“Challenges in forming the conscience”

What is conscience?
“The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with
light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness” (Matthew 6, 22-23). In his
encyclical Veritatis splendor, Pope John Paul II relates that these words of Jesus refer to a
call to form our conscience, the conscience being ‘the bright lamp of the soul’. 1 If your
conscience is sound then your whole body will be filled with light, but if your conscience is
not well formed then your whole body will be in darkness. The formation of conscience
stands as the ethical imperative of the Church - to form Christians who are responsible with
a well formed and mature conscience.2
Before discussing formation of conscience let us briefly remind ourselves of the task of the
conscience with reference to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (henceforth ‘Catechism’
or CCC), numbers 1776-1802, in the section ‘Dignity of the human person’. In the CCC
various aspects of conscience are discussed and one facet of interest is the conscience as a
practical judgment of reason allowing the person to recognize the moral quality of an act.
The conscience judges particular choices, approving those that are good and denouncing
those that are evil. Here we see a movement from the particular act to a general principle of
good and evil. The conscience bears witness to the authority of truth and can perceive and
recognize the prescriptions of the divine law. 3 Again there is a movement from particular to
general.
But the converse movement is also noted, from the general to particular, as the conscience
is concerned with the perception of the principles of morality and their application in the
given circumstances. The conscience thus acts as a mediator between the general and the
particular, a process taking place in the interior of the person. This may be represented as
follows:

General principles
CONSCIENCE

Particular case

Some pastoral examples may help to clarify this dynamism.

1
Veritatis splendor, 64 and 24. (Henceforth ‘VS’)
2
The formation of the conscience is part of the mission of the Church (See Dignitas personae, no. 10,
henceforth ‘DP’). In specific areas such as healthcare ethics there is an ‘urgent need to mobilize consciences in
favour of life.’ See DP 35. In Evangelium vitae 95 (henceforth ‘EV’) we find an urgent call for ‘a general
mobilization of consciences’.
3
Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1777. (Henceforth ‘CCC’)

1
Passing from general principles to particular cases:
A person knows the general principle (or precept) that they should attend mass once a
week, preferably on a Sunday with others in the believing community. One Sunday they are
sick and do not attend mass. Now the conscience helps the person decide whether they
should indeed go or whether in fact their sickness physically prevents them. Sometimes a
person will present themselves in the sacrament of confession stating they have sinned
because they missed mass. They are following the principle that they should attend mass
every Sunday but it must be applied in the concrete situation. If they were bed-ridden with
illness and could not physically attend (and no one was available to bring them communion)
then there would be no sin as God does not command the impossible. This scenario
highlights the vital role of the conscience in applying the general principles in the particular
situations.
This is a challenging task that requires a mature conscience. Even the great moralist Saint
Alphonsus Liguori noted that the greatest difficulty is to apply principles rightly and in a new
way to particular cases according to the many circumstances calling for different solutions.
We find this challenge echoed by Pope John Paul II “Certainly there is a need to seek out
and to discover the most adequate formulation for universal and permanent moral norms in
the light of different cultural contexts, a formulation most capable of ceaselessly expressing
their historical relevance, of making them understood and of authentically interpreting their
truth.”4
For a person to pass from the general principles to the particular situation they need to
assume a certain moral responsibility for the decisions that they are making. Assuming
responsibility for decisions and their consequences is one sign of spiritual and moral
maturity.5 That is why the Church advises each lay person to develop a mature conscience
and grow in their sense of moral responsibility in their specific field of expertise – “Let the
layman not imagine that his pastors are always such experts, that to every problem which
arises, however complicated, they can readily give him a concrete solution, or even that
such is their mission. Rather, enlightened by Christian wisdom and giving close attention to
the teaching authority of the Church, let the layman take on his own distinctive role.” 6
To pass from the particular situation to the general principles guiding it:
It is not merely to apply general principles in the concrete situation but also the reverse, to
pass from the particular situations to the general principles governing it. One pastoral
situation where this applies not infrequently is in decision about care at the end of life. A
young man approached asking advice about his grandmother of 90 years of age who was
sick with severe pneumonia. The family was wondering if she should be placed on a

