The Jesuit college “is requiring all students, faculty, and staff to receive a COVID-19 vaccine prior to the start of the fall semester,” a college spokesman said. “Exemptions are considered for legitimate medical and religious reasons. A religious exemption may be granted if vaccination goes against the fundamental tenets of a faith. Given that Pope Francis, Cardinal Sean (O’Malley), and millions of Catholics worldwide have been vaccinated, it is difficult for Catholics to make an argument against a COVID-19 vaccination.”

In its document on the morality of anti-Covid vaccines, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said that “practical reason makes evident that vaccination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation and that, therefore, it must be voluntary.”