Ignatius Press will be printing a updated and revised edition of Fr. Aidan Nichol's Rome and the Eastern Churches: A Study in Schism.

h/t to Eirenikon

W. Norris Clarke, RIP

Fr. Clarke passed away on Thursday. News via Siris. I would think that Fr. Tacelli would be going down to NYC for the funeral. Services Set for W. Norris Clarke, S.J., Professor and Thomist Philosopher.

I don't think I'd agree with his brand of metaphysics, though Fr. Clarke certainly has his admirers in the English-speaking world. I still think his acceptance of evolution as "settled" reveal his weakness as a philosopher. But may He now see He who is Truth.

The One and the Many

note: see Blackstone on Pursuit of Happiness

Anderson and Tollefsen, Enhancement Biotechnology and Natural Law

First Things:

Enhancement Biotechnology and Natural Law By Ryan T. Anderson and Christopher Tollefsen

Their article in The New Atlantis.

Rethinking the Foundations of Modern Political Thought

Cambridge University Press: Rethinking the Foundations of Modern Political Thought (edited by Annabel Brett and James Tully, with Holly Hamilton-Bleakley)
Google Books:Rethinking the Foundations of Modern Political

Hrm, also found this --
Ashgate Publishing: Juan de Mariana and Early Modern Spanish Political Thought
Google Books: Juan de Mariana and Early Modern Spanish

and McGill-Queen's University Press: Arthur P. Monahan, From Personal Duties Towards Personal Rights: Late Medieval and Early Modern Political Thought, 1300-1600
Google Books: From Personal Duties Towards Personal Rights

They all sound like interesting titles worth perusing.

Zenit: Protocol to "Fill Gap" in Rights Protection

Protocol to "Fill Gap" in Rights Protection

Holy See Says All Should be Able to Seek Justice

GENEVA, JUNE 6, 2008 (Zenit.org).- A draft protocol being considered by the U.N. Human Rights Council will effectively "fill a gap" in the international human rights system, says the Holy See's permanent observer at the U.N. offices in Geneva

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi said this Wednesday to a working group of the 8th Session of the U.N. Human Rights Council, which is discussing a draft of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The protocol would establish a mechanism that would allow victims of economic, social and cultural rights violations to submit a complaint to the United Nations.

Complaint mechanisms exist for all other U.N. rights treaties, except the Convention of the Rights of the Child.

The proposed protocol would offer the same protection to those who have been evicted -- a violation of one's economic, social and cultural rights -- as a similar mechanism gives to those who have been tortured, which is covered under another U.N. treaty.

Archbishop Tomasi explained that "historically, economic, social and cultural rights were considered too vague to be justiciable and a base for an individual complaint procedure."

"In a way," he added, "they were looked at as second-rate human rights."

Right direction

The archbishop said the mechanism would be "a positive step toward a fair social and international order."

The Holy See representative told the working group that the various instruments of the United Nations "sustain [...] a culture of justice and global solidarity."

Archbishop Tomasi affirmed that the treaty on economic, social and cultural rights "serves as a major framework for the achievement of these goals," and that the "steps that have been taken to increase its effectiveness through new mechanisms are a sign of the continued determination to look at the implementation of all human rights in a balanced way."

"The universal value of human dignity requires the promotion and protection of all human rights without distinction of any kind," he added.

The archbishop called the current text "a good compromise," in that it "gives the possibility to individuals and groups to seek justice from violations, and it reinforces existing mechanisms for an effective monitoring of the activity of states."

Fr. Brock's PhD dissertation, The Legal Character of Natural Law according to St Thomas Aquinas, is now on-line.

Just Thomism: Modern Science and the Existence of Nothing, II

Schedule for this year's ISN Summer Conference

here--starts this coming Friday, June 13. Some good papers being presented. If you're in the Boston area and can drop by, please do.

Alain de Benoist

A website dedicated to him and his writings, Les Amis d'Alain de Benoist.
wiki
(Nouvelle Droite)

I haven't read anything written by him, but he has been referenced by several writers on "the Right." Is it accurate to say he is opposed to the liberal (dis-)order and some sort of communitarian? I know he's received some criticism from those on 'the Right' for changing his mind about certain things. (Or was it being too accomodating to certain demographic trends?)

Video Alain de Benoist,Propos volés - Alain, de, Benoist ...
Alain de Benoist sur Radio Bandiera Nera 1/5

The De Benoist Archive
Nouvelle Droite - New Right - English articles--
Manifesto of the French New Right in Year 2000
The Philosophical Foundations of the French New Right

Jihad vs. McWorld. An interview with Alain de Benoist | Alberto ...
The Faye-Benoist debate on Multiculturalism
Three Interviews with Alain de Benoist
Alain de Benoist - Stirpes
Alain de Benoist move the left? - OD Board
Alain de Benoist's 'Multiculturalism': A Problem In Defining A New ...


4/26/08

Zenit: Holy See on UN Protection of All Human Rights

Holy See on UN Protection of All Human Rights

"A Positive Step Toward a Fair Social and International Order"

GENEVA, JUNE 6, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is the English-language address Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Holy See's permanent observer at the U.N. offices in Geneva, gave Wednesday to a working group of the 8th Session of the U.N. Human Rights Council. The talk addressed an Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

* * *

Mr. President,

The Delegation of the Holy See associates itself with previous speakers to thank the Chairperson of the Open-ended Working Group on an Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Catarina de Albuquerque for her efforts and firmness to carry out her work.

In the fight against poverty, especially extreme poverty, the international community has set for itself specific objectives like the Millennium Development Goals, which are an important road leading to a more universal development. The various "instruments of the United Nations and its specialized agencies concerning the integral development of the human being, economic and social progress and development of all peoples" (Declaration on the Right to Development, Res. 41/128 of 4 December of 1986, Preamble, 5) sustain, in fact, a culture of justice and global solidarity.

The ICESCR serves as a major framework for the achievement of these goals. The steps that have been taken to increase its effectiveness through new mechanisms are a sign of the continue determination to look at the implementation of all human rights in a balanced way.

The universal value of human dignity requires the promotion and protection of all human rights without distinction of any kind. The new Optional Protocol of the ICESCR, therefore, represents a positive step towards a fair social and international order.

Historically economic, social and cultural rights were considered too vague to be justiciable and a base for an individual complaint procedure. In a way they were looked at as second-rate human rights. Now the text presented at the 8th Session of the Human Rights Council, is a good compromise. The new Optional Protocol, through an Inquiry and Communication system, gives the possibility to individuals and groups to seek justice from violations, and it reinforces existing mechanisms for an effective monitoring of the activity of States.