4
VS 53
5
See Gaudium et spes, 55. (Henceforth ‘GS’). In this document from the Second Vatican council, the
word ‘responsibility’ is mentioned over 25 times!
6
Ibid., 43

2
mechanical respiratory ventilator or not. He texted me for advice and I asked him to call me
to clarify some of the issues involved. He did not call and instead texted me back later saying
“I will just pray about it”. To pray is recommended and this is the good advice we also find in
the book of Sirach 37, 14-15 “A man's conscience can tell him his situation better than seven
watchmen in a lofty tower. Most important of all, pray to God to set your feet in the path of
truth.” The family needs to pray and always this should be encouraged but they also need to
well informed about the situation in question. It is not enough to make a decision based on
particular details without inferring which principles are being drawn on. Of course many
correct decisions are made areflexively, without the person being specifically able to
elucidate the general principle that is guiding them. Obviously the family will be trying to do
the best for their beloved grandmother, or ‘lola’. Often in these situations the family is torn
between prolonging the life of their loved one but on the other hand not prolonging their
agony.
In deciding what to do they are greatly helped by the teachings of the Church, specifically
the principle of ordinary and extraordinary care. Stated by Kelly it reads “Ordinary means of
preserving life are all medicines, treatments and operations which offer a reasonable hope
of benefit for the patient and which can be obtained and used without excessive expense,
pain or other inconvenience.”7 Ordinary means are morally obligatory. On the contrary, if
the ventilator does not offer reasonable hope, is excessively expensive or inconvenient then
it would be classed as an extraordinary intervention and would not be morally obligatory, a
conclusion which can give peace of mind to the family who may be in a dilemma as to what
is the correct course of action to take.
One danger then is to remain in the particular - the details of a situation - and not to
contrast the facts with objective criteria of what is right and wrong. At times a family in an
emotionally tense and fraught moment such as being confronted with the possible death of
a loved one need objective principles to guide them to help them make the correct decision
of conscience.
Thus we have seen the important role of the conscience mediating between the general
principles and the particular and vice versa in a kind of on-going feedback loop, going from
the particular details to the general principles and from here applying them again to the
particular case in question. This is the challenging task of the conscience!

Care for the formation of the conscience

The formation of the conscience is a lifelong task and becomes increasingly challenging as
the world grows increasingly more complex each day.8
7
See Gerard Kelly, “The Duty to Preserve Life”, Theological Studies 12 (1951) 550. Also CCC 2278. At
times in Catholic bioethics, the nomenclature of ‘ordinary’ and ‘extraordinary’ treatment is used
interchangeably with the terms ‘proportionate’ and ‘disproportionate’ treatment.
8
“Conscience is innate, that is, given, but needs to be developed, to be educated, or to be formed. As
other human qualities and faculties, as human life itself, conscience has to grow, to mature, to ripen – to

3
 “The care for the formation of the conscience clearly emerges as the
fundamental ethical responsibility of every person. Whatever laziness in
this regard will have immense consequences for oneself and for the
others - it can never be justified. Neither is it possible at a certain point of
life to stop. The path of formation needs to be continually taken up; in
fact in adulthood there is a renewed responsibility in front of one’s
professional, family and social duties challenged by new ethical problems
full of questions and uncertainties.”9
Gradual numbness of the conscience
If care is not taken to continually form the conscience it may become less capable to discern
what is the correct course of action in a given situation and can become numb, gradually
silenced as a result of habitual sin. 10 An example from the Emergency room can perhaps
enlighten us here. Before entering religious life and being ordained as a missionary priest I
worked as a medical doctor, specializing in surgery. During my medical school days I
remember well my stint in the emergency room, that exciting locale of human drama,
where one did not know what or who would come through the doors next. On my first day
there I remember two patients being wheeled in on trolleys at break-neck speed. One
caught my attention because she was screaming out, “Help! I’m going to die! My leg, will
someone please look at my leg!” My attempt to review her immediately was curtailed by my
boss grabbing the lapel of my white coat and restraining me firmly. “What are you doing?”
he asked me. “It’s obvious,” I appealed, “going to save this woman”. “And what about the
other woman?” he asked. “She is fine because she is not saying anything” I ventured. I
learned that day that the patient who was not saying anything was silent not because all
was well but because she had stopped breathing.
For the conscience, not always a conscience that is undisturbed is the sign of a healthy
conscience. A ‘good’ Catholic may not be disturbed that they go to rest in a big mansion
despite that the fact that many other brothers and sisters in Christ around them live in
abject poverty. A silent conscience here may mean that the conscience is dying or nearly
dead.
This was a similar conclusion of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in addressing the situation
regarding the behavior of the Nazis. One objection was raised to him that the Nazis had
done evil but were in fact following their conscience. To follow one’s conscience is a moral
obligation and thus, even though objectively they had done wrong, subjectively speaking
they had acted morally. Perturbed by this disturbing conclusion, Cardinal Ratzinger wrote “I

