Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has urged Catholic schools across the state to recognise religious exemptions from mandatory vaccinations, warning that failure to do so could put their access to state-funded education voucher programmes at risk.In a letter sent to the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops on Friday, Uthmeier argued that Catholic doctrine does not prevent schools from accepting religious vaccine exemptions. He said schools receiving public scholarship funds should comply with Florida’s exemption laws.“I therefore urge Catholic schools to comply with Florida law and grant religious exemptions to school vaccine policies. Failure to comply could jeopardise eligibility for state educational scholarship programs,” Uthmeier wrote in the letter addressed to the conference’s executive director, Michael Sheedy.The letter was issued days before most Florida school districts are due to begin the 2026-27 academic year. The attorney general asked the conference to respond by August 7
Catholic conference says schools follow law and Church teaching
The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops said it is reviewing the attorney general’s letter and will respond.“Be assured, Florida’s Catholic schools are operating in accord with the law and Church teaching,” conference spokesperson Michele Taylor said in a statement.Uthmeier’s letter referenced the immunisation policies of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee and cited the Catholic Catechism, statements from Pope Leo, scripture and Vatican guidance in support of his argument.Florida’s private school voucher programme supports tuition for more than 500,000 students, with about a quarter of the state’s education budget allocated to voucher programmes as of March 2026.
Vaccine exemptions remain politically contentious
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has repeatedly backed efforts to expand vaccine exemptions and eliminate vaccine mandates, although recent legislative proposals have failed to pass.The Catholic bishops’ conference has opposed several of those measures, urging lawmakers to retain existing vaccination requirements.Florida requires students attending K-12 schools to be vaccinated against diseases including polio, measles, rubella, mumps, pertussis, diphtheria and tetanus.In his letter, Uthmeier also cited a Vatican statement issued during the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that “vaccination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation and that, therefore, it must be voluntary.”The Vatican has previously said vaccines developed using historical fetal cell lines are morally acceptable when no alternative exists to protect public health.
