Covid-19 and religious conscience rights: vaccine objectors stand on firm ground

I’m a regular on Drew Mariani’s afternoon show on Relevant Radio. We talk about everything from the Church to politics to culture. Recently, we talked about Covid-19 and conscience—about honoring a Catholic’s appeal to religious rights. The phones lit up.

Among the callers was a distraught New Jersey woman whose husband, a doctor employed by a hospital for over 20 years, had just been fired for declining forced vaccination. Her voice cracking, she explained that in addition to religious objections to vaccination, her husband has indisputable medical objections because of auto-immune issues. The vaccines could be hazardous.

He appealed not only to the U.S. Constitution but the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which in December 2020 formally affirmed: “vaccination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation.” It “must be voluntary.” This was officially affirmed by the American bishops.

The hospital refused him, with no explanation. He sought legal assistance. “It was like throwing away money,” his wife told Drew and me. “The lawyers said there was nothing they could do.”

He’s far from alone. This unethical assault on health care workers continues nationwide, with no relief from the U.S. Supreme Court.

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