There are two aspects that need to be clarified in Natalie Sonnen’s letter Nov. 16 letter.

First, the Pontifical Academy for Life is not “new” and not “disbanded under the current Pope.” It is the same Pontifical Academy for Life as before: founded by Saint John Paul II, it continued to work under Benedict XVI, and it has just broadened its horizons and deepened the themes it deals with under Pope Francis. Everyone can check that by visiting our website www.academyforlife.va, our YouTube channel, our Twitter account, and our Facebook page. Our activity is transparent and at the service of the Catholic Church.

Second, the reference document is the 2008 Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the “Instruction” Dignitas Personae whose paragraphs 34 and 35 are about vaccines. The 2017 document by the Pontifical Academy for Life follows the same line as the 2008 “Instruction.”

I am sad that such an important issue as the protection and promotion of life that should unite the Catholic world is used to try to divide it. We must not be involved in this controversy.

Fabrizio Mastrofini
Media Manager
Pontifical Academy for Life – Vatican City


The COVID-19 pandemic is a horrific assault on our human condition. It has taken the lives of more than a million people around the world. It does not discriminate on who will be its victims but has taken a major toll on our elderly and immune-compromised brothers and sisters in Christ. We must ensure we do all possible in following the guidance of our health authorities to minimize the impact this pandemic has on our person and our communities.

In time the medical specialists will develop a vaccine to protect our body, however the pandemic has afflicted so much more. Our hearts and spirits have also been victims in this struggle. God's archenemy has not lost sight of how he can use this assault on our bodies, to inflict lasting damage on our spirits. One must be aware of how Satan is using this pandemic as a weapon against the foundation of our faith, the Body and Blood of Christ. "Unless you eat my Body and drink My Blood you do not have Life” (Jn 6:53).

 Since the pandemic, a health ministry requirement qualified the number of people who could attend gatherings or Mass celebrations. This rule was meant for our physical protection. However, it severely impacted on our spiritual nourishment. It is the Sacred Body and Precious Blood of Christ which gives Life to our soul.

Satan has not lost sight of how he can use this tragedy in his battle with God for our souls. We are 11 months into this pandemic, and it has negatively impacted Mass attendance and reception of the Eucharist. When we fail to eat or exercise our body, our health is detrimentally affected. This same principle applies to our soul/spirit.

It is likely in our parishes a schedule will be developed for attendance at Mass in order to comply with health ministry numbers while offering every parishioner an invitation to receive the Eucharist. It is so important we take advantage of this invitation, although there may be reasons one is not able. But what we do not use we eventually lose and beginning again can be difficult.

John Lloyd
Surrey

The National Catholic Bioethics Center’s position is that when a vaccine is the only one available against a particular disease, regardless of its historical association with abortion, one is free to use the vaccine. The risk to public health outweighs the legitimate concern about the origins of the vaccine.

The centre adds that for the last 40 years cell lines have grown independently and are therefore no longer the cells of the non-coerced aborted fetuses and by themselves never formed part of the victim's body.

Thus obtained, human cell strains have been used to develop currently available vaccines that have saved millions of lives the world over and treated just as many diseases. Individuals, where possible, should use vaccines not developed with the use of human cell strains.

John Bueno
North Vancouver