Pastoral Letter from Metropolitan JOSEPH
From the outset of the pandemic, we have striven to avoid the extremes of overacting based on irrational fear and underreacting based on irresponsible zeal. We have tried to balance opening our churches for the people to receive the sacraments and utilizing the strategies asked of us to mitigate the risks of our people spreading the virus among themselves....
[Some declare] that no one can contract a virus in the church during services, but over the course of dealing with this pandemic, that has been demonstrated to be untrue around the world and in our Archdiocese. We continue in our assurance that Holy Communion is never a source of spreading disease, nor do I believe the holy things of the Church are, but we as sinful people can spread sickness among one another. We have to be honest about this and take reasonable precautions....
Finally, we hear reports that there are clergy encouraging faithful not to receive the vaccines. Some cite ethical questions raised about possible connections the vaccines have to aborted fetuses, some about whether the vaccines are safe, and some about conspiracy theories…. The two vaccines being offered in the United States did not use fetal cells in either their development or production. While there was confirmatory testing done on a stem cell line tracing back to the 1970’s, neither I or any of the bishops believe this indirect connection is an impediment to the faithful receiving the vaccines in good conscience. Whether or not the vaccine is safe or adequately tested is a question beyond the scientific knowledge and training of our bishops and clergy; this conversation should solely be between the faithful and their doctors....
We are adopting mitigating strategies (wearing masks, social distancing, cleaning, asking those with symptoms to stay home, etc.) that hopefully work together in tandem to protect our people but with a humble realization that these are imperfect and ultimately, we are in the hands of God and His inscrutable will.
We should be clear that the pestilence will not go away simply because of our strategies or even a vaccine. We will find deliverance only when we call our people and ourselves to repentance. I believe too many of us want to do these restrictions temporarily and take the vaccine to have life return to a previous "normal" of engaging in passions and lusts. God wants to see that a deliverance from this pestilence will bring about a "new normal" of greater piety, increased participation in the sacraments, and more love and service to our neighbor. We can adopt the worldly strategies to fight this virus, but we must not forget to utilize the heavenly ones. Let us stop raging about the inconveniences of the worldly strategies in order to focus ourselves and our flocks on the heavenly ones.
