Fr. Michael Copenhagen: "Things will get worse before they get better"
I encourage you to listen in on a conversation between Patrick Coffin and Fr. Michael Copenhagen. I have admired Father ever since I heard his address at a rally in DC. You can read a transcript here of his straightforward, compelling remarks.
We are moral actors, as he says -- our morality springs from within, from our union with God. We are not robots who download the latest version of theologians' attempts to rationalize current medical practices. Somehow we've been maneuvered into having the notion that when "the Vatican says" such-and-such, we are off the hook for moral reasoning, that our sense of right and wrong can be outsourced. But conscience has never before been treated this way in the Church -- we have to act out of complete conformity to God's Law, having clean consciences.
In his long talk with Coffin, Fr. Copenhagen explains how cooperation, on such flimsy terms, with immorally derived medical products harms our humanity and our relationship with God -- and will lead and has already led to serious injustice that will be decried in the future.
I particularly urge you to watch between the 37 and 42 minute marks. The need for repentance is real and his way of expressing it is so helpful for those who are wondering how this all can be happening. Until we reach the point he speaks of, through suffering -- until we are convinced that God alone is God -- we will continue in this purgative way. But if you have time for the whole discussion, I think you will find it helpful.
You can watch here on You Tube or on Facebook where the livestream first occurred.