American Cardinal Raymond Burke has scored the University of Notre Dame for honouring U.S. Vice President Joe Biden with the Laetare Medal "in recognition of outstanding service to the Church and society," saying the latter is pro-abortion and pro-same sex marriage, which violate Catholic teachings.

In an interview with Thomas McKenna, the cardinal calls the bestowing of the award a "great scandal."

"[Not only is it] a great scandal within the Church, but it is also a great scandal within society in general which depends upon the Church to give a witness to the truth about human life and the family," he said.

Burke said he cannot "imagine that a Catholic university would assign its highest honour to any politician who favours abortion and who also advocates for the recognition of the sexual liaison of two people of the same sex as equal to marriage."

He said it is even more difficult that the university would award it on a Roman Catholic who supports "anti-life and anti-family policies and legislation."

"It is my hope that Notre Dame University will hear the voice of their shepherd, the successor of the Apostles in their midst, and change this gravely wrong and most scandalous decision," he said.

Burke said Biden's positions on human life and marriage contradict the natural moral law and the teaching of Jesus Christ.

"So, as much as one may want to praise certain positions which he has taken, at the same time one must realise that other positions are in the most grievous violation of the moral law and therefore make him ineligible to receive such an award from a Catholic university," the cardinal said.

He said St. John Paul II observed one of the greatest evils in modern "times is the tendency of Catholics to separate their faith from their daily living."

And the award to Biden "is exactly what we have here."

"So we have the impression, given to other Catholics and to the population in general, that one can believe one thing and act in a completely contrary way," he said.

"The fact of the matter is that most people will simply conclude that the Catholic teaching with regard to the inviolable dignity of innocent and defenseless human life and the integrity of marriage as the faithful, indissoluble and procreative union of one man and one woman, is not very firm and that it can easily be violated."

The Notre Dame faculty has called on the university leadership to cancel the award to Biden.