Cardinal George weighs in on religious liberty and reproductive rights

Cardinal George weighs in on religious liberty and reproductive rights

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Listen to Cardinal Francis George

During Lent, Catholics are encouraged to voluntarily “give up” something for the sake of others and unite in their sacrifice. This year, Cardinal Francis George said, “the Catholic Church in the United States is being told she must ‘give up’ her health care institutions, her universities and many of her social service organizations.” He added that it is an involuntary sacrifice in his recent column in the Catholic New World, the Archdiocese of Chicago’s newspaper.

Nearly one quarter of Americans identify themselves as Catholic, according to the most recent Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life’s U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. The survey also found that American Catholics are split almost down the middle on the government’s role in protecting morality among Catholics.

The Afternoon Shift invited Cardinal Francis George, the first Chicago native to become Archbishop of Chicago, to discuss his role as a spiritual leader—and how the government complicates it.

(WBEZ/Steve Oliveri)