The experience of other Treaty bodies shows that these procedures can help to clarify and implement the normative content of a particular provision; to lead monitoring systems to a more focused and disciplined legal approach; to concentrate on a concrete violation of human rights, keeping in mind that coherence is needed to avoid their fragmentation.

While different approaches to human rights can emerge, in the light of the "inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family" (UDHR, Preamble, 1) it would be possible to arrive at a fair agreement. In this way, differences should open the way to a more dynamic recognition, promotion and protection of human rights and not stifle their universal implementation. In this connection, there is a need to adopt a comprehensive and holistic approach under which all human rights would be covered and reservations should not be permitted.

Mr. President,

The new Protocol will fill a gap in the international human rights system. However, our work is not finished until every person will enjoy the right "to a standard of living adequate for the health and well being of himself and of his family" (UDHR, article 25).

Thank You, Mr. President.

Dr. Médaille responds...

Chapter VI will be devoted specifically to Justice, Distributive and Corrective, although every chapter will, in its way, be about this topic. The major sources are, of course, The Nichomachean Ethics and St. Thomas's commentary on the same, as well as the Summa. But it is a case of Philosophy is easy, plumbing is hard. Distributive justice is easy to see and understand philosophically, but its implementation in the real world, its "plumbing" is very hard indeed.

Looking forward to Chapter 6!

Chapter 1 of Dr. Médaille's book, The Political Economy of Distributism, is now up: Chapter I: What's in a Name?

This is how he explains the failure of the distributivists:

The Failure of the Distributists

Although this book must be a critique of modern economics, it must start with a critique of modern distributists. I say “modern” distributists because distributism itself is nothing more than the rediscovery of an older view of economics. Until the 16^th century, there was no real dispute that economics was a colony of ethics, rooted in the political order and dependent on distributive justice. No philosopher or theologian worthy of the name, beginning with Aristotle, was without his economic commentary. He felt it merely part of his natural function to comment on the real affairs of real men, and the economic and political orders were simply part of that commentary. So very nearly the full weight of human opinion, taken as a whole, comes down on the side of the distributists. While distributism adds to modern economics precisely what it lacks to become to a real science—the science of Political Economy—distributists themselves have often been reluctant to put their case in economic terms. They have often argued from moral terms; they have placed their arguments in the necessary connection between free property and free men; they have argued on agrarian terms, on the natural rhythms of life and social order often disrupted by modern capitalism; they have argued from Catholic teaching and the social encyclicals. But on the whole, they have been unwilling or (I’m afraid) unable to enter the economic debate on purely economic terms.

and

Despite these successes in both theory and practice, however, it is too often the case that in any discussion of economics, the distributist is likely to be the least well-versed in the science; he is, too often, the one least able to place his argument in economic terms, and too ready to retreat to moral arguments. This has unfortunate consequences for distributism as a movement. First, we often fail to convince others of the economic soundness of our case. Second, those distributists who have an interest in economics find insufficient sustenance in distributism, and often drift off to Austrianism or Keynesianism or socialism, things which are nearly the opposite of distributism. Finally, we cannot recognize the similarities between our own positions and allied positions like Mutualism and Georgism. And failing to recognize these similarities, we fail to recognize our natural allies. We even fail to recognize, too often, that which is valid and useful in neoclassical and Keynesian theories. All of this gives distributism a parochial cast. We end up marginalizing our own theory, simply because we often have a marginal understanding of the theory.

But if the distributist will only enter the economic lists, he will find weapons to hand and armor enough to stand against any opponent. Our theory is competitive at the intellectual level and thoroughly demonstrated at the practical level; we fill the gaps in the science of political economy that neoclassical economics, and all its variants, cannot. We do not need to stand on the margins, but in the mainstream.

What are characteristics of modern economics?
1. Quantification of human desire and behavior, and economic "laws" expressed through mathematics
2. A lot of hypothetical reasoning -- if/then implications which could possibly be turned into syllogistic form.
3. Descriptive and predictive, rather than being normative, though the predictions yielded by economics can be used in determining public policy/legislation.

So what does it mean to formulate distributism in economic terms? Through quantification? To yield what result/formula? Let's see how the rest of the book carries out this goal.

In the comments section, Dr. Médaille also writes:

Property itself, btw, is merely a means to an end; the end is distributive justice, namely that each man (and woman) gets the just fruits of their labor. Property properly understood leads to this result; property abstracted to an absolute becomes the opposite, a substitute for work. But property is not the only way of getting a just result.

This is interesting--I had not come across distributive justice being applied to the fruits of labor as well as to common goods.

Now available from Eighth Day Books: Discerning the Mystery: An Essay on the Nature of Theology, by Andrew Louth
It's not clear to me if Eighth Day Books is responsible for the republication, or if it's another party. It was published by Oxford University Press.

Google Books: Discerning the Mystery: An Essay on the Nature ...

How does Fr. Louth's understanding of the division between the sciences and the humanities match with the Aristotelian account of knowledge the Aristotelian 'scientific method'? Is Fr. Louth critical of "Latin theology" or its method? I do not think he would fall into an equivocation like some Orthodox writers who seek to throw Latin theology into disrepute by arguing that theologia is not an acquired science, but direct experience of the Trinity/Logos.

I'll have to skim through the online copy when I get a chance, in order to ascertain whether I should buy the book or not.

Some discussion of the book over at WordPress.
The Ochlophobist: Orthodoxy has a problem with theology: louth on ...
Theology and Spirituality

Insight Scoop: Pope Benedict XVI, Theologian of Joy: An Interview with Monsignor Joseph Murphy

The interview itself.

Ignatius Insight: You often refer to Introduction to Christianity, widely considered an essential work by Joseph Ratzinger. What are some other works by Ratzinger/Benedict that you think are at the core of his large body of theological work?

Monsignor Murphy: In many ways, Introduction to Christianity is the closest Joseph Ratzinger came to producing a theological synthesis, even though it is incomplete and there are significant developments in later writings. It has to be remembered that Introduction to Christianity was first published forty years ago (in 1968), yet it remains an extraordinarily fresh work and a classic of modern Catholic theology. Introduction deals with the question of faith and belief in the modern world, before commenting in an original way on the contents of the Apostles' Creed. As my book aims to present Ratzinger's approach to the main elements of Christian belief, it is only natural that I quote and refer to it quite frequently.

It is a pity that Ratzinger's doctoral thesis, People and House of God in St. Augustine's Doctrine of the Church, has never been translated into English. It is important for a better understanding of the genesis of Ratzinger's thought as contains the basic insights on the Church in her inner nature and in her relationship to the state that he develops in his later writings. Ratzinger's Habilitationsschrift, The Theology of History in St. Bonaventure, is important for his thinking about salvation history and about the distinction between eschatology and utopia.