become a true and certain conscience, or an upright and good conscience.” See Fr. Fausto B. Gómez, O.P.,
‘Formation of a moral conscience’ in The Journey Continues – Notes on Ethics and Bioethics, Manila: University
of Santo Tomas Publishing House 2009, 193.
9
Fr. S. Majorano, CSs.R, La Coscienza, Torino: Edizioni San Paolo 1994, 182. (English translation in text
above my own from Italian original)
10
See GS 16

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knew with complete certainty that something was wrong with the theory of justifying power
of the subjective conscience, that, in other words, a concept of conscience which leads to
such conclusions must be false. For, subjective conviction and the lack of doubts and
scruples which follow there from do not justify man.” 11 Some thirty years later Cardinal
Ratzinger found summarized the perceptions he was trying to articulate in the terse words
of the psychologist, Albert Gorres, who understood the importance of guilt as conscience's
complaint against a self-satisfied existence. In his encyclical Spe salvi, on Christian hope,
Pope Benedict XVI noted “Failure to recognize my guilt, the illusion of my innocence, does
not justify me and does not save me, because I am culpable for the numbness of my
conscience and my incapacity to recognize the evil in me for what it is.” 12
Conscience must be educated
To safeguard against the gradual numbing of the conscience it is vital that it be educated. 13
In vogue today is the expression ‘to follow my conscience’ but care must be taken not to
simply follow arbitrary preferences or mere intuitions as the moral character of actions is
determined by objective criteria not just by how I feel. 14 We are called to follow our
conscience but first to educate and form it because it can be in error. Cardinal Newman put
it eloquently in his letter to the Duke of Norfolk:
“The sense of right and wrong, which is the first element in religion, is
so delicate, so fitful, so easily puzzled, obscured, perverted, so subtle
in its argumentative methods, so impressible by education, so biased
by pride and passion, so unsteady in its flight, that, in the struggle for
existence amid various exercises and triumphs of the human intellect,
this sense is at once the highest of all teachers, yet the least luminous;
and the Church, the Pope, the Hierarchy are, in the Divine purpose, the
supply of an urgent demand” 15
What is essential is therefore humility because our conscience being the highest of teachers
is at times the least luminous and as the psalmist reminds us “He so flatters himself in his
mind that he knows not his guilt” (Psalm 36,3). 16 For this reason the exhortation of St

11
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, “Conscience and Truth”. Presented at the 10th Workshop for Bishops,
February 1991 Dallas, Texas. Accessed on August 12, 2010 at www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/RATZCONS.HTM
12
Spe salvi, 33
13
“When we appreciate the call of conscience, the vice to hear the demands of God, of love, and of
justice, then we similarly recognize the formation of the conscience as itself a command. We need to
remember, however, that forming our conscience is a lifetime process.” See James Keenan, S.J., ‘Conscience’ in
Moral wisdom, Quezon city: Claretian publications 2004, 35
14
See Anthony Fisher, O.P., ‘Some problems of conscience in bio-lawmaking’ in Culture of Life - Culture
of Death, London: Linacre Centre 2002, 202, footnote 23
15
Cardinal John Henry Newman, A letter addressed to his Grace, the Duke of Norfolk, on occasion of
Mr Gladstone’s recent expostulation, 1874. Reprint by Kessinger Publications, 60
16
“The formation of conscience must go hand in hand with the realism of humility, which is aware of
inevitable limitations of every individual.” See Karl H. Peschke, Christian Ethics, Vol I, Manila: Logos

