Cardinal Parolin rules out religious exemption to Vatican vaccine mandate (National Catholic Register)

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State, has ruled out religious exemptions to a vaccine mandate for Vatican employees.

In a written comment to the National Catholic Register, Cardinal Parolin said that because the Pfizer vaccine was developed using fetal tissues only for testing, “it seems that not wanting to undergo vaccination with this motivation cannot be justified.”

The cardinal drew a distinction between the Pfizer vaccine and other products (from Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca) that were developed using cell cultures “that were donated about 40 years ago for scientific purposes.” Those cell cultures were derived from the remains of an aborted baby.