Regarding Ratzinger's strictly theological work, one would also have to mention Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life, which is intended as a manual for students of theology, although it is quite original in its presentation. As to other areas of theology, much of his thought is developed in a series of articles published in various journals or collections. These were often republished in books such as his important volume on fundamental theology, Principles of Catholic Theology, his recently republished meditations on the Trinity, The God of Jesus Christ, his more recent works on ecclesiology among which I would count Church, Ecumenism and Politics, and Called to Communion, his collection of articles and meditations on the Eucharist, God is Near Us, and his volume of articles on religious pluralism, relativism and faith, Truth and Tolerance. Regarding Christology, apart from the relevant chapters of Introduction to Christianity, one would have to mention his interesting attempt at developing a spiritual Christology, Behold the Pierced One, and, above all, his most recent book, Jesus of Nazareth. His liturgical writings are also very significant and already proving quite influential. In this regard, his liturgical trilogy must be mentioned: The Feast of Faith, A New Song for the Lord and, above all, The Spirit of the Liturgy.

For readers unfamiliar with the Pope's thought, an easier introductory approach could begin with his short autobiography Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977, which explains the context for much of his earlier work, and his three book-length interviews, The Ratzinger Report, Salt of the Earth and God and the World.

Ignatius Insight: What do you think is the place of Joseph Ratzinger in 20^th century theology? What are some aspects of his work that will likely to have a significant influence on theological studies and writing in the years to come?

Monsignor Murphy: It is very difficult to prognosticate how Joseph Ratzinger will be seen in the history of 20^th century theology. Now that he is Pope, many who were unfamiliar with his work previously will want to know more about his thinking. His theology is less speculative than that of Karl Rahner or Bernard Lonergan, and, largely because of his other commitments, he did not produce a monumental synthesis like that of Hans Urs von Balthasar. His thought has a lot in common with that of ressourcement theologians, like Henri de Lubac, who did much to recover the rich heritage of the Fathers and prompt a greater appreciation of the complexity, subtlety and variety of medieval thought beyond the simplifications of a large part of the manual tradition. With regard to medieval thinkers, it is true that Joseph Ratzinger is more influenced by Augustinianism and by its continuation in the Franciscan tradition found in St Bonaventure than by the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, whereas de Lubac devotes more attention to the latter. Also Ratzinger's thought has a very strong Scriptural component, as can be seen in Introduction to Christianity and even more so in Jesus of Nazareth.

I am of the view that Pope Benedict's approach to doing theology is likely to have a strong influence. In the introduction to Christ Our Joy, I outlined some of the characteristics of his theology, mentioning among other things that it is very Scriptural, profoundly rooted in tradition, especially in the Fathers, and is also both pastoral and spiritual. While the necessary distinctions must be made between Pope Benedict's personal theology and his Magisterium, we do find something of his theological approach in his official teaching. At present, following a number of General Audience talks on the Apostles and the early Church, recently published by Ignatius Press [Jesus, The Apostles, and the Early Church], the Pope is engaged in a very interesting series on the Fathers of the Church, in which he explains the key aspects of their thought and gives some indication of their relevance to contemporary debates. I believe this is likely to encourage theology students to delve into the riches of the Patristic writings and this is sure to benefit both theological reflection and preaching in the future. As a result, we can hope for a more reflective and spiritual style of theological writing, which draws on Scripture and tradition, while being sensitive to the questionings of our contemporaries.

Pobedonostsev

Henry Karlson recommends him as a anti-liberal thinker.

Konstantin Pobedonostsev - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Critique of Nihilism by Constantine Pobedonostsev: "The Ideals ...
Amazon.com: Pobedonostsev : His life and thought (Indiana ...

I don't read Russian.

General Semantics

*started on May 9*

Pete Takeshi mentioned he had been doing some reading on General Semantics and the writings of Hayakawa. I don't know anything about it; I did take a look at the wikipedia article, and I wonder if the founders of General Semantics really have a grasp of Aristotle, and aren't setting up strawmen arguments. I wish I could get my hands on this paper. Still, the school doesn't look like it's of much importance, and I don't think it has many followers in academic philosophy. At least I haven't come across any followers when browsing through department pages and the like.

Is it really anti-essentialist? And while I might agree with its goal of enabling 'clear thinking,' does it supply us with a good account of the difference between sensation and knowing, and how we use names? Aristotelians acknowledge that our use of a name does not mean that we automatically or necessarily have an adequate definition of the thing being named, and that all sorts of other things can be associated with the thing named, though their relationship to it may be contingent or necessary in different respects. Is General Semantics just trying to reinvent Aristotelian logic?

wiki

Alfred Korzybski - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
S. I. Hayakawa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
General Semantics
General Semantics -- Korzybski
general semantics
Institute of General Semantics
Institute of General Semantics
The New York Society for General Semantics
Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems ... - Google Books Result
DFW Center for General Semantics: Korzybski and Hayakawa
Bibliography of General Semantics Papers by Ralph Kenyon
General Semantics

Amazon.com: Language in Thought and Action: Fifth Edition: S. I. ...
SOME NOTES ON "Language in Thought and Action" by S I Hayakawa

A key to understanding the nature and grace debate?

Is God obligated to give us the opportunity to experience the beatific vision, not because He owes it to us, but because He owes it to Himself, out of love of Himself? Clearly, God is not obligated to create, and He does so freely. Creation does not increase His happiness. Giving intellectual creatures the beatific vision, as opposed to leading them to a natural end, would not increase His happiness either. If He creates, is he free to choose between giving creatures a supernatural end or a natural end? If not, what is the reason? What would determine Him to giving creatures a supernatural end, other than Himself and His will? What would the reason be for such a determination? How would willing His own good require Him to endow creatures with a supernatural end? By giving creatures a supernatural end, God gives of Himself more--there is a 'greater diffusion' of the good, but this does not increase His happiness, so it is not necessary in that respect.

Something to ponder more.

As for the natural desire of man to see God in relation to the 'pure nature' controversy between de Lubac and the neo-scholastics, I will have to study that more in detail.

Edit:
Does Milbank get de Lubac right? The Suspended Middle: Henri de Lubac and the Debate concerning the Supernatural

Henri de Lubac on a supernatural anthropology

Fr. Finigan praises Tanquerey

An afternoon at Parkminster

I referred to Tanquerey as the manual everyone loves to hate which raised a smile. People sometimes say that it is too systematic but I think that it is a wonderful book and must be taken for what it is: an attempt to pass on the wisdom of the saints.

