Cardinal Cipriani says challenge for modern world is to accept moral order

Lima, Peru, Mar 30, 2004 / 22:00 pm

Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, Archbishop of Lima, Peru, said during a local radio program that the solution to the violence that is affecting the world and has turned it into a “tiny cage of insecurity” lies in the acceptance of the moral and the natural order. 

“The great challenge to modernity is to accept that there is a natural moral order, established for man by God, and which leads us to belief in good and evil, in the commandments of the law of God, and that God is present in our lives,” he said.

During the radio program, the Cardinal also denounced the violence that threatens human life, manifested not only in attacks like those in the United States and Spain, but also in the rape of minors and in abortion.

“Violence is reaching an incredible level and it is becoming a very serious illness,” said the Cardinal, underscoring as well the urgency of promoting the right to life of the unborn.  “The natural moral order tells me that relations between a man and a woman are at times fertile, and therefore capable of conceiving a new life, and at other times infertile.  This is clear in the biological order,” he said.

Likewise, the Cardinal said that “God has desired that this natural order be regulated by a woman’s menstrual cycle, which includes both fertile and infertile periods and provides a high degree of effectiveness.  This is the safest method for a woman who has the minimum amount of order and control over her life.”

Cardinal Cipriani called on Peruvians to be honest and acknowledge that “children are the result of free decisions; this is respect for the natural moral order.”

Regarding the debate surrounding the “morning after pill,” the Cardinal explained that “the Church does not seek to impose anything but rather to simply campaign in favor of life.  Inasmuch as science is authentic, the Church accepts it with great respect.”

“There are things that are politically and socially accepted.  The Church is not in the business of political or social ratings, but rather in rating the truth.  There are people who don’t like it, but in this age of darkness we should not keep from igniting the light of faith and hope,” he added.