The Catholic Weekly 16 January 2022

The [Society’s] submission also claims that religious freedom legislation would privilege religious speech over other hu- man rights and cites the view of National LGBTI organisation Equality Australia ...” THE ST Vincent de Paul So- ciety has stridently opposed the Federal Government’s Re- ligious Discrimination Bill, stating protection for good faith statements of belief “leaves the door wide open to people being subjected to of- fensive remarks, or goods or services being withdrawn, or missing out on employment or educational opportunities”. In the St Vincent dePaul So- ciety submission to the Senate Standing Committees on Le- gal and Constitutional Affairs inquiry, CEO Toby O’Connor writes that the bill “and subse- quent debate may cause hurt to those we assist, as well as to some of our members, volun- teers, and staff”. “We regret this but want to reassure all of our commit- ment to inclusiveness.” The Vinnies submission states the bill “is not best way (sic) to protect the human rights of all Australians, in- cluding their rights to free- dom of religious practice”. “We are concerned that if the Bill is passed, unintend- ed consequences will prevail. People will be hurt, poten- tially on many levels, and will have no legal remedy,” O’Con- nor wrote. “This is what happens when an attempt is made to exclude certain conduct as discrimination.” O’Connor expresses con- cern that amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act have not been passed to “protect students from being suspend- ed or expelled from schools based on their sexual orien- tation”. The submission also claims that religious freedom legisla- tion would privilege religious speech over other human rights, and cites the view of National LGBTI organisation Equality Australia that the purpose of the bill’s proposed protections for religious speech are “to allow people to say, write and communicate things which could be dis- crimination today”. “The Society considers that anti-discrimination legisla- tion should provide a degree of protection and support for those who are vulnerable and marginalised. It should not privilege certain groups over others, who feel their rights CONTINUED P2 Vinnies opposes bishops National St Vincent de Paul Society submission to Religious Discrimination Bill inquiry says religious freedom laws supported by Bishops would hurt, shun, shame ¾ Adam Wesselinoff SUNDAY 16 January, 2022 CatholicWeekly The www.catholicweekly.com.au THE CHURCH. ALL OF IT A TASTE OF HEAVEN Taizé experience opens t o young Australians P6 ANGELS IN THE ARCHITECTURE Karl Schmude: why cathedrals matter P12 Faith, science and vaccines NSW is among the world’s most vaccinated ju- risdictions. Almost 95 percent of over-16s have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, with third shots now being rolled out. There is no reason to think Catholics have been vaccinated at a lower rate than other de- mographics. Catholic opposition to vaccina- tion, where it still exists, tends however to be more entrencheddue to the involvement of fetal stem cell lines in the development of vaccines. For many Catholics, discussions about vacci- nation have turned into arguments as the pan- demic has dragged on. The Catholic Weekly of- fers this Q&A with American doctor Gwyneth Spaeder, edited for length, as a source of infor- mation on the COVID-19 vaccine - whether the reader has received the shot, or not. Faith suspicions: A vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech COV- ID-19 vaccine. US Catholic doctor Gwyneth Spaed- er answers common faith-related questions about Covid vaccines. PHOTO: CNS, LUCY NICHOLSON, REUTERS I should like to offer answers to some fre- quently asked ques- tions and present constructive criticism on the incomplete or in- correct assertions and conclusions I frequent- ly hear. I write as a physi- cian who has spent the last 20 months working with COVID patients and their families. I write specifical- ly as a paediatrician who has watched children lose parents and grandpar- ents, months of education, and sometimes their own health to this virus. I write also as a mother who has tried to balance my vocational call as wife and mother with my duty to my patients; to reconcile what I know to be scientifically valid with my desire to re- turn my family life to nor- mal, and to continue to work with my husband to raise our children in the Catholic faith, using the challenges of this historical moment to emphasise that Catholicism honours both faith and rea- son. QUESTION: Did the 2020 Note from the Congrega- tion for the Doctrine of the Faith on the morality of using some anti-COV- ID-19 vaccines rely on in- complete data? TODATE, themost author- itative Catholic statement on COVID vaccines is the 2020 Note from the Con- gregation for the Doctrine of the Faith concerning the use of some COVID-19 vaccines. It is sometimes claimed that, at the time the Note was written, there was incomplete data on both the nature of the de- sign and of the compo- nents used in the mRNA vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna. It is understandable that many people had questions re- garding the use of mRNA technology when these vaccines were first granted Emergency Use Authori- sation by the US Federal Drug Administration. It was not a lack of data, however, but a lack of familiarity with the in- volved science among the CONTINUED PAGE 4  Dr Gwneth Spaeder