This anonymous letter, submitted by a Catholic priest in the United States, synthesizes issues gathered from Catholic women’s experiences with the COVID vaccine and miscarriage. Addressed to the Holy Father, the letter expresses a woman’s grief and frustration over the stillbirth of her son and the COVID vaccine she took because she had been encouraged by the Vatican to do so. The woman is referred to as Rachel, a name reminiscent of the Biblical figure (Jeremiah 31:15) who wept bitterly after the death of her children. The letter is dated Mother’s Day 2023, a day of mourning for mothers who have lost children through miscarriage. The priest notes that the letter gives voice to the many mothers who were denied motherhood by the vaccine and those who mandated it.
Mother’s Day, 2023
Dear Holy Father,
As Mother’s Day approaches in the U.S., I am writing this letter as a woman who suffered a miscarriage at 8 months in the spring of 2022. My husband and I are still inconsolable over the loss of our stillborn baby. However, the pain is compounded by the advice you gave us regarding the safety of the COVID vaccine.
During my pregnancy, a test revealed that my unborn child was a boy, and we named him Adam. Like all parents-to-be, we had hopes and dreams for the joy Adam would bring to our family and the world. With his death, our hopes were dashed, and our future darkened.
Despite our loss, we cling to our Lord’s promise of an eternity with our son in Heaven. We believe that we will one day be close to our little boy.
My husband and I managed to move on with our lives after our loss and cling to our faith that we will be reunited with our son in Heaven. However, our coping was challenged when information about the dangers of the COVID vaccine began to emerge. Initially, the information was dismissed as conspiratorial and unscientific.
Recent information has revealed the dangers of the COVID vaccine, particularly for women and their unborn babies. Another concerned parent shared information with us about how maternal exposure to the vaccine, including inhalation or skin contact, can lead to high levels of spontaneous abortions and miscarriages. The article revealed that Pfizer and the FDA were aware in early 2021 that the vaccine caused “horrible damage to fetuses and babies.”
As I read this article, I felt the sorrow not only of my own miscarriage but also of women around the world who miscarried due to the vaccine. Many reputable articles and studies confirm the vaccine’s connection to countless miscarriages worldwide. Additionally, vaccinated women are suffering from high rates of infertility, adding to their misery.
I do not know if Adam was a victim of the false reassurances of safety by secular and Vatican sources. Would Adam have lived if I had not gotten the vaccine in September 2021? It is a question my husband and I will take to our grave. But what is certain is that many mothers and their children were harmed by the hype.
The fault is not just with the vaccine itself but also with those who pushed the vaccine as safe, including you, Holy Father, as you called it “a moral duty.” Your seal of approval to the COVID vaccines in August 2021 was a significant factor in my decision to get vaccinated, despite my initial reservations.
Your words, cited in an article on Vatican News titled “Vaccination is an act of love,” sounded persuasive and loving. You stated that getting a COVID jab that is “authorized by the respective authorities” is an “act of love.” Helping others do the same is also an act of love — “[l]ove for oneself, love for our families and friends, and love for all peoples. Love is also social and political.” You summed it up by saying, “Getting vaccinated is a simple yet profound way to care for one another, especially the most vulnerable.”
I regret getting the vaccine, and I will carry that regret for the rest of my life. I do not understand why you would conflate science with sacred theology. Despite the studies confirming the dangers of the vaccine, you have not rescinded or modified your position.
Many people are still stunned by your approval of these vaccines. Parents like me wonder why you said it was a “moral duty” to get the vaccine. While I have lost my child and faith in the vaccine, I remain a faithful daughter of the Church who will continue to keep God’s commandments.
One thing I have learned from Adam’s death is that I will disregard further directives from the Holy Office mandating I get this or that medical treatment. With all due respect, Holy Father, you and the College of Cardinals are not a medical body and do not have the expertise or qualifications to make medical recommendations to the public.
I will pray for you, Holy Father. Please pray for me that I can forgive those who hurt my family. But on this Mother’s Day, my prayer is that this letter will cause you to reconsider what you said about the COVID vaccine being a moral duty. Please resolve, as the Vicar of Christ, to never again recommend untried medical procedures to the faithful. There is no Biblical mandate for a pope to make such demands.
I wonder if the Blessed Mother would have dictated that getting the vaccine was our “moral duty”? Would she have taken her Son, Jesus, to Herod’s house for an inoculation? Would St. Joseph have approved?
Please pray to the Holy Family before consulting Pfizer and the FDA. Please come down from on high to the fields and smell the suffering of the sheep.
Nothing can bring my Adam back. But, you, Holy Father, can take steps now to ensure such a mandate never gets made again.
King David repented after the prophet Nathan confronted him with his murder of Uriah (2 Samuel 12:1–15). You, too, can repent of your mistake of being a cheerleader for the vaccine.
I will pray for you, Holy Father, and please pray for me that I can forgive those who hurt my family.
Sincerely,
Rachel, Mother of Adam