For Card. Burke, the Dignitatis Humanae Institute exists to «bear witness to the unique and inestimable good of human life and of the human person», and therefore to «the respect of every human being as such, without exception, women and men alike, from conception to death». «The inviolable dignity of human life is continuously under attack in an increasingly secularized world», the Cardinal said. «It seems that the aim is to silence Christ’s witnesses. But, we can’t succumb to these attacks». We are living in a time of «new Christian persecutions, in Syria, Egypt, Eritrea, Nigeria, India and Indonesia»; «even in our civilized nations, with a rich Christian tradition, we have gone back to fundamentalisms that are opposed to the Christian faith», especially in some States, controlled by «powerful lobbies, seeking private interests». Thus, for example, under the name of “maternal health,” there is «a political program that has nothing to do with health and even less with protecting maternity». «The road of moral relativism that has been taken − as the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said − is tyranny founded on the supremacy of power and desire over those who are weakest and most vulnerable». We find ourselves on a «moral decline» that John Paul II called a «culture of death», which is «constantly spreading». «We can’t let this culture of death to get the upper hand and to bury the Christian conception of life. We must support a culture of life, in the workplace and in the public sphere», it is the Cardinal’s invitation. «The family is the foundation of society, and in defending and promoting a strong and stable family, the traditional family, we continue replacing the culture of death with the culture of life and love, to which the Lord calls us while giving us the strength of His support in this task».