Welcome to the March 10, 2021 edition of Just 3 Things, the weekly social action newsletter of the Office of Human Life & Dignity. If this email was forwarded to you, and you'd like to receive it each week, please click here.  

Valerie Schmalz

Director

Office of Human Life & Dignity

Archdiocese of San Francisco

On Monday Pope Francis concluded his historic visit to Iraq, the first by a siting pope, taken despite fears by many for his safety in the Middle Eastern country that continues to be pummeled by violence and that has been decimated by decades of war and by the 2014-17 occupation by ISIS. He went despite cautions that the trip should be postponed due to the pandemic. Today in his general audience, the pope commented on his trip, saying "the Church in Iraq is a martyr Church."  Click here for access to all the pope's messages in Iraq. Read an analysis on Crux here.

“The increased availability of Covid-19 vaccines is already having a welcome effect in reducing the spread of this virus. I encourage everyone to be vaccinated in consultation with their physician. “The first available vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) have been determined to be morally acceptable. The newer Johnson & Johnson vaccine, however, is more morally compromised in that stem cells from a line deriving from an aborted fetus were used in its manufacture, not only in testing.

“As noted by the chairmen of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Doctrine and Committee on Pro-Life Activities, ‘The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has judged that “when ethically irreproachable Covid-19 vaccines are not available ... it is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process.”  However, 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.’”

Today is Day One of the St. Joseph Adoption Novena, an initiative of the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. This simple novena is a positive step for life. By praying for all those involved in adoption, we enlarge the circle of life and invoke the powerful intercession of St. Joseph whose feast day is March 19.