Score one for Catholics in the U.S. Military, thanks to Archbishop for the Military Services Timothy P. Broglio:

Catholic U.S. troops should be allowed to refuse the COVID-19 vaccine based solely on conscientious objection and regardless of whether abortion-related tissue was used in its creation or testing, the archbishop for the military declared in a new statement supporting service members who are seeking religious exemptions.

"No one should be forced to receive a COVID-19 vaccine if it would violate the sanctity of his or her conscience," said Archbishop for the Military Services Timothy P. Broglio, in a statement released Tuesday.

Broglio previously has supported President Joe Biden's mandatory vaccination order for U.S. troops, citing the church's guidance that permits Catholics to receive even vaccines derived from fetal tissue, when no other vaccine option is available. In his new statement, the archbishop said that while he still encourages followers and troops to get vaccinated, some troops have questioned if the church's permission to get vaccinated outweighed their own conscious objections to it.

"It does not," Broglio wrote.

That's the sort of unqualified defense of religious liberty and freedom we need.

There is no religious figure who can override your conscience before God. Broglio affirms the Christian teaching that no government or leader can force someone to do something they believe is morally wrong, or give unto Caesar that which is not Caesar's.

As various vaccine mandate deadlines approach, it will become more critical than ever for sympathetic leaders and authorities to speak out in defense of exemptions and exceptions. Broglio dropped the ball on this earlier, but it would appear that he's reversed course.

Better late than never!

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