Cardinal Burke: Employers who Provide Contraceptives Cooperating with Sin

Cardinal Burke has illuminated with piercing clarity the controversial issue which has seen dissent from Church teaching on this matter among Catholic institutions and universities here in the United States. Cardinal Burke's statements come at a critical time in this divisive debate over the legality and morality of forcing anyone to act against his own conscience.

P>SAN DIEGO,CA (Catholic Action for Faith and Family) - Catholic Action for Faith and Family  announced a timely and insightful thirty minute interview with Cardinal Raymond Burke.

The Cardinal discusses critical matters of faith, religious liberty, and culpability in relation to the threatened government mandate for employers to provide free contraception, sterilization services, and abortion inducing drugs.  

Catholic Action Insight, a special program series hosted by Catholic Action founder and president, Thomas McKenna, aired on EWTN on April 11 at 2:30pm and will air again on April 13 at 9:00pm EST.

"We were very blessed to be granted this interview with Cardinal Raymond Burke who, not only details the church teaching on contraception and the moral conflict for Catholic employers who provide contraceptive services to employees.

"The Cardinal  also provides education on the role of the Church in this time of governmental interference with the right to 'freedom of religion'," said Thomas McKenna, President of Catholic Action for Faith and Family.  Thomas and his film crew recently returned from Rome where the interview was conducted.

"Cardinal Burke stands in solidarity with U. S. Bishops and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in defense and advocacy for Church dogma while highlighting the critical role that the Bishops must play as shepherds to their flock," McKenna added. 

Catholic Action Insight released the following excerpts from the interview:

Thomas McKenna:  "It is beautiful to see how the Faithful has rallied behind the Hierarchy..How does your Eminence comment on the union of solidarity of our bishops?"

Cardinal Burke:  "Yes, I have received emails and other communications  from lay Faithful who say that they are supporting their bishops 100% and they have communicated to their bishops their gratitude and assured them that they want them to continue to be courageous and not to be deceived by any kind of false accommodations which in fact continue this same kind of agenda which sadly we have witnessed for too long in our country which is totally secular and therefore is anti-life and anti-family. I admire very much the courage of the bishops. 

"At the same time I believe they would say it along with me that they are doing no more than their duty.  A bishop has to protect his flock and when any individual or government attempts to force the flock to act against conscience in one of its most fundamental precepts then the bishops have to come to defend those who are entrusted to their pastoral care.

"So I am deeply grateful to all of the bishops who have spoken about this and who are encouraging the members of their flock to also speak up because our government needs to understand that what is being done with this mandate is contrary first of all to the fundamental human right, the right to the free exercise of one's conscience and at the same time contrary to the very foundation of our nation."

Thomas McKenna: "So a Catholic Employer, really getting down to it, he does not, or she does not provide this because that way they would be, in a sense, cooperating  with the sin.the sin of contraception or the sin of providing a contraceptive  that would abort a child, is this correct?"

Cardinal Burke: "This is correct.  It is not only a matter of what we call "material cooperation"  in the sense that the employer by giving this insurance benefit is materially providing for the contraception but it is also "formal cooperation" because he is knowingly and deliberately doing this, making this available to people. There is no way to justify it. It is simply wrong."

This comment by one of the highest ranked American Cardinals is the clearest explanation to date on the issue of an employer's culpability when providing contraception, sterilization, and abortion inducing drug options in the insurance plans for employees.  

Cardinal Burke has illuminated with piercing clarity the controversial issue which has seen dissent from Church teaching on this matter among Catholic institutions and universities here in the United States. 

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Cardinal Burke's profound statements come at a critical time in this divisive debate over the legality and morality of forcing anyone to act against his own conscience.

Cardinal Burke previously issued a public statement of support for Catholics to sign the www.StopTheBirthControlMandate.org

For more information on the entire interview and the additional times it can be seen on EWTN or to watch the full interview after it airs on EWTN please visit www.catholicaction.org.  

To request an interview with Thomas McKenna contact Megan Morris at 913-426-0002 or email at meganharmonmorris@gmail.com

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Catholic Action for Faith and Family is an association of Catholics that strives to uphold and defend Christian values inspired by the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. This article is used with permission.