Florida attorney general, Miami archbishop spar over vaccine exemptions in Catholic schools
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has threatened to cut state funding from Catholic schools that do not comply with Florida’s vaccine exemption law, citing a need to align with state law. The dispute centers on whether Catholic schools can grant religious or conscience exemptions for vaccines derived from aborted fetal cell lines, a matter the National Catholic Bioethics Center says is not intrinsically evil. Uthmeier argues that conscience objections should be protected under religious liberty, while the bishops contend that the Church’s guidance allows such exemptions. The conflict highlights the tension between state mandates on school vaccine policies and the Catholic Church’s authority over its educational institutions.
about 1 month ago
The Florida Attorney General, James Uthmeier, a practicing Catholic, has pressed the state’s Catholic bishops to grant religious vaccine exemptions in Catholic schools that receive public‑school‑choice scholarship funds, while Archbishop Thomas Wenski and the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops argue that their policies are rooted in Church teaching on the common good and the proper exercise of ecclesial authority. 1 3
All information reflects the reporting of EWTN News and Catholic World Report as of August 2026.
Does Catholic doctrine permit vaccine exemptions in schools?
Yes. Catholic doctrine permits vaccine exemptions in schools in some circumstances, but it does not treat every exemption as morally justified.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith teaches that vaccination is “not, as a rule, a moral obligation” and therefore should be voluntary. Nevertheless, vaccination must be evaluated not only in relation to one’s own health but also in relation to the common good, especially the protection of vulnerable people.
Accordingly, Catholic teaching allows a person to decline a vaccine for a serious conscience-based reason, including opposition to vaccines connected with abortion-derived cell lines. The CDF nevertheless requires those who decline to take reasonable alternative precautions so that they do not become a danger to others, particularly people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.
The Church also teaches that receiving vaccines developed or produced using abortion-derived cell lines can, under specified conditions, be morally permissible. Such use involves remote and indirect material cooperation, not formal cooperation in abortion, and does not imply approval of abortion.
A Catholic school may therefore recognize exemptions when there is a legitimate reason, such as:
The exemption should not be merely a pretext or based on misinformation. Nor should it be exercised in a way that recklessly exposes classmates, teachers, or vulnerable persons to serious disease. The CDF explicitly says that the common good may recommend vaccination when it is necessary to protect the weakest and to prevent the spread of an epidemic.
In a school setting, this means that an exemption may be morally legitimate, but it may also reasonably involve public-health safeguards, such as masking, testing, temporary exclusion during an outbreak, remote instruction, or other proportionate measures. The Church’s sources do not provide a detailed school-policy formula, so the prudential application depends on the disease, the vaccine, the actual risks, and the availability of effective alternatives.
Catholic education recognizes the important role of parents. The USCCB describes parents as children’s first teachers and supports protections for the religious identity and mission of private Catholic schools.
At the same time, Catholic institutions must respect the common good and the health of those entrusted to their care. The Vatican’s COVID-19 Commission emphasized that personal and public health are closely interdependent and that refusing vaccination can sometimes pose risks to others, especially immunocompromised persons who depend on broader community protection.
Thus, Catholic doctrine does not require a school either to reject all exemptions or to grant every requested exemption automatically. A school may establish a fair policy that:
The USCCB has also maintained that government should not require Catholic institutions to compromise their moral or religious convictions when participating in public programs.
A moral permission to seek or grant an exemption is not the same as a universal Catholic right to attend a particular school without meeting its reasonable health requirements. A school may determine that, in a particular situation, attendance by an unvaccinated student would pose a serious and disproportionate danger to others. In that case, alternative arrangements may be justified, provided they are applied fairly and proportionately.
Conversely, a blanket claim that every vaccine is morally mandatory would go beyond the CDF’s teaching, which states that vaccination is ordinarily voluntary. A blanket claim that Catholics must refuse vaccines connected remotely with abortion would likewise contradict the CDF’s explicit teaching that such vaccines can be morally acceptable when clinically safe and effective and when ethical alternatives are unavailable.
Catholic doctrine permits vaccine exemptions in schools when they are based on a serious medical or conscientious reason. However, the exemption carries a duty to take reasonable measures to protect others, and Catholic schools may impose proportionate safeguards or alternative arrangements when necessary for the common good. The morally sound policy is neither automatic compulsion nor unrestricted exemption, but a balance of conscience, parental responsibility, institutional religious freedom, and protection of the vulnerable.