Headache for church as some Catholic priests refuse vaccine

The Sydney Archdiocese is wrestling with how to respond after a number of priests refused direct requests from the Archbishop.

Archbishop Anthony Fisher overseeing Sunday mass under restricted Covid-19 conditions. Picture: Jane Dempster

Several Catholic priests in Sydney are refusing the Covid-19 vaccination, against an express request from Archbishop Anthony Fisher, who has received complaints from parishioners.

The revelation that a “handful” of priests is holding out against the jab – despite repeated “exhortations” from Archbishop Fisher – was made by one of the most senior priests in the Sydney Archdiocese, the vicar-general Gerry Gleeson.

Father Gleeson told ABC broadcaster Geraldine Doogue during her Plenary Matters show on Wednesday night that a “concrete example” of how hard it was for the church to sack priests had arisen over vaccin­ations. “There are some priests who are saying no, I am not going to be vaccinated,” Father Gleeson said on Doogue’s podcast, which focused on this week’s historic meeting of the church, the Catholic Plenary Council of Australia – the first such meeting in 84 years.

“Most priests are (vaccinated). The archbishop has made repeated exhortations but it’s going to come to a crunch in the next couple of weeks because there’s a handful probably who will say no. The letters of complaint have begun already from parishioners who have found out that their man is saying no.”

Listen to the full interview with Father Gerry Gleeson here

Father Gleeson said while individual freedoms around vaccination had to be respected, the refusal of some priests created a problem for the church. Unlike a corporation, which could sack or transfer an unvaccinated employee, it was difficult for the archbishop to take action against a priest in these circumstances.

The Archbishop of Sydney declined to comment.

One concern about unvaccinated priests would surround the distribution of communion at mass. Catholic priests take each communion host from the chalice and place it in the cupped hands of the recipient.

A spokesperson for the archdiocese said on Thursday: “Churches operated in a Covid-safe way for many months before the current lockdown. There is no reason to assume that they won’t do so once we re-open.”

Before Covid, some priests placed the host ­directly on the tongue, although this has become much less common in recent decades.

Sydney churches are expected to open on the Monday after NSW passes the 80 per cent fully vaccinated target.