Having a different stance than the bishops: when do you sin?

[fish90]

Hello,

I understand that the bishops have the very important role in discussing morality, but is it not up to the laity while guided by the bishops’ teaching to implement a certain policy? When does a lay person sin when they disagree with the bishops’ decisions? I want to bring up two political issues: health care reform and illegal immigration.

1.) In the health care debate, the bishops seem to favor universal health care (usccb.org/comm/health-care-life-all.shtml). If a lay person opposes the implementation of socialist policies to obtain universal health care (i.e. Canada, Britain, etc.), do they sin even though the bishops do favor pluralism (see Pursuing the Common Good and Preserving Pluralism on usccb.org/sdwp/national/comphealth.shtml)??) First off can anybody clear up this confusion and am I wrong to think the laity has the important role in finding the correct way to implement policies that follow morality defined by the bishops?

2.) With regard to illegal immigration, my interpretation finds the bishops favor the reform of laws so that there are means for illegal immigrants to legalize their status (usccb.org/mrs/humandignity.shtml). I will yield that deportation is a drastic and barbaric solution to enforcing immigration, but I cannot yield that illegal immigrants should deserve a process for legalization without a grave penalty. Is this a sinful position?

Please clear up anything I have wrong and please share the limits the lay person can disagree with the bishops on policies.

Best,
fish90

 

[JRKH]

The Church in her Catechism affirms the right of the faithful to act on their “well formed” conscience. The following is from the section entitled Moral Conscience
1782 Man has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral decisions. “He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters.”

1783 Conscience must be informed and moral judgment enlightened. A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its judgments according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed by the wisdom of the Creator. The education of conscience is indispensable for human beings who are subjected to negative influences and tempted by sin to prefer their own judgment and to reject authoritative teachings.

Be careful though. Do not downplay this idea of “well formed”. A well formed conscince requires much prayer and study and humility so that it can be aware of, and act on, the Will of God.

Peace
James

 

[Ron_Conte]

Colorado Catholic Conference: “In some moral matters the use of reason allows for a legitimate diversity in our prudential judgments. Catholic voters may differ, for example, on what constitutes the best immigration policy, how to provide universal health care, or affordable housing. Catholics may even have differing judgments on the state’s use of the death penalty or the decision to wage a just war. The morality of such questions lies not in what is done (the moral object), but in the motive and circumstances. Therefore, because these prudential judgments do not involve a direct choice of something evil, and take into consideration various goods, it is possible for Catholic voters to arrive at different, even opposing judgments.”
Colorado Catholic Conference, Moral Principles for Catholic Voters, p. 2

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger: “Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion. While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.”
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion, General Principles (sent by Cardinal Ratzinger to Cardinal McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington, D.C., and made public in July, 2004), n. 3;
priestsforlife.org/magisterium/bishops/04-07ratzingerommunion.htm

 

[OraLabora]

Mr. Conte spells it out very clearly.

The bishops can’t be expected to be experts in every field, and on those that are not clearly faith and morals, they are merely providing an opinion, against which prudential judgement may result in Catholics holding differing views.

They certainly have the right to speak out on important social issues, but on those that don’t involve matters of faith and morals, we are allowed to hold different views.

For example they may react to a legal bill and not agree with it because their interpretation of the wording leads them to believe in a certain outcome if the bill is adopted. But a Catholic who is a trained lawyer or is a judge, may have an entirely different reading of the bill and predict a different outcome than that of the bishops.

The lawyer by way of his training, has greater insight on the issue than the bishops. He is not sinning by holding a different opinion based on his study of the matter.

 

[kage_ar]

Sitting down and doing a study of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church is a good way to begin to understand things.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

Several years ago the USCCB was urged to distinguish clearly between the teaching of Church truth and their private opinions. They refused on the ground that people would not take the opinions seriously. As a result people write off everything they say as opinion.

 

[Rascalking]

I’m against universal health care simply because I think it will cause more problems than it cures. I’m sure the bishops mean well in their view. I lose no sleep over this, and I am convinced that it’s not a sin.

Being a mindless drone who chooses not to think for themself is downright insulting to Catholics. Thank God the church doesn’t ask for mindless obedience! We need to remember that we do have conscience, and that does come into play when making these choices.