CLIFTON, New Jersey (LifeSiteNews) – When a bishop threatened to suspend his priests for not taking morally questionable medical products, Catholics in the diocese decided that prayer was the answer
Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney of the Diocese of Paterson warned clergy that they could be removed from “active ministry” if they did not take the abortion-tainted COVID-19 vaccines. In response, Catholics have planned a rosary rally at the Paterson Diocesan Center in Clifton, New Jersey on September 24 to pray for the defense of unborn life.
A flyer advertising the rally stated that the event was also intended as a request to the bishop, who has supported the pro-life cause in the past, “to have his actions line up with his words.”
“Bishop Sweeney claims that getting an abortion tainted vaccine is an act of charity – but to who?! Clearly not to the unborn,” it continued.
The decision to hold a prayerful demonstration was sparked by a message the 51-year-old bishop sent to his clergy last week, strongly urging them to take the experimental COVID-19 injections.
Perhaps unaware that cell lines derived from an aborted infant were involved in the injections’ development, Sweeney declared that their emergence was “God sent.”
While saying that his “encouragement” was “one step short of a mandate,” the bishop hinted strongly that clergy who did not take the jabs would be prevented from exercising their priestly faculties.
“If you feel that you are unable to be vaccinated, please be in touch with one of [the] diocesan Vicars General in order to discuss your reasoning with them, so that they may consult with me for further discussion on particular individual exemptions and whether a priest who is not vaccinated can remain in active ministry,” Sweeney wrote.
“Exemptions from vaccination for clergy, other than those for legitimate medical reasons, will be minimal.”
The bishop did not mention any possibility of religious or conscience-based exemptions.
Due to their connection to abortion and, after their rollout, thousands of deaths and millions of other injuries, the hastily developed injections present significant moral issues for Catholics and other Christians.
The bishop’s directive flies in the face of guidance from the U.S. National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC) affirming that the “sure judgement” of one’s own conscience regarding the moral liceity of taking any medical intervention “must be obeyed.” The NCBC concluded that “if a Catholic comes to an informed and sure judgment in conscience that he or she should not receive a vaccine, then the Catholic Church requires that the person follow this certain judgment of conscience and refuse the vaccine.”
Some cardinals and bishops have spoken against using abortion-tainted injections. Cardinal Raymond Burke declared: “It must be clear that it is never morally justified to develop a vaccine through the use of the cell lines of aborted fetuses. The thought of the introduction of such a vaccine into one’s body is rightly abhorrent.”
The organizers of the Rosary rally hope that Sweeney, too, might be converted to that belief, and asked others to join them to “pray for Bishop Sweeney to Defend Life.”
“We will pray for Bishop Sweeney to protect the religious freedom and personal decisions of his priests and people,” they stated in their flyer.
“We will also prayer for Bishop Sweeney to call the people under his care to stop contracepting, speak out against abortion on all levels, and to respect the consciences of those who do not want to cooperate with evil.”
The rosary rally is to be held on September 24 at 2 pm at the Paterson Diocesan Center, 777 Valley Road, Clifton, NJ, 07013.
LifeSiteNews reached out to the organizers via email about the event.
“We want heaven for Bishop Sweeney and our bishops,” they replied. “We feel orphaned by them because of their actions. We had our churches locked and the Sacraments taken from us – why?! Basically we were told they were not essential and yet Planned Parenthood was open and again, not a whimper from our bishops. We feel betrayed.”
“Our prayer is that Bishop Sweeney will realize what is involved in the procurement of these so called vaccines and that he will stand with us and defend his priest sons from cooperating with such evil,” wrote the organizers. “He mentions removal from active ministry! That’s like telling a mother holding her newborn, ‘You can’t be a mother!’ and ripping their baby from her arms! We are the spiritual children of these priests and we are orphaned if we do not have spiritual fathers. We are lifeless without the Sacramental Grace that they provide for us. It is shameful to use this type of threat!”
“We pray for you to be a saint! Here is your opportunity! Suffer for us,” the organizers said. “If you stand up against the other bishops you will be persecuted. But join Bishop Strickland and Cardinal Burke and Bishop Schneider, etc. This is a huge defining moment. Are you truly for the unborn? Religious liberty? Do you love your priest sons and respect their freedom to act according to their consciences using Free Will? Do you love your sheep in the same way?”
“We’ve lost our trust in our bishops, but this reversal can help us to restore it,” they added. “Where will you stand dear bishop? We are praying for you to be a saint in this late hour.”
Editor’s note: This article has been updated with comment from the organizers.