Remember how soon-to-be Cardinal Raymond Burke was, as liberals crowed, promoted to a Roman office in order to remove his influence on the American scene?
Rome, Italy, Oct 28, 2010 / 12:15 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- 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.” [Burke, as a Catholic bishops, is a bishop for the whole Church.] 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 [NB:] “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.” [This might be the bit idiots or the mendacious latch into.]
“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, [Idiots and the mendacious will claim that the Church (and Burke) says that the people who do these things are evil.] are against nature itself, [In other words, reason… common sense… informs us that such acts are intrinsically evil. The Church also has revelation to support her teaching, but she also points to 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.” [This is one of the most serious wrongs that Catholic pro-abortion politicians do when they support evil positions contrary to Church teaching: they cause scandal in a very public way. The Church must defend the faithful against that damage. First the Church must try to get the person who caused the damage to try to make amends and heal it. Otherwise, the Church must separate that person from Communion with the hope that she will correct her views.]
“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.
Orual on 10 November – St Andrew Avellino (Vetus Ordo). Wherein Fr. Z rants.: “One of my elderly former pastors fell in his home and laid there for 3 days before anyone came to…”
