Pope Urges More Reliance on Individual Conscience

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The Catholic Church prohibits both contraception and abortion. But by putting them on very different moral planes this week, Pope Francis cracked the door to a more-open approach on artificial birth control—and to a greater emphasis on the role of individual conscience.
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The question of when and how a Catholic may follow his or her own conscience in matters of sexual and medical ethics has implications far beyond contraception.
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During his in-flight news conference this past week, the pope broke with his predecessors on the issue of same-sex marriage, saying that Catholic politicians are free to decide how to vote on the matter using a “well-formed conscience.” (He did say, with regard to adoption by same-sex couples: “I think what the church has always said about this.”)
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The impact of the pope’s words will likely be far-reaching. Already, during a Vatican meeting on family issues last fall, Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich said that divorced and civilly remarried Catholics should follow their own consciences in deciding whether to receive Communion—something currently forbidden by church law.
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Archbishop Cupich, a liberal and Pope Francis’ most important U.S. appointment to date, said that partners in same-sex marriages should likewise follow their consciences in deciding whether to receive Communion.
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wsj.com/articles/pope-urges-more-reliance-on-individual-conscience-1455915494
 
DaddyGirl said:
The non-secular news outlets have an agenda and twist words, too.
Whenever I read articles posted here from specific news blogs/sites who shall go unmentioned, I always have to fact-check along the way and usually find many errors.

I have no faith in the non-secular news outlets.

.
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Funny, I find that “secular” articles get shredded in the comments all the time from sports to politics.

The only religious site I pay attention to is CNS News, but links from that site do not qualify to be posted as new threads on the News Forums.
 
HungerNThirst4R said:
👍

I’ve given up all faith in secular news outlets when it comes to quoting the Pope. Everyone has an agenda and twists his words.

Also, all the faithful are OBLIGATED to correctly form their conscience. This is moral theology 101, he’s not saying anything new.
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I agree, and making excuses without spiritual direction is a bad path for conscience formation.
 
SuperLuigi said:
I agree, and making excuses without spiritual direction is a bad path for conscience formation.
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Our conscience must be properly formed according to the teachings of the Church, otherwise it is not trustworthy. Didn’t we go through that whole conscience thing in the 70’s and 80’s and look where it has gotten so many Catholics that think they can make up their own mind about what to believe and what they don’t “want” to believe. It just doesn’t work that way to be honest with ourseves on the matter!! God Bless, Memaw
 
Memaw said:
Our conscience must be properly formed according to the teachings of the Church, otherwise it is not trustworthy. Didn’t we go through that whole conscience thing in the 70’s and 80’s and look where it has gotten so many Catholics that think they can make up their own mind about what to believe and what they don’t “want” to believe. It just doesn’t work that way to be honest with ourseves on the matter!! God Bless, Memaw
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👍👍
 
Memaw said:
I think this Pope should stop his in flight news conferences. They seem to cause more problems than they solve . God Bless, Memaw
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I think I was happier when Our Holy Fathers were quieter, did not globe trot, and rarely gave interviews. The 24/7 news cycle and off the cuff remarks do not a magesterium make.
 
Memaw said:
Our conscience must be properly formed according to the teachings of the Church, otherwise it is not trustworthy. Didn’t we go through that whole conscience thing in the 70’s and 80’s and look where it has gotten so many Catholics that think they can make up their own mind about what to believe and what they don’t “want” to believe. It just doesn’t work that way to be honest with ourseves on the matter!! God Bless, Memaw
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👍👍👍 🙂
 
Pulvis said:
I think I was happier when Our Holy Fathers were quieter, did not globe trot, and rarely gave interviews. The 24/7 news cycle and off the cuff remarks do not a magesterium make.
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Part of me agrees with you. But:

I bet it was controversial when Pope Pius XI began Vatican Radio about 85 years ago. I am sure some were grumbling that Pope Pius X never needed radio! But the world changed between Pius X and Pius XI, so the popes had to do new things to get the message out.

When Pius XII was pope, he could give a speech in Rome, and it would be accurately summarized in the secular newspapers, and studied in detail in all Catholic papers. By the time of JP II, the world had changed. The 24/7 news cycle is here, whether we like it or not. I think Pope Pius XII would have traveled to NY if that was the only way to get his message into the Northeast US media in some detail.

One can argue that Pope Francis is taking some risks by extemporaneous interviews with hostile media. One can also argue that Pope Pius XI took risks by putting the Magisterial teachings on the same medium as toothpaste commercials.
 
Memaw said:
Our conscience must be properly formed according to the teachings of the Church, otherwise it is not trustworthy.
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Ah, yes. Paint by numbers morality. What could go wrong there…
 
gracepoole said:
Who said He wouldn’t be?
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Originally Posted by Memaw:
Our conscience must be properly formed according to the teachings of the Church, otherwise it is not trustworthy.

Your response:
Ah, yes. Paint by numbers morality. What could go wrong there…

If Jesus is the foundation, then how is forming our conscience according to the teachings of the Church “paint by numbers morality”?
 
gracepoole said:
Ah, yes. Paint by numbers morality. What could go wrong there…
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It appears you hold Church teaching in contempt. Otherwise you wouldn’t make such an insulting and rude comment about a person forming their conscience by listening to Church teaching. Could you clarify your statement more if I misunderstood you?
 
zz912 said:
It appears you hold Church teaching in contempt. Otherwise you wouldn’t make such an insulting and rude comment about a person forming their conscience by listening to Church teaching. Could you clarify your statement more if I misunderstood you?
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My comment wasn’t meant to be insulting or rude. And I do know that we’re meant to have well-formed consciences. But the CCC is nothing if not self-aware of the complexities of morality. Its sections on conscience don’t simply say, “Do as we say – even if doing so violates your conscience – or burn in hell.” Yes, if they’re read improperly, one could use these teachings to justify immoral actions (having an abortion, for example) that violate the Church’s moral laws. But to say that one cannot recognize and act on the gray areas of morality is to render the entire section on conscience in the CCC worthless.
 
gracepoole said:
My comment wasn’t meant to be insulting or rude. And I do know that we’re meant to have well-formed consciences. But the CCC is nothing if not self-aware of the complexities of morality. Its sections on conscience don’t simply say, “Do as we say – even if doing so violates your conscience – or burn in hell.” Yes, if they’re read improperly, one could use these teachings to justify immoral actions (having an abortion, for example) that violate the Church’s moral laws. But to say that one cannot recognize and act on the gray areas of morality is to render the entire section on conscience in the CCC worthless.
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What are gray areas of morality?

I don’t see how anyone could read the CCC improperly and justify an immoral action. Do you have an example for this?
 
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