Cardinal-designate Raymond Burke stressed to Catholic voters in a
recent interview that they have a “very serious” obligation to uphold
the truth of “moral law” in the upcoming mid-term elections.
He
specifically cited protecting unborn children from abortion and
defending traditional marriage.
The American Vatican official, who was recently named by the Holy
Father as a future cardinal, spoke on Oct. 20 to Thomas McKenna,
president of Catholic Action for Faith and Family, just hours after the
Pope’s announcement.
Cardinal-designate Burke opened his remarks by saying that “as a
bishop it’s my obligation, in fact, to urge the faithful to carry out
their civic duty in accord with their Catholic Faith.”
Clarifying that
he does not endorse particular candidates, the prelate also spoke of his
duty to relay “principles” to the faithful to help inform their vote.
Speaking on the contentious topic of abortion in the upcoming mid-terms, Cardinal-designate Burke said
one “can never vote for someone who favors absolutely the right to
choice of a woman to destroy a human life in her womb or the right to a
procured abortion.”
“You may in some circumstances where you don’t have any candidate who
is proposing to eliminate all abortion, choose the candidate who will
most limit this grave evil in our country,” he explained, “but you could
never justify voting for a candidate who not only does not want to
limit abortion but believes that it should be available to everyone.”
The Vatican prelate also addressed
the issue of same-sex “marriage,” asserting that maintaining the
definition of marriage as between one man and one woman is not unjust
discrimination.
“Where there is unjust discrimination –for instance, where you say
that a fellow human being, because of the color of his skin, is not a
part of the same race as someone, say, who is a Caucasian, that is a
kind of discrimination which is unjust and immoral,” he said.
However, he added, “there is a discrimination which is perfectly just
and good, and that is the discrimination between what is right and what
is wrong.”
“Between what is according to our human nature and what is contrary
to our human nature. So the Catholic Church, in teaching that sexual
acts between persons of the same sex are intrinsically evil, are against
nature itself, is simply announcing the truth, helping people to
discriminate right from wrong in terms of their own activities.”
In his interview, Cardinal-designate Burke also urged Catholic
politicians who have caused “scandal” by endorsing positions contrary to
moral law to repent through a “genuine reform of heart.”
“That’s done through the Sacrament of Penance,” he said, adding that
political figures must publicly “renounce” their errors, recognizing and
recanting the “evil” they have promoted.
Cardinal-designate Burke's remarks on voting can be viewed at: http://www.catholicaction.org/
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