Denver Newsroom, Nov 13, 2021 / 12:00 pm (CNA).
The Diocese of Madison says media have misrepresented its decision to not host onsite COVID-19 vaccination clinics at parishes and other diocesan entities.
“Despite how it is being characterized in some news reports and social media posts, the decision for parishes and other diocesan entities within the Diocese of Madison not to host onsite COVID-19 vaccination clinics is not about condemning or discouraging vaccination,” the diocese said in a Nov. 12 statement.
“Apart from the moral and medical dimensions of this decision, the issue has become bitterly divisive. Since there are already ample vaccination sites within the eleven counties of the diocese, Bishop [Donald] Hying has decided that it would be best for parishes and other diocesan entities not to host vaccine clinics.”
The Diocese of Madison instructed its 102 parishes not to host COVID-19 vaccination clinics, following the approval of the vaccine for children ages 5-11.
At the time, a spokesperson said the diocese wished to maintain “neutrality” on the issue of COVID-19 vaccination for children and adults.
The decision drew the condemnation of many, most notably Father James Martin S.J. who tweeted that the decision was “anti-life.” Fr. Martin has equated on several occasions wearing a mask with saving unborn babies.
Anti life. https://t.co/ZeXU1nvKLq
— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) November 11, 2021
The Diocese of Madison said Fr. Martin mischaracterized the decision.
“When there are more than enough facilities to offer vaccinations throughout the diocese, choosing not to host vaccination clinics does not equate to being “Anti life”,” the diocese said. “Rather, it avoids the appearance of unequivocal moral endorsement while also respecting individuals’ and parents’ ability to make a decision based on their legitimate weighing of the medical and moral concerns involved.”
The original announcement regarding COVID-19 vaccination clinics explicitly states the decision “should not be in any way interpreted as the local Catholic Church or her leadership discouraging vaccinations.”
Bishop Hyland has joined the other bishops of Wisconsin in encouraging Catholics to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
“However, this is not a decision that involves either an absolute moral imperative or an intrinsic moral evil,” the diocese said. “As such it should be made by individuals and parents with a well-formed conscience as to what is appropriate for their own circumstances, weighing carefully the medical and moral facts and the potential risks versus the hoped-for benefits.”
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Our Church’s “apology tour,” long past being boring, has descended into a sort debasing masochistic exhibition of self-contempt.
Let’s abandon it.
Does anyone really not understand why we are evaporating? Above even the corruption in the theological academy we need look no further than our faithless impotent leadership.
Hear hear a thousand times. The RCC is beginning to sound more and more like a political party or lobbying group (leadership is anyway)
I recently read Samuel Gregg’s foreword to Fr. Dwight Longenecker’s new book, *Beheading Hydra*. Gregg notes Longenecker’s view that radical discipleship “eschews dialogue for the sake of dialogue and pretending that those preaching errors are always people of goodwill.” This is the point to which I’ve finally gotten with respect to James Martin, SJ.
Despite Bishop Hying’s thoughtful and reasonable explanation for not sponsoring vaccination clinics at his parishes, Martin jumps in with an outrageously materialistic and divisive comment. There is no way to understand Martin’s intention as other than evil. He constantly shames holy and faithful bishops and brings scandal. His activities and the acclaim he receives are more and more demoralizing to the faithful, especially seminarians and those discerning vocations in service of the Church.
At times like this when I feel antagonized by some in the Church hierarchy, I remind myself that Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church of which I am a member. Pope Francis, who enables Martin and countless others like him, occupies the Chair of Peter but is not the Head of the Church. Heaven and earth will pass away, but Christ’s words will never pass away.
The diocese probably saved itself from being named in numerous lawsuits in the future by its prudent decision! Martin probably has a grudge he is trying to inflict for some perceived offense against sodomy.
God help us all,
tom
Somebody needs to point out to Fr. James Martin that his support of homosexual unions is anti-life.
or pro an evil life