Msgr. Charles Pope: Conscience, COVID Vaccines and the Common Good

The Church helps us to find a common ground between the good of each and the good of all.

By Msgr. Charles Pope, NCRegister, September 24, 2021

We have come to a new chapter in the COVID-19 crisis and conflict that has gripped our Church, this nation and the world. The new chapter involves vaccinations, and the increasing mandates to receive them “or else.” The price of refusal ranges from the irritating weekly testing to fines, and all the way to job termination and banishment from places of trade and restaurants.

In the Church, our response to this has been generally to encourage getting the vaccine but also to reaffirm that vaccination cannot be mandated. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, largely quoting the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, says: ….