Bishop Joseph Martino of Scranton, Pa., has told Democratic Sen. Bob Casey that he cooperated with evil by declining to support legislation to restore the pro-life Mexico City Policy.

President Barack Obama issued an executive order Jan. 23 overturning the pro-life policy, which denied taxpayer funding of groups that promote abortion overseas.

Casey, a Catholic who lives in the Scranton diocese, did not vote in favor of an unsuccessful effort in the Senate to reverse Obama’s action by amending the Children’s Health Insurance Act to restore the Mexico City Policy.

In a Jan. 30 letter to Casey, Bishop Martino said, “Your failure to reverse this vote will regrettably mean that you persist formally in cooperating with the evil brought about by this hideous and unnecessary policy.”

Bishop Martino’s letter was published yesterday in The Catholic Light, the diocese’s newspaper. (It can be found on page 25 of this .pdf file.)

In the letter, Bishop Martino also criticized Casey for expressing support for funding family-planning programs as a method of reducing abortions.

“I remind you that it is never permissible to use immoral means (e.g., artificial contraception) to achieve a good end,” the bishop wrote. “As I have done on several occasions, Senator, I urge you to consider that Church documents speak clearly and compellingly on the special responsibility that falls to you as a lawmaker to oppose abortion and other clear evils, including contraception, infanticide, euthanasia and embryonic stem-cell research.”

Bishop Martino’s letter concludes, “I recognize and respect the burdens that you bear as a United States senator; however, I remind you that your responsibilities as a Catholic bound by the faith of the Church exceed even those of your office. … As I have done several times before, I offer to make myself available to you to discuss the grave concerns that I raise here.”