Citing the need for the Catholic Church to "lead by example" and act responsibly to protect others during the coronavirus pandemic, Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso has said that all Church employees and ministry volunteers must be vaccinated.

"For the sake our brothers and sisters, I am requiring all those who are employed by the Church and all those who perform Church ministries including, but not limited to, catechists and Eucharistic ministers to be vaccinated," the bishop wrote.

Those who cannot be vaccinated due to "particular health issues" may seek an exemption, he said.

Board members at the National Catholic Bioethics Center have told CNA that Cardinal Blase Cupich has urged that the center retract its guidance against mandated immunization.

The board members who spoke with CNA said that they would oppose the change they say the cardinal is seeking.

One of the board members told CNA, "I think everyone should be vaccinated. Catholics should be the first to give a good example. There are legal precedents in which the state has mandated vaccines in extreme circumstances, but the conscience of religious people should be respected."

Mary Haddad, RSM, the CEO and president of the Catholic Health Association, agrees that more must be done now to halt the advance of the Delta variant.

"I believe that there is a moral responsibility for all in health care professions to be vaccinated, period," she said.

"I feel very strongly about that because you are potentially putting others at risk because of your inability to protect yourself and to do what you can in order to mitigate this increasing surge."

Catholic seminaries in the northeast of the USA are requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for their seminarians before the coming semester begins.

Mt Saint Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Maryland is one of the colleges requiring students and seminarians to be vaccinated before coming to campus in August 2021.

At St John's Seminary in Boston, vice rector Fr. Thomas Macdonald said seminarians are "expected" to be vaccinated.

The job of a priest requires being close to the people, Macdonald noted. He told CNA that a priest needs access to places that house vulnerable people such as nursing homes.

St. John's is allowing seminarians to opt out of vaccination, but the seminarian must explain his reasoning for doing so.

The Holy Father was unambiguous in a January interview, "I believe that morally everyone must take the vaccine. It is the moral choice because it is about your life but also the lives of others."

Sources

Catholic News Agency

America Magazine

Catholic News Agency

The gesture has spread. Lately, even police officers showing solidarity have knelt before those protesting the May 25 killing of George Floyd, who died after being filmed pinned to the ground with a knee to his neck, constrained by a police officer.

On 1 June Bishop Mark Seitz from El Paso joined with the gesture, 'taking a knee' during a rally. He was the first Catholic bishop to do so.

Holding a sign that read "Black Lives Matter", he led a silent prayer for eight minutes and 46 seconds - the length of time police officer Derek Chauvin held his knee on George Floyd's neck.

Seitz says he was nervous about making the gesture.

"It's difficult to know what a bishop should do. But I've had some excellent advisers — people and priests. I tried to listen to them, listened to my heart."

"Sometimes, you just have to take the leap into the unknown."

Seitz's action was rewarded last Wednesday, when he received an unexpected phone call.

It was the Pope's secretary, who said the Holy Father was on the line.

Francis congratulated him for speaking out, Seitz said.

Francios also said he had called Archbishop Jose Gomez, the president of the U.S. bishops' conference, to convey support and solidarity during the civil unrest.

"I told him I felt it was very important at this time to show our solidarity to those who are suffering," Seitz says.

"I told him I had just come from Mass at which I was praying for him and I always do. He thanked me and said that whenever we celebrate Mass, we are praying together, he where he is and me at the border."

Seitz says the phone call shows Francis "is aware of what's happening...and is anxious for the church to be responsive in a pastoral way ... in solidarity with those who have experienced racial discrimination."

After the call, Seitz wrote an essay reaffirming his commitment to racial justice.

"Frankly, civil rights are not enough. That's the minimum and clearly, we're not there yet," he wrote.

He also reflected of an image he saw on video of "a young white woman at a protest near the White House who put her body in front of a young kneeling black teenager as police officers in riot gear approached."

"As Jesus said, ‘No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends."

"It's a scene of solidarity and self-giving that has played out across the country so many times in the last week.

"Here in El Paso there were two young police officers who knelt down ... during our protest and it helped diffuse some tension. There is something profoundly eucharistic about that and I'm so inspired by our young people. They are teaching us something."

Source

• Catholic News Service
• Insider
• Image: KVIA

Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, told the House Judiciary Committee on June 25 that violence in their homelands is the root cause of so many children immigrating illegally.

Bishop Seitz said authorities must let religious groups and individuals minister to these children once they have arrived at the border patrol stations and shelters.

He said various requests to do so have been denied.

The bishop also called for efforts by Congress to address the root causes of such migrations.

He said simply deporting the minors "is akin to sending these children back into a burning building they just fled".

The United States Department of Homeland Security has reported that 52,000 illegal child migrants that have been apprehended at the border this fiscal year, up from 15,700 last year.

Three quarters of them are from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.

Bishop Seitz said gangs in these three countries are increasingly targeting children, attempting to recruit them into their networks and threatening violence against the children and their families if they refuse.

He said migration should be "orderly, safe, controlled and consistent with the common good".

Bishop Seitz lamented the state of overcrowded detention facilities for the children, and emphasised the importance of due process and legal representation for migrant children.

In early June, leaked photos were published showing dozens of children crammed into bare rooms.

President Barack Obama spoke of an "urgent humanitarian situation".

There are around 5000 immigration cases pending for every qualified judge, so dealing with individual children's cases in the judicial system could take years.

Republican lawmakers and others believe the surge in child migration has come about because of the Obama administration's lax enforcement of immigration laws.

But Bishop Seitz said the relatively stagnant numbers of migrants from other Central American countries shows violence, not policy, is the primary factor in the surge.

Rumours have spread like wildfire in some Central American nations that US laws have been relaxed.

The Obama administration blames unscrupulous people-smugglers trying to drum up business for starting the rumours.

The White House has promised more help to Central American countries and to appoint more immigration judges.

Sources

• Catholic News Service
• The Economist
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: The Telegraph