It is quite fitting that Mother’s Day in the U.S. is celebrated during May, the month in which we especially honor Mary – Mother of the Redeemer, Mother of the Church and our Blessed Mother.

Mary is often called the first disciple, but she is much more than that. Mary not only follows Jesus perfectly; she leads others to Him with maternal love. Pope Francis, in his apostolic letter The Joy of the Gospel, calls her the “star of the new evangelization.” We see her evangelize in the New Testament when she points away from herself and toward God in Christ.

Any correct veneration of the Blessed Mother recognizes that, though sinless and conceived without sin by God’s special grace, she is still a human being like us. In St. Luke’s Gospel, the angel’s greeting – “Hail favored one! The Lord is with you” – understandably has her “greatly troubled at what was said” (Lk. 1:28-29). However, she ultimately steps out in faithfulness with her fiat that echoes down the centuries: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done unto me according to your word” (Lk. 1:38).

Because of her unique role in salvation history, and her special status as “full of grace,” Mary may seem too remote to be a model of faith as we struggle to do God’s will in the busyness of our lives. And yet, like her, each of us was created by God for a special purpose, and God gave us sufficient grace to accomplish that purpose. He also gave us the Church, the scriptures and the sacraments. We do not travel alone.

When St. Elizabeth says, “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled” (Lk. 1:45), Mary’s response is not about herself. In immediately praising God with one of the most beautiful prayers in the Bible, the Magnificat, she is an exemplar of humility as well as faith.

In addition to seeing Mary as a role model, Christians from the earliest days have asked her to intercede with God for their needs. The perfect example of this is the wedding feast of Cana, where Mary informs Jesus “They have no wine,” and then, with perfect faith, instructs the servers, “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn. 2:3-5).

Pilgrims to the Holy Land, myself included, note that Mary’s spirit infuses Cana, Nazareth and Bethlehem. Unfortunately, over the past year, Israel, Palestine and Jordan have been closed to travelers in response to the pandemic. Now, however, comes an opportunity to participate in a Marian pilgrimage without leaving the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

Our “Radiate Christ Through Mary” pilgrimage will begin with a Mass at Our Lady of Fatima Shrine in Russells Point on Sun., May 16, and end at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains when I re-consecrate the archdiocese to Jesus through Mary on Sat., June 19, the beginning of our bicentennial year. Over the course of those 33 days, pilgrims will carry a blessed statue of Our Lady of Fatima to nearly 40 parishes in every deanery of our archdiocese. In this issue of The Catholic Telegraph, you will learn more about this historic pilgrimage, the four cornerstone events that will highlight it and how you can participate.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult for everyone. As we celebrate Mother’s Day, I am especially mindful of the extra burden it has placed on mothers with children at home, the heartache of mothers and grandmothers who could not be near those they love, and the sorrow of those who have lost mothers and grandmothers to the coronavirus. To all of you, I extend my prayers for a happy and blessed Mother’s Day, and for a better year ahead.

Holy Mary, Mother of God and our mother, pray for us!

On April 12, Archbishop Schnurr sent the following letter to priests and deacons of the archdiocese.

 

April 12, 2021

Dear Brothers in Holy Orders,

On December 3, 2020, I wrote to you outlining some of the most important principles regarding the application of the Church’s moral teaching to the production, distribution and reception of COVID-19 vaccines. There have been several developments since then, so I take this opportunity to provide you with a brief update.

The vaccines developed by Moderna and Pfizer to combat COVID-19 may be taken without moral reservation. As indicated previously, the Chairmen of the U.S. Bishops’ doctrine and pro-life committees said in a November 23, 2020, statement that it is not immoral to be vaccinated with the vaccines being developed by Moderna and Pfizer given the seriousness of the health risk. They went on to say, “Neither the Pfizer nor the Moderna vaccine involved the use of cell lines that originated in fetal tissue taken from the body of an aborted baby at any level of design, development, or production… They are not completely free from any connection to abortion, however, as both Pfizer and Moderna made use of a tainted cell line for one of the confirmatory lab tests of their products. There is thus a connection, but it is relatively remote… at the level of the recipient, it is morally permissible to accept vaccination when there are no alternatives and there is a serious health risk.”