Spiritual life: A treatise on Ascetical and Mystical Theology

@ EWTN, Spirituality

137. Spirituality - SLIFEIN.TXT - The Spiritual Life
Adolphe Tanquerey
Introduction; paragraphs 1-49. The Nature of Ascetical Theology, its Sources, its Method, its Excellence and Necessity and its Division. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY ASCETICAL MYSTICAL PERFECTION HOLINESS

138. Spirituality - SLIFEIN.ZIP - The Spiritual Life
Adolphe Tanquerey
Introduction; paragraphs 1-49. The Nature of Ascetical Theology, its Sources, its Method, its Excellence and Necessity and its Division. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY ASCETICAL MYSTICAL PERFECTION HOLINESS

139. Spirituality - SLP2.TXT - The Spiritual Life
Adolphe Tanquerey
Part 2, Preliminary remarks, paragraphs #617-634. Explains the basis of the distinction of the three ways, the purgative, the illuminative and the unitive, the practical way to employ this distinction wisely and the importance of the study of the three ways. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY ASCETICAL MYSTICAL PERFECTION PURGATIVE ILLUMINATIVE UNITVE

140. Spirituality - SLP2B1.TXT - The Spiritual Life
Adolphe Tanquerey
Part 2, Book 1, Intro., paragraphs 635-642. An explanation of what is meant by beginners and the end that beginners must strive to attain. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY ASCETICAL MYSTICAL PERFECTION BEGINNERS

141. Spirituality - SLP2B1C1.TXT - The Spiritual Life
Adolphe Tanquerey
Part 2, Book 1, Chapter 1, paragraphs 643-704. The prayer of beginners, prayer in general, principal spiritual exercises, mental prayer. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY ASCETICAL PERFECTION PRAYER BEGINNERS

142. Spirituality - SLP2B1C1.ZIP - The Spiritual Life
Adolphe Tanquerey
Part 2, Book 1, Chapter 1, paragraphs 643-704. The prayer of beginners, prayer in general, principal spiritual exercises, mental prayer. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY ASCETICAL PERFECTION PRAYER BEGINNERS

143. Spirituality - SLP2B1C2.TXT - The Spiritual Life
Adolphe Tanquerey
Part 2, Book 1, Chapter 2, paragraphs 705-750. The necessity and the notion of penance, the motives that should prompt us to hate and avoid sin and the motives and the means of atoning for sin. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY PERFECTION PENANCE SIN MORTAL VENIAL

144. Spirituality - SLP2B1C2.ZIP - The Spiritual Life
Adolphe Tanquerey
Part 2, Book 1, Chapter 2, paragraphs 705-750. The necessity and the notion of penance, the motives that should prompt us to hate and avoid sin and the motives and the means of atoning for sin. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY PERFECTION PENANCE SIN MORTAL VENIAL

145. Spirituality - SLP2B1C3.TXT - The Spiritual Life
Adolphe Tanquerey
Part 2, Book 1, Chapter 3, paragraphs 751-817. An explanation of the nature, the necessity and the practice of mortification. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY ASCETICAL MYSTICAL PERFECTION SALVATION MORTIFICATION SENSES EXTERIOR INTERIOR PASSIONS FACULTIES

146. Spirituality - SLP2B1C3.ZIP - The Spiritual Life
Adolphe Tanquerey
Part 2, Book 1, Chapter 3, paragraphs 751-817. An explanation of the nature, the necessity and the practice of mortification. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY ASCETICAL MYSTICAL PERFECTION SALVATION MORTIFICATION SENSES EXTERIOR INTERIOR PASSIONS FACULTIES

147. Spirituality - SLP2B1C4.TXT - The Spiritual Life
Adolphe Tanquerey
Part 2, Book 1, Chapter 4, paragraphs 818-899. The struggle against the Capital Sins. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY ASCETICAL MYSTICAL PERFECTION CAPITAL SINS PRIDE ENVY ANGER GLUTTONY LUST SLOTH AVARICE

148. Spirituality - SLP2B1C4.ZIP - The Spiritual Life
Adolphe Tanquerey
Part 2, Book 1, Chapter 4, paragraphs 818-899. The struggle against the Capital Sins. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY ASCETICAL MYSTICAL PERFECTION CAPITAL SINS PRIDE ENVY ANGER GLUTTONY LUST SLOTH AVARICE

149. Spirituality - SPIRLIFE.ZIP - The Spiritual Life
Adolpe Tanquerey
Manual of Spiritual (Ascetical and Mystical) Theology. Incomplete: The First Part and all but the last book of the Second Part have been scanned so far. The following 11 files are contained in this zipped file. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY ASCETICAL AND MYSTICAL GRACE PERFECTION MORTIFICATION PENANCE SIN VICE CAPITAL SINS

150. Spirituality - SLIFE1.TXT - The Spiritual Life
Adolphe Tanquerey
Part One, Chapter One, paragraphs #49-87. Origin of the supernatural life: the raising of man to the supernatural state, his fall, and redemption. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY ASCETICAL MYSTICAL PERFECTION HOLINESS FALL

151. Spirituality - SLIFE1.ZIP - The Spiritual Life
Adolphe Tanquerey
Part One, Chapter One, paragraphs #49-87. Origin of the supernatural life: the raising of man to the supernatural state, his fall, and redemption. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY ASCETICAL MYSTICAL PERFECTION HOLINESS FALL

152. Spirituality - SLIFE2.TXT - The Spiritual Life
Adolphe Tanquerey
Part One, Chapter Two, paragraphs #88-294. Nature of the Christian life: God's part and the soul's part. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY ASCETICAL MYSTICAL TRINITY INCARNATE WORD MARY GRACE SAINTS ANGELS CONCUPISCENCE WORLD DEVIL MERIT GRACE PENANCE

153. Spirituality - SLIFE2.ZIP - The Spiritual Life
Adolphe Tanquerey
Part One, Chapter Two, paragraphs #88-294. Nature of the Christian life: God's part and the soul's part. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY ASCETICAL MYSTICAL TRINITY INCARNATE WORD MARY GRACE SAINTS ANGELS CONCUPISCENCE WORLD DEVIL MERIT GRACE PENANCE

154. Spirituality - SLIFE3.TXT - The Spiritual Life
Adolphe Tanquerey
Part 1, Chapter 3, paragraphs #295-351. Perfection of this life: the love of God and of the neighbor carried to the point of sacrifice. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY ASCETICAL MYSTICAL PERFECTION UNBELIEVERS WORLDLINGS DEVOUT LOVE SACRIFICE PRECEPTS COUNSELS

