Vatican orders all employees to get vaccine or submit to testing
WASHINGTON POST
by Chico Harlan
29 September 2021
The Vatican City State said Tuesday that it would soon begin requiring all employees ”” including the highest members of the Catholic Church ”” to show proof of vaccination or of a recent negative coronavirus test. Those without the proper certificates, the Vatican said, will be considered "unjustly absent” ”” and will be paid no salary.
Though the measures apply to a relatively small number of people, the firm stance also amounts to a symbolic message for Catholics across the world, some of whom have debated the question of vaccination exemptions on religious grounds.
In this case, the Vatican is not yet providing any exemptions, though it said the issue would be assessed by the Secretariat of State, with input from the city-state’s health department. The new rules go into force Oct. 1.
Pope Francis, who was vaccinated this year, has made it clear that he thinks that vaccination is a moral duty. And the Vatican has said it is acceptable for Catholics to use vaccines, including those that use cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research.
The issue of exemptions is particularly potent in the United States. Dioceses in many large American cities have instructed their priests not to issue exemption letters to parishioners. But there are exemptions. A minority of bishops ”” such as those in South Dakota, for instance ”” have argued in favor of the option.
Despite the disagreements, most Catholics support vaccination. According to the Pew Research Center, some 82 percent of Catholic adults in the United States say they were at least partially vaccinated as of August.
