Covid-19: US Catholics split after bishops’ conference recommends against Johnson and Johnson vaccine

US Catholics looking for church guidance on vaccination were left with several competing viewpoints this week, as several bishops moved to distance themselves from a statement by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops urging followers to shun the Johnson and Johnson covid-19 vaccine if alternatives were available.

While no covid-19 vaccine contains human tissue of any kind, the Johnson and Johnson vaccine’s manufacturing process used cell lines derived from elective abortions performed decades ago. Other vaccines being used in the US, such as those from Pfizer and Moderna, used these cell lines in testing their vaccines but not in production.

This distinction led the archdiocese of New Orleans to call the Johnson and Johnson vaccine “morally compromised.” The vaccine “should not be accepted by Catholics if other choices are available,” agreed Pennsylvania bishop Alfred Schlert.

“There is no justification for any Catholic” to …