155. Spirituality - SLIFE3.ZIP - The Spiritual Life
Adolphe Tanquerey
Part 1, Chapter 3, paragraphs #295-351. Perfection of this life: the love of God and of the neighbor carried to the point of sacrifice. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY ASCETICAL MYSTICAL PERFECTION UNBELIEVERS WORLDLINGS DEVOUT LOVE SACRIFICE PRECEPTS COUNSELS

156. Spirituality - SLIFE4.TXT - The Spiritual Life
Adolphe Tanquerey
Part 1, Chapter 4, paragraphs #352-406. Obligation for laymen, religious and priests to strive after perfection. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY ASCETICAL PERFECTION RELIGIOUS PRIESTS LAYMEN

157. Spirituality - SLIFE4.ZIP - The Spiritual Life
Adolphe Tanquerey
Part 1, Chapter 4, paragraphs #352-406. Obligation for laymen, religious and priests to strive after perfection. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY ASCETICAL PERFECTION RELIGIOUS PRIESTS LAYMEN

158. Spirituality - SLIFE5.TXT - The Spiritual Life
Adolphe Tanquerey
Part 1, Chapter 5, paragraphs # 407-616. General means, interior and exterior, of attaining perfection. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY ASCETICAL MYSTICAL PERFECTION KNOWLEDGE PRAYER DESIRE CONFORMITY GOD'S WILL RULE SPIRITUAL READING

159. Spirituality - SLIFE5.ZIP - The Spiritual Life
Adolphe Tanquerey
Part 1, Chapter 5, paragraphs # 407-616. General means, interior and exterior, of attaining perfection. TANQUEREY SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY ASCETICAL MYSTICAL PERFECTION KNOWLEDGE PRAYER DESIRE CONFORMITY GOD'S WILL RULE SPIRITUAL READING

Zenit: Archbishop Flynn's Q-and-A on Conscience

Archbishop Flynn's Q-and-A on Conscience

"The Human Person Always Acts for His or Her Own Fulfillment"

ST. PAUL, Minnesota, MAY 23, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here are the questions and answers that Archbishop Harry Flynn of St. Paul and Minneapolis addressed at the end of his pastoral letter "Moral Conscience," released Monday. Archbishop Flynn retired May 2, upon turning 75.

The full text can be found on the ZENIT Web page: http://www.zenit.org/article-22664?l=english

* * *

1. Is there a contradiction between freedom and truth?

Although our modern world tends to find cause for hesitancy before the prospect of absolute truth; that is, truth that is universal, our freedom actually depends upon such a truth. If there were no truth there could be no ground for personal dignity other than the majority or no way to work for the common good apart from utility.

And yet, if we are reflective, our own personal experience informs us that there is such a truth. For example, that truth should be told, that respect should be shown, that good should be pursued and evil avoided. That truth that sets our freedom free is the natural law – the way that the human person can deliberate about the good.

2. Is there a contradiction between faith and reason?

Because there is a unity to the truth, there is not a contradiction between faith and reason. Human understanding is a great gift and by thinking and reasoning the person can come to truth. But love, if it is our fulfillment, cannot be explained merely by reason. Love must be revealed. God revealed this truth to Israel and fulfilled it in Christ. For Christians, the truth is ultimately a person who reveals the truth about God and the truth about man in his own person: Jesus Christ. Thus, reason’s search finds its fulfillment not its negation in faith.

3. Does the Church intend that the State be religious?

The Church recognizes the State’s distinctive responsibility to serve the commongood. This means that representatives of the people are called to discern policies and laws that serve the common good; ie, the good of all. The Church’s unique competency is that she is an expert on the person and therefore it is essential that she continue to propose this truth to the State. For human laws must respect the natural law if, in fact, they will be laws that serve the person and help to realize the common good.

4. Are there actions which are always wrong, so called intrinsically evil acts?

Yes, the Christian moral tradition has always recognized intrinsically evil acts; i.e., acts which are always and everywhere wrong. One such action is the direct taking of an innocent human life such as occurs in abortion or intentional homicide. In teaching the truth of such intrinsically evil acts the Church does not man to limit human freedom but to serve it, to witness to the truth that sets us free.

5. Why is our conscience so necessary?

Our conscience is the way in which the human person comes to the truth about fulfillment precisely because it acknowledges, when formed,the sapiential nature of God who is love. Because God is love, God has directed all things to their end, to their fulfillment. The human person always acts for his or her own fulfillment but often we are our own worst enemy – we are the agents of our unhappiness! Conscience is the gift whereby we can come to know and act according to our true end and thereby be fulfilled by a “good” which is without end namely, sharing in the exchange of divine love.

6. What is an erroneous conscience?

An erroneous conscience is a conscience that renders a wrong judgment about the good in a concrete circumstance. For example, a married man who thought he deserved an intimate relationship with someone who was not his spouse would have an erroneous conscience. The opposite of an erroneous conscience is a correct conscience.

7. What is the difference between a formed and unformed conscience?

A formed conscience is one which is informed by the truth of the natural law and the new law of love fulfilled in Christ. As such, a formed conscience is not simply a referent for what one wants to do or feels like doing but one which invites the individual to love. Because one has the duty to form one’s conscience in the truth – and this is only a logical necessity if one desires to love, to do good and not evil – one has a responsibility to learn the truth and to bind one’s freedom to the truth.

8. What is the difference between a vincible and invincible conscience?

Because one has an obligation to form one’s conscience in the truth there is a presumption that one is responsible for judging correctly the difference between right and wrong. A vincible conscience is a conscience that should have known something one did not know and therefore bears responsibility for that ignorance which led them to act wrongly. The category invincible conscience is one which acknowledges that at times through no fault of our own -- ie, we are trying to know the truth -- we make decisions which are wrong.

Zenit: Archbhishop Flynn on Moral Conscience

Archbhishop Flynn on Moral Conscience

"One’s Last and Best Judgment Concernng What One Should Choose"

ST. PAUL, Minnesota, MAY 23, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is the pastoral letter "Moral Conscience" by Archbishop Harry Flynn, the retired archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, that was published Monday. Archbishop Flynn retired May 2, upon turning 75.

* * *
INTRODUCTION


There are those who view the moral conscience as personal, internal, subjective and open to no criticism from without. Even in the Catechism of the Catholic Church one might think to find justification for such an outlook. There we read: “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.’”[1]

The problem with an overly subjective outlook is that it misses the point. It does not look at the whole question of conscience, just as this quotation from the catechism would not be properly understood if it were left standing by itself without seeing it in conjunction with the paragraphs that surround it.

The proper understanding of the moral conscience is basic to our understanding of morality and to the living of our lives. I would like, therefore, in this letter to address some of the most important aspects of conscience with the hope that a clearer understanding of them will also result in a deeper appreciation of what a gift conscience is and why we must, for our own eternal happiness, attend to its proper formation.

