C
Chortle
Guest
If a person’s conscience approves of something that the Church disapproves of, is the person obliged to follow his conscience or the Church teaching?
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L
LSK
Guest
If one is to remain in communion with the Body of Christ, and an obedient son or daughter of the Holy Mother Church, one must always follow Church teachings.
It is presumed, however, that one’s conscience is formed by following Church teachings. It can, however, be a struggle at times, and when this happens one must seek guidance. I have sought such guidance through the help of a spiritual director, through prayer and through the receiving of the Sacraments.
One must also remember, that one of the virtues practiced by a good Christian is that of obedience. My experience has been that oftentimes what I thought was my personal conscience was, in fact, my personal desires - that is very, very different. I have had, therefore, to suppress those desires in favor of following the guidance of the Holy Mother Church, practicing the virtue of obedience and then have found that my conscience was, in fact, in accordance with Church Teaching all along.
It is presumed, however, that one’s conscience is formed by following Church teachings. It can, however, be a struggle at times, and when this happens one must seek guidance. I have sought such guidance through the help of a spiritual director, through prayer and through the receiving of the Sacraments.
One must also remember, that one of the virtues practiced by a good Christian is that of obedience. My experience has been that oftentimes what I thought was my personal conscience was, in fact, my personal desires - that is very, very different. I have had, therefore, to suppress those desires in favor of following the guidance of the Holy Mother Church, practicing the virtue of obedience and then have found that my conscience was, in fact, in accordance with Church Teaching all along.
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Eileen_T
Guest
A good rule of thumb to follow is, if your conscience “approves of something that the Church disapproves of” then you are morally obliged to research and study to discover WHY the Church come to a different conclusion.
When I first married 33 years ago I wasn’t too happy about the Church teaching on birth control. At that time some priests were advising that it was a matter of conscience. Even at 19 I realised there was something was wrong with priests going against clear teaching.
I decided that to be a cafeteria Catholic was to be a hypocrite so I decided to not use BC even though I didn’t understand the prohibition.
Years later I decided to study the WHY of it, mainly to be able to explain it to non-Catholic friends. When I did study it it became obvious. I was glad that I had chosen obedience, even in my ignorance.
When I first married 33 years ago I wasn’t too happy about the Church teaching on birth control. At that time some priests were advising that it was a matter of conscience. Even at 19 I realised there was something was wrong with priests going against clear teaching.
I decided that to be a cafeteria Catholic was to be a hypocrite so I decided to not use BC even though I didn’t understand the prohibition.
Years later I decided to study the WHY of it, mainly to be able to explain it to non-Catholic friends. When I did study it it became obvious. I was glad that I had chosen obedience, even in my ignorance.
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LSK
Guest
Eileen T:
I like your rule of thumb, Eileen…educate yourself…how can you go wrong if you do that? The more I learn the more I learn why I love my Church…and look how science is catching up with the Truth as we were taught? When Roe V Wade was first decided, legalized abortion on demand was going to be the great liberator of women, and the Church taught that it would harm us…now, studies are linking abortion to breast cancer, uterine cancer, depression, suicide, all sorts of health issues for women…in this great liberated society. So you are correct, it is good to learn more about our Faith…
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maendem
Guest
The Church has always taught that one MUST obey one’s conscience. Since one’s conscience is the ultimate factor when weighing a moral decision, it is equally imperative that it be properly formed. How do we form our conscience as Catholics? One of the most important ways is by studying and knowing Church teaching and tradition. A conscience that OK’s something against Church teaching is a wrongly formed conscience. Whether the moral agent’s ignorance is vincible or not depends on many other factors, but if one knows that one’s decision goes against Church teaching…that ought to be a red light, calling for some careful introspection, guidance and prayer.
So the answer is that one IS ALWAYS obliged to follow one’s conscience, but that there need never be a contradiction between one’s conscience and Church teaching.
So the answer is that one IS ALWAYS obliged to follow one’s conscience, but that there need never be a contradiction between one’s conscience and Church teaching.
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LSK
Guest
VERY well put…beautifully expressed!
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YADA
Guest
Here are a few of my musings: In my experience, individuals who ask if their conscience differs from Church teaching about something are often times confusing “opinion” with “conscience”
Examples: In our RCIA group a couple of weeks back, someone said that they did not understand the churches teaching about birth control and abortion. How could the church not allow birth control and then condemn abortion for the unwanted children that result. Their ‘conscience’ said that using birth control was not sinful therefore, they could they follow thier conscience even though it contradicted church teaching.
Then, we have a plethora of ‘Catholic’ politicians (on both sides of the aisle and in between) who vote for abortion on demand because thier ‘conscience’ won’t let them ‘impose their religious beliefs’ upon society at large. Although this last one is probably not really confusing opinion and conscience but the desire for votes and conscience.
A conscience formed within the Christian faith tradition according to the Church, Tradition and Scripture would not go where most of us go when we follow our personal conscience, neglecting the teaching authority of the church and end up in sin, strife and all of the problems that make life misery. This is my humble opinion. And, sadly, as I said above, from my personal experience.
Thank God for confession & reconcilliation! 
Examples: In our RCIA group a couple of weeks back, someone said that they did not understand the churches teaching about birth control and abortion. How could the church not allow birth control and then condemn abortion for the unwanted children that result. Their ‘conscience’ said that using birth control was not sinful therefore, they could they follow thier conscience even though it contradicted church teaching.
Then, we have a plethora of ‘Catholic’ politicians (on both sides of the aisle and in between) who vote for abortion on demand because thier ‘conscience’ won’t let them ‘impose their religious beliefs’ upon society at large. Although this last one is probably not really confusing opinion and conscience but the desire for votes and conscience.
A conscience formed within the Christian faith tradition according to the Church, Tradition and Scripture would not go where most of us go when we follow our personal conscience, neglecting the teaching authority of the church and end up in sin, strife and all of the problems that make life misery. This is my humble opinion. And, sadly, as I said above, from my personal experience.
Thank God for confession & reconcilliation!
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emsvetich
Guest
One of the most thought provoking articles that I have read regarding conscience was on the First Things website ( www.firstthings.com) in a May 2005 article by George Cardinal Pell entitled The Inconvienient Conscience. It is too long to post here but it is well worth the read.
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Madia
Guest
Here’s the Catechism on conscience:
scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s1c1a6.htm
Also, this article might be of some help:
ewtn.com/library/SCRIPTUR/CONSCIEN.TXT
scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s1c1a6.htm
Also, this article might be of some help:
ewtn.com/library/SCRIPTUR/CONSCIEN.TXT
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