There is “no absolute duty” to boycott any Covid-19 vaccine produced with the help of cells derived from aborted foetuses, said a researcher from a Catholic bioethics institute. Scientists from the University of Oxford, England, are conducting human trials of a possible vaccine against the coronavirus in the hope that it could be made ready for use by September.

But because researchers had used cell lines from a foetus aborted in 1972, the vaccine could present an ethical dilemma for Catholics and others opposed to abortion, said Helen Watt, a senior research fellow with the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, Oxford.

In a briefing paper, she said although it was morally wrong to experiment on foetal tissue obtained from abortion clinics, it was not always wrong to use vaccines produced from such research.

“Boycotting a Covid-19 vaccine in the absence of an alternative is a serious action that should be carefully considered because of its potentially grave risks both for the person and for others,” she said in the paper published on the website of the centre, which serves the Catholic Church in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

She said its use was a matter of individual conscience for Catholics, although they should strive to obtain alternative vaccines, made without foetal cells, once such vaccines arrive on the market.

“The moral onus is certainly on the person to do this as a witness to the value of human life and life-respecting research,” she said.

“Boycotts are often rightly regarded simply as a means of achieving change by highlighting abuses,” she added, though “some will feel, whether rightly or wrongly, called to a boycott even if no alternative vaccine is available to them.”

Humanity has failed to take care of the earth and its inhabitants, sinning against God and his gift of creation, Pope Francis said. Celebrating Earth Day, which fell during the “Easter season of renewal, let us pledge to love and esteem the beautiful gift of the earth, our common home, and to care for all members of our human family,” he said during his live streamed weekly general audience from the Vatican.

The Pope dedicated his catechesis April 22 to a reflection on the human and Christian responsibility to care for the earth, humanity’s common home. The day marked the 50th Earth Day, which was established in 1970 to raise public awareness and concern for the environment and its impact on people’s health and all life. This year also marks the fifth anniversary of the pope’s encyclical, “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home.”

In his catechesis, the Pope said Earth Day was “an occasion for renewing our commitment to love and care for our common home and for the weaker members of our human family.”

“As the tragic coronavirus pandemic has taught us, we can overcome global challenges only by showing solidarity with one another and embracing the most vulnerable in our midst,” he said.

God is good and always forgives, the pope said, however, “The earth never forgives: if we have despoiled the earth, the response will be very bad.”

A Dutch cardinal said that a recent Supreme Court ruling permitting the euthanizing of dementia patients creates confusion and raises questions about consent, especially for the most vulnerable at the end of life.

Speaking on behalf of the Dutch bishops’ conference, Cardinal Willem Jacobus Eijk, the archbishop of Utrecht, high-lighted renewed concerns about the growing practice in the Netherlands in a statement provided to CNA April 23.

The cardinal referred to the supreme court decision, deliver-ed Wednesday, which found that doctors could forcibly euthanize dementia patients if they had previously signed a document approving the procedure.

“In 2016, a physician of a nursing home performed euthanasia in a woman who had a written euthanasia declaration, firmed four years before. This itself does raise the question of whether such a written declaration, firmed years ago, still expresses the actual will of the patient,” said the cardinal.

The woman, who was unable to communicate due to her condition, had stated four years earlier that she wished to decide when the time was right for her death. The woman resisted the attempt to place the needle in her arm, and was given a sedative in a cup of coffee. She was reportedly held down by family members, and was euthanized.