I. THE QUESTION: “Where are you?” (Gen 3:9)

Can we really know the difference between right and wrong? Fifty years ago that would have been a question easily answered. Now it may be hotly debated or simply dismissed. In one sense the explanation is as old as humanity. We were created in the image of God (Gen 1‐2) and were called to know the truth and to live in love. Yet, our first parents disobeyed God and introduced sin into the world, thus depriving the intellect of an easy grasp of truth and constancy of will in living the good (Gen 3).


Created for communion with God and with one another in truth and love, Adam and Eve chose instead to decide for themselves what would be right and what would be wrong, and so they (and in them all of us) began to hide from God.

The consequence of that choice is mutual recrimination (“The woman made me do it...,” “The serpent tricked me...”), self‐disillusionment and even death -- consequences which we know all too well. But God does not abandon Adam and Eve to their lie. Instead, he seeks them out: “Where are you?” (Gen 3:9‐) Fifty years ago it was every bit as possible as it is now to choose wrong rather than right and try to justify oneself for doing so, but fifty years ago it was also easier to know and agree on the difference between right and wrong. At that time we still shared cultural values about the truth of the natural moral law. What is “new” today is that now the very idea of knowing right and wrong is called into question.

This questioning of the truth of right and wrong, the questioning even of the possibility of knowing anything to be certain, leads to what we call “relativism.” It has been creeping up on us for centuries, gradually changing the way we think about ourselves and our world. The Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment -- not to mention religious wars and persecutions -- were among the catalysts that led intellectuals in the Western world to question the shared philosophies of our ancestors and the theological foundations of Greek and Judaeo‐Christian thought. Such questions fostered a tendency to think it better to be “modern” than to be “ancient,” even though to classify an idea as “modern” or “ancient” tells us nothing about whether it is true or false.

This is not to disparage advances in the modern world. We have gained a greater respect for the freedom of the human person. There have been wonderful medical and technological advances. Ideas both democratic and scientific have benefitted all of us.

At the same time, the lack of a common intellectual and moral sense has contributed to a century of totalitarianism and materialism which converged to wreak havoc on all peoples and on the world we share. The result, however, has been more than a matter of global movements. On the smaller scale these notions (which inevitably involve lies about God and man) are the basis also of individual moral decisions and values. Over time they have fostered a moral culture which prizes personal autonomy and subjective determination of good above all else, creating a world of “merely individualistic morality.”[2]

This sort of subjectivism leads to the notion that things are good or bad because they do or do not suit my preferences, because they are or are not in accord with what I think is best for me -- almost like deciding what sort of car to drive or what sort of music to enjoy. Of course, preferences have a valid part to play in our lives, but mere self‐centered choices will never serve as a basis for true fulfillment or as a way of serving the common good.

This is not a difficult idea to grasp. In fact, all of us (even children) make use of it all the time in our daily relations with each other.[3]

“You’re not being fair!” “You promised.” “Excuse me, but you’re in my seat.” “He was nice to you. Shouldn’t you be nice to him?” Every one of these statements, commonplace as they are, reveals something far deeper at work here. They all make sense only if the speaker is right in supposing that the listener and he share a common standard upon which both of them can and should agree -- a standard of fairness or of honesty to which both of them are bound and which both should recognize. In fact, even when we don’t agree with what the speaker wants, we still are prone to try to justify ourselves on the ground of some exception to the standard rather than by simply denying the standard itself. There is an implication here of something outside of both speaker and listener, some reality that both subscribe to and which both consider important to the relationships of daily life. Indeed, that same standard is present in far greater things than the small examples I have chosen to give.

We have here a standard that we do not “make up” for ourselves, as though conscience were purely private and personal. It is an objective standard that we discover, not a subjective one that we manufacture. If we want to live in a society that respects the dignity of all persons, then it is in our interest to take a strong look at the objectivity of what is good or bad, right or wrong for all of us. To avoid the question of objective truth only pretends to allow subjectivity to reign and individualism to be sovereign, and even our simple examples show what an impossible world that would create. In such a world raw power would be decisive and pleasure would become the principle of action. But to choose such a world is to choose to act against our truest selves and against our deepest desire to love and be loved.

We must ask ourselves the question God asked of Adam and Eve, “Where are you?” Do you accept the truth? Do you live in real love? The implications are enormous, because love fosters life and sin fosters death. If we are not building a community of love, then we are fostering what Pope John Paul II called a culture of death, a totally inhospitable place in which to live.[4] But there is another way to live: There is the truth that leads to life.

II. TRUTH, CHRIST, CHURCH: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life” (Jn 14:6)

At supper with his friends on the night before his death, Jesus, fully aware of all that was about to happen, rose from the table, set aside his outer garments and fastened a towel around his waist. Then he filled a bowl with water and began to wash his disciples’ feet.[5]

“Do you realize what I have done for you,”[6] he asked them after he had finished. If he, their master and teacher, washed their feet like a common servant, then they must do likewise for each other. “I give you a new commandment: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples -- if you have love for one another.”[7]

Jesus desires to share with his disciples the love that he shares with the Father, and he does so by an action of pure service, an act of witness to the fulness of his love. This love is no mere feeling, no noble or touching sentiment. It is a commitment, a choice to place oneself at the disposal of the other. It is demanding, so demanding that -- as Good Friday proved -- it will suffer death rather than fail in its commitment. It is a love almost frightening in its fidelity to the truth.

Truth is at the heart of it all. “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”[8] But even for Jesus the truth is not simply his, not simply subjective. “The words that I speak to you, I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.”[9] It is this truth of the Father that the disciples must come to learn and appreciate. That will happen through the Advocate, the Helper, the Spirit of Truth: “The Holy Spirit which the Father will send in my place will teach you everything and remind you of everything that I have told you.”[10] It is the Holy Spirit who insures that the disciples -- the Church -- will remain in union with Jesus, who is “the way and the truth and the life,”[11] and will continue to teach the truth that sets us free.

Truth is essential in our relationship to God and to each other. The foolishness of what we have referred to as relativism is in the fact that it tries to accept everything as possibly true and ends up accepting nothing as actually true. Listen to the exchange between Jesus and Pilate. Jesus said, “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”[12]

And all that Pilate could respond was, “What is truth?” And he went back out to try to sway the mob to spare Jesus, without the courage of truth to enable him to act on his own, free of the fear of Caesar that might have truly set Pilate free had he only known the truth. It was Jesus who was bound for trial, but it was actually Pilate who was not free. And, saddest of all, he had been within inches of the Living Truth, so close he could have reached out and touched it, but his cynicism held him back.