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is ethically more problematic than either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, but may be taken if neither of the other two is available. While an abortion-derived cell line was used only for testing of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was developed, tested and produced with abortion-derived cell lines. The USCCB’s doctrine and pro-life committees said in a statement on March 2, 2021, “If one can choose among equally safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, the vaccine with the least connection to abortion-derived cell lines should be chosen. Therefore, if one has the ability to choose a vaccine, Pfizer or Moderna’s vaccines should be chosen over Johnson & Johnson’s.”

There is no moral obligation to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith noted on December 21, 2020, that “vaccination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation and that, therefore, it must be voluntary. In any case, from the ethical point of view, the morality of vaccination depends not only on the duty to protect one’s own health but also on the duty to pursue the common good.” For a vaccine to be effective in protecting society, including the weakest and most vulnerable, most people must be vaccinated in order to break the chain of person-to-person disease transmission. This should be taken into serious consideration when discerning whether or not to be vaccinated.

Catholics have an ongoing obligation to advocate that vaccine development and distribution be done in a morally acceptable manner throughout every stage. This remains true even when, for the common good and lack of an available alternative, we feel compelled to receive a vaccine, the production of which is in some way linked to morally unacceptable means. Morally acceptable development means development that respects all human life, created in the image and likeness of God, from conception to natural death. Taking innocent human life to harvest such cells and create cell lines which can be scientifically propagated over time is morally unacceptable. Catholics are likewise obliged to advocate for the just distribution of any vaccine so that those most vulnerable, including our poorest communities, may have access.

If you are interested in exploring this topic more deeply, I would point you to resources from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (www.usccb.org/prolife/biomedical-research), the National Catholic Bioethics Center (www.ncbcenter.org) and the Charlotte Lozier Institute (www.lozierinstitute.org/category/genetics).

We pray that the Lord will guide us as we strive for the common good of all and a return to general health and wellbeing.

 

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Dennis M. Schnurr

Archbishop of Cincinnati

 

PDF of Letter: Update on COVID Vaccines 4 12 2021

Alleluia! He is risen!

The word “Alleluia” is Hebrew for “Praise the Lord.” It is a particularly appropriate exclamation during the Easter season as we celebrate Christ’s triumph over sin and death.

For many of us, the continuing restrictions designed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 have made the last 12 months seem like one long Lent. In some cases, just to be able to hug our loved ones again someday will be a kind of resurrection. At the same time, the unexpected loss of family members and others we know to the pandemic – some of them young and apparently healthy – has inevitably prompted reflections on our own mortality.

Death and sin entered the world together in the garden of Eden.  Those are realities that we all face. But death is not the end of the story. Christ’s resurrection paves the way for our own. That is what we celebrate for the seven weeks of the Easter season, the longest season in the Church calendar except for Ordinary Time.

With appropriate health and safety procedures in place, this year we are fortunately able to again observe this wonderful season as a Eucharistic community of faith, despite the persistence of the health crisis.  In 2020, by contrast, there were no publicly celebrated Masses in Ohio from mid-March until May 25. Therefore, on the Fifth Sunday of Easter last year we were not present to hear proclaimed the comforting reassurance of Christ in the Gospel for that day:

“Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.’” (Jn 14:1-6)

Eternal life is a promise from Christ, the way and the truth and the life, and there is nothing surer. That is the “sure and certain hope of the resurrection” that we speak of in prayers for the dead. However, we still need to prepare for our physical death, on both the practical and spiritual levels. This issue of The Catholic Telegraph will help you do that.

Many people have told me that the deaths and disruption related to COVD-19 have been something of a “wake up call,” causing them to closely examine and reprioritize their lives. The purpose of the Lenten penitential season is not to punish us but to change us. And it should be a permanent change, a reset button that helps prepare us to meet Christ at the end of our lives and go with Him to the dwelling place He has prepared for us.

Do you make time every day to encounter Christ in prayer? Is the Eucharist the center of your spiritual life?  Does your relationship with Christ direct your decisions and actions, especially the way your treat others? Do you remember in difficult times that Christ is suffering with you and wants to support you?  If you have not pondered such questions as these during Lent, it is not too late.

As I noted in my bicentennial pastoral letter, Radiate Christ, “Christ constantly offers the invitation to live in relationship with Him and eagerly hopes that we will respond.” He wants to be with us in all our joys and sorrows, in all our successes and failures. Although human beings and human institutions may fail us, Christ never will. Alleluia!