Conscience

[Razer144000]

I was reading about conscience in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and it says (paraphrasing here) that if a man were to ignore his conscience, he would condemn himself. Is this true?

If someone knew that they shouldn’t ignore their conscience, but decided to do something they thought their conscience was telling them not to do, does that mean they can’t be saved, even if they repent of not following their conscience? What if they weren’t sure whether or not it was their conscience telling them not to do that thing or an irrational fear or even an evil angel trying to get them to think they’ve sinned?

 

[Ron_Conte]

If a person completely abandons conscience and morality in his life, that decision would be an actual mortal sin. He repents before he dies, or he suffers eternal punishment.

Ignoring your conscience in a matter that is venial would only be a venial sin. But ignoring your conscience in a grave matter would be objectively grave.

We are judged by God according to our consciences. So our consciences might excuse us, in some cases, if we were sincere in seeking moral truth, but erred. On the other hand, if we ignore conscience and do not care at all about moral truth, we sin against conscience and against God.

 

[Razer144000]

Thanks for your answers, guys.

Yeah, I do struggle with scrupulosity a little bit. My main problem with it at the moment seems to be I’m having trouble deciding whether or not it’s my conscience telling me to do something or my scruples. I’ve told my regular confessor about my scrupulosity, so hopefully when I go next he might have some advice for me to deal with it.