God has given us the means of finding the truth. He has given us faith and reason, and they are both his gifts, they are both of value in our search for truth, our search for God. Far from denigrating the power of human reason, the Church has consistently defended it. It has seen no contradiction between reason and faith, but has recognized their ordered relationship. Reason’s search for truth is not wrong, it is simply not fully sufficient in itself. It finds its fulfillment in the act of faith.

The more we know ourselves through both reason and faith, the more we come to know the truth of our relationship to God. And the more we know of that relationship, the more we know about how we ought to live. We begin to learn the truth about what is right and what is wrong in the things we do, and that knowledge of the truth, far from limiting our freedom, actually expands it. It sets us free to do what is truly right, and in that we will find our true fulfillment.

True freedom is not, as we are sometimes prone to think, the possibility of choosing either good or evil. The possibility of choosing evil is actually a perversion of freedom. True freedom is the possibility of always being able to choose what is truly good, and that we can do only if we come to know the truth about what is right and what is wrong. Know the truth, and the truth will truly set you free.

There is no contradiction between a Church that offers the love of Christ and a Church that teaches the truth which Christ embodies. Christians who endeavor to follow Christ and to live in his love should be fully disposed to learn from the witness that this Church provides.[13] Its statements are not contrary to freedom of conscience, they are, rather, a statement of the truths which enable our consciences to act with true freedom.

III. CONSCIENCE: “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (Jn 8:32)

What is conscience? Is it a body of knowledge about what is right or wrong? Is it an attitude of mind, a habitual outlook on moral conduct? In fact, it is neither of those things. It is something simpler. It is an act of judgment about the morality of an action one is considering doing. “Conscience is one’s last and best judgment concernng what one should choose.”[14]

Conscience measures a contemplated act against the objective standard of the moral law, which is one aspect of the truth that sets us free and to which the Church bears witness. Conscience applies this law of love in the particular circumstances of daily life. For this reason, conscience is the immediate norm of our moral action as it loves us to do one thing or avoid another by making a judgment of reason about the good or evil of a particular case.[15]

In rendering the judgment of conscience on the moral quality of a particular act, we make use of the unity of truth as we know it -- in part through natural reason (that truth “written upon our hearts,” as Paul says in Romans 2:15) and in part through revelation. Conscience presupposes these sources of knowledge. In other words, conscience does not determine what is right or wrong, but rather makes a judgment about whether a particular proposed action is in accord with what is right or wrong and is, therefore, a good or evil action.[16] This is why those people are wrong who say that morality is purely individualistic, that conscience is a wholly independent, exclusively personal capacity to determine what constitutes good or evil.[17] In fact, to reduce conscience to so narrow and ineffectual a vision is actually to demean its real significance.

It is only because you and I know the same truth -- whose fullness is to be found in Christ -- that we can base our moral act in an operation of conscience. If decisions of conscience were no more than privately decided “truths,” we could never share a common good. Instead, it is essential that we have the capacity to know the truth and so to deliberate what act is good.

Conscience is not only our last judgment before acting, it must also be our best. However, if conscience is a human judgment, then it is also capable of error and is not infallible. This is why the Church teaches that conscience must be properly formed. It must be enabled to discern what actually does or does not correspond to the “eternal, objective and universal divine law” which human intelligence is capable of discovering.[18]

Our freedom is a freedom for the truth and not a freedom from the truth. Otherwise there would be no possibility of sharing in a true good. This is why the Fathers of Vatican II affirmed that “through loyalty to conscience, Christians are joined to other men in the search for truth and for the right solution to so many moral problems that arise both in the life of individuals and from social relationships. Hence, the more a correct conscience prevails, the more do persons and groups turn aside from blind choice and try to be guided by the objective standards of moral conduct.”[19]

Clearly a person must follow conscience in order to be morally responsible. Yet no human being can realistically claim that his conscience is simply infallible, since decisions of conscience depend on conformity to the objective moral law and do not create the moral law. But if conscience can be erroneous, therein lies the potential for tragedy. In spite of all sincerity, a conscience in error neither fosters fulfillment nor serves the good. If conscience, therefore, is to serve its purpose, it must not only be sincere, it must also be correct. How sad, indeed, to be utterly sincere in what we do and to be, at the same time, utterly and sincerely wrong. Conscience needs formation.

IV. FORMATION OF CONSCIENCE: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom 12:2)

The importance of conscience cannot be underestimated. The judgment of conscience about the goodness or evil of a contemplated act is not only a judgment on the value of the act itself, but is also a judgment on the doer of the act. His choice of action is also his choice of his own moral state. His actions reveal what he is and even contribute to making him what he is. To choose to do good is to choose to be a moral person; to choose to do evil is to choose to be an immoral person. The judgment of conscience is crucial.

“A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience. If he were deliberately to act against it, he would condemn himself.”[20] It is obvious that to act against a conscientious judgment made with certitude would really be a way of doing violence to one’s own moral state. However, we must also recognize the fact that human judgment is capable of error. Even when the person making the judgment is certain that he is right, he may easily fail to grasp the question correctly or to have the full knowledge he needs or to be aware of all the facts. In such cases, the person making the judgment would be acting in good faith and would not be guilty of sin, but he would still be wrong and the evil of the act would still take place.

One may be morally blameworthy for his lack of proper judgment and his own ignorance. “This is the case when a man ‘takes little trouble to find out what is true and good, or when conscience is by degrees almost blinded through the habit of committing sin.’ In such cases the person is culpable for the evil he commits.”[21] The sources for errors in moral conduct may be varied. “Ignorance of Christ and his gospel, bad example given by others, enslavement to one’s passions, assertion of a mistaken notion of autonomy of conscience, rejection of the Church’s authority and her teaching, lack of conversion and of charity; these can be at the source of errors of judgment in moral conduct.”[22]

In either case -- whether the ignorance is or is not blameworthy -- one always has the obligation to take whatever steps are required to ensure that one removes that ignorance, since it is an obstacle to right judgment and therefore to right living. Such ignorance is always harmful.

Earlier we spoke of conscience as one’s last and best judgment concerning what one should choose. For that judgment to be the best judgment, one must take care to see to it that conscience (the judgment) is properly formed. Good judgment never just “happens.” It always demands insight and knowledge of both facts and values.

There are certain norms for formation of conscience that will apply in every case, as outlined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: (1) One may never do evil even if the intention is that good will come of it; (2) one should do unto others as he would have them do unto himself; (3) charity always demands respect for one’s neighbor and his conscience.[23]

In order for conscience to be properly formed, one must make the effort to be upright and truthful. This means making every effort to form judgments of conscience based on good reasoning and on the acceptance of the true good willed by God. As human beings we are influenced by negative forces and by the temptation to sin. We are easily drawn to a false autonomy and the temptation to reject even legitimate authoritative teaching.

