntary.
• There is a general moral duty to refuse the use of medical products, including certain vaccines, that are produced using human cells lines derived from direct abortions. It is permissible to use such vaccines only under certain case-specific conditions, based on a judgment of conscience.
• A person’s informed judgments about the proportionality of medical interventions are to be respected unless they contradict authoritative Catholic moral teachings.
• A person is morally required to obey his or her sure conscience, even if it errs.

In line with the principles set out, the NCBC affirmed that “there is no authoritative Church teaching universally obliging Catholics to receive any vaccine,” thus determining that no binding civil mandate can justly exist…”

The NCBC concludes, “if a Catholic comes to an informed and sure judgment in conscience that he or she should not receive a vaccine, then the Catholic Church requires that the person follow this certain judgment of conscience and refuse the vaccine.”

To put all of this in black and white for us: The NCBC is saying that there is no right or wrong answer. If you feel like you need to be vaccinated, your right as a human being is to stand by that decision. As a Catholic; it is only your responsibility to make an informed choice. No one will be forced to get the vaccine. And they will be available for those who want them. But no matter the decision you make, in the end, we should all know the facts and use caution.

You can view a more thourough break down in the link below:

If you’d like to learn more, we encourage you to research and educate yourselves and loved ones. There is a lot of information out there that is just not factually proven, and it can be difficult to see what is truth in the dump of articles online. Be conscientious and considerate of other people’s beliefs– But never be afraid to express and follow your own.

We’re all in this together. We support your choice.