“The education of the conscience is a lifelong task. From the earliest years, it awakens the child to the knowledge and practice of the interior law recognized by conscience. Prudent education teaches virtue; it prevents or cures fears, selfishness and pride, resentment arising from guilt, and feelings of complacency, born of human weakness and faults. The education of the conscience guarantees freedom and engenders peace of heart.”[24]

The judgment of conscience is at the heart of our relationship to God and to neighbor. It is essential to our life and happiness, since it is conscience that directs us to live in such a way as to be everything that the loving Creator intended us to be. To be otherwise is to doom ourselves to a vain quest for a happiness that cannot be attained because it does not exist. We are daily faced with choices, large and small, all of which lead us in one direction or the other. We do not always have ready answers to the situations that arise, but we are bound to have minds and hearts open to the truth that will be presented to us through reason and through faith. We are bound to listen to the voice of God as both reason and faith make it known to us.

To have a well formed conscience is not to have our freedom constrained. It is, rather, to have a freedom that is full and complete, because in every choice made on the ground of a well formed conscience we come one step nearer to God and one step nearer to what, in our heart of hearts, we truly wish to be.

CONCLUSION: “Christ lives in me.” (Gal 2:15)

The grace of baptism is the grace of new life in Christ. That new life, however, is not a static gift given for the day of baptism and remaining within us as a “relic” of the sacrament. It is, rather, a new life, a new vitality renewed each day and drawing us ever nearer to the fullness of life that will be ours in Heaven. To live in Christ is to live as another Christ. It is to live for the truth and to lay down our lives for that truth as witnesses to the gift we have received. To live in Christ is to love self and neighbor as does Christ.

This love is not a feeling. It is a steadfast willing. It is a constant choice of the good, and that good must be illuminated by the truth known to reason and fulfilled in faith. This is the function of the well formed conscience. It is a responsibility of the highest order. It is something we must all pursue, for without a conscience informed by the truth we can never find fulfillment in the love of God or love of neighbor. Only when I have the certitude of a truly well formed conscience will I be able to say in truth, “Christ lives in me.”

* * *

[1] Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], 2nd edition with modifications from the Editio Typica, 1994, 1997, quoting from Vatican II, Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae, 1965, n. 3 § 2.

[2] Vatican II, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et spes [GS], n. 30. Pope John Paul II in the Encyclical Veritatis splendor [VS], 1993, n. 32, writes: “But in this way the inescapable claims of truth disappear, yielding their place to a criterion of sincerity, authenticity and ‘being at peace with oneself,’ so much so that some have come to adopt a radically subjectivistic conception of moral judgment... there is a tendency to grant to the individual conscience the prerogative of independently determining the criteria of good and evil and then acting accordingly. Such an outlook is quite congenial to an individualist ethic, wherein each individual is faced with his own truth, different from the truth of others.”

[3] The ideas presented here are not original with me, but come from a delightful passage in Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis (Macmillan Co., 1966 [8th printing], Book I, chapter 1).
[4] “For us too Moses’ invitation rings out loud and clear, ‘See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil... I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live’ (Dt 30:15,19). This invitation is very appropriate for us who are called day by day to the duty of choosing between the ‘culture of life’ and the ‘culture of death.’” Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitae,
101995, n. 28.

[5] Cf. Jn 13.

[6] Jn 13:12.

[7] Jn 13:35.
[8] Jn 8: 31-32.

[9] Jn 14: 10.
[10] Jn 14: 26.

[11] Jn 14: 6.
[12] Jn 18: 37-38.

[13] VS, n.64, “It follows that the authority of the Church, when she pronounces on moral questions, in no way undermines the freedom of conscience of Christians. This is so not only because freedom of conscience is never freedom ‘from’ the truth but always and only freedom ‘in’ the truth, but also because the Magisterium does not bring to the Christian conscience truths which are extraneous to it; rather it brings to light the truths which it ought already to possess, developing them from the starting point of the primordial act of faith. The Church puts herself always and only at the service of conscience, helping it to avoid being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine proposed by human deceit (cf. Eph 4:14), and helping it not to swerve from the truth about the good of man, but rather, especially in more difficult questions, to attain the truth with certainty and to abide in it.”

As the Second Vatican Council put it: “in matters of faith and morals, the bishops speak in the name of Christ and the faithful, for their part, are obliged to accept their bishops’ teaching with a ready and respectful allegiance of mind” (Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 1964, n. 25). And always, as Vatican II noted: “[I]n forming their consciences, the faithful must pay careful attention to the sacred and certain teaching of
the Church. For the Catholic Church is, by the will of Christ, the teacher of truth. It is her duty to proclaim and teach with authority the truth which is Christ and, at the same time, to declare and confirm by her authority the principles of the moral order which spring from human nature” (Dignitatis Humanae, n. 14).

[14] Germain Grisez, "The Way of the Lord Jesus," Volume I, Christian Moral Principles, Franciscan Herald Press, 1983, p. 76.

[15] Cf. VS, 34. Pope John Paul later writes: “The dignity of this rational forum and the authority of its voice and judgments derive from the truth about moral good and evil, which it is called to listen to and to express. This truth is indicated by the ‘divine law,’ the universal and objective norm of morality. The judgment of conscience does not establish the law; rather it bears witness to the authority of the natural law and of the practical reason with reference
to the supreme good, whose attractiveness the human person perceives and whose commandments he accepts.

‘Conscience is not an independent and exclusive capacity to decide what is good and what is evil. Rather there is profoundly imprinted upon it a principle of obedience vis-à-vis the objective norm which establishes and conditions the correspondence of its decisions with the commands and prohibitions which are at the basis of human behavior.’” (VS, 60, quoting Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Dominum et vivificantem, 1986, n. 43.)

[16] Cf. CCC, n. 1778.
[17] Cf. Dominum et vivificantem, n. 43.
[18] Cf. Dignitatis humanae, n. 3; VS, n. 60.

[19] Gaudium et Spes, n. 16, emphasis added. See also Dignitatis humanae, n. 3: “On his part, man perceives and acknowledges the imperatives of the divine law through the mediation of conscience. In all his activity a man is bound to follow his conscience in order that he may come to God, the end and purpose of life. It follows that he is not to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his conscience.”

[20] CCC, n. 1790.
[21] CCC, n. 1791, quoting Gaudium et Spes, n. 16.

[22] CCC, n. 1792.
[23] Cf. CCC, n. 1789.
[24] CCC, n. 1784.