5
Augustine “Return to your conscience, question it...Turn inward, brethren, and in everything
you do, see God as your witness.”17
Challenges in forming the conscience
 Misinformation
A great challenge in the formation of the conscience is to have the correct information. 18
You are only as wise as your sources. It is interesting at times to see the injudicious use of
sources of information. Last academic year I asked a class of young theologians to present
proposals for written papers on moral themes such as gambling, pornography and IVF. They
had to attach a bibliography. The main sources used were books from theologians with
virtually no references whatsoever to the Church Magisterium. In the next class I brought in
15 documents including BBC news stories, articles from a conference of Bishops, the Holy
Bible and some documents from Vatican II. They had to number from 1-15 the relative
importance of each source. They correctly placed the Sacred scripture and Magisterium as
the primary sources in this exercise with the theological books being in 9 th place out of 15. I
found it interesting that even though the theological books came 9 th in this exercise, in their
proposed bibliographies they were the principal source! I then asked them to re-write their
research proposals incorporating the teaching Magisterium into their bibliography. No
wonder many theologians dissent later if at the beginning of their theological training they
do not know what the Church teaches!19
But what we can glean from this experience also applies to the whole faithful of God. If you
want to know about Church teaching on the use of condoms in AIDS then take care what
you read. If you read the online BBC news or various articles in some of the Philippine daily
newspapers then you may end up with a misinformed, biased opinion, critical of Catholic
Church teaching in this area. However if you use sound and trusted sources such as the
views of Edward Green, who happens to be the Director of the Harvard AIDS program, you
will see how the Church, with its vast experience of treating over 25% of the world’s victims
of HIV/AIDS, is speaking as Mother and you will understand its views on how condom use
can even worsen the spread of AIDS are scientifically based and should be taken seriously.
You are what you eat not just gastronomically speaking but also theologically. We need to
choose and use our sources of information very carefully!
“The means of social communication (especially the mass media) can give
rise to a certain passivity among users, making them less than vigilant

Publications 2007, 207

17
St Augustine, In ep Jo. 8, 9: PL 35, 2041
18
“In order to make a sincere and correct conscientious decision, we must be convinced that our
conscience has all the available information”. See Amelia Fleming, ‘Conscience and Decision-making’, in An
Irish Reader in Moral Theology, Dublin: Columba Press 2009, 367. “A man simply must have good information
in order to make good mature moral judgments.” See Karl H. Peschke, Christian Ethics, Vol I, 205
19
“We need to make sure that in theological faculties, seminaries and Catholic institutions sound
doctrine is taught, explained and more fully investigated.” See EV 82

6
 consumers of what is said or shown. Users should practice moderation
and discipline in their approach to the mass media. They will want to
form enlightened and correct consciences the more easily to resist
unwholesome influences.”20
It reminds me of the tale of Harry the hungry hippopotamus who did not take care what he
ate. One day at the zoo a little boy threw an apple core at him and Harry the hippo ate it
happily. The next day a little girl threw an empty coke can and he accepted it gladly. On the
third day a naughty schoolboy threw stones at the hippo and he devoured them without
thinking. The next day the children read the sign “Sorry, Harry the hippo is dead”. What is
the moral of this sad tale? Don’t eat everything that is thrown at you! This maxim was
phrased in altogether different way by the current Father General of the Jesuits, Rev. Fr.
Adolfo Nicolás in a talk given in 2009 on the new frontiers of education. One phrase that
afterwards really stuck in my mind was “The world is in danger because of a lack of
thinking.” We need to think, to use our minds as Jesus reminds us - “Love me with all your
mind” not just your heart (see Matthew 22,37).
 Speed of life
The pace of modern life is so fast that there seems to be little time to ponder and
reflect. It is like the story told by Buddhists monks about living life too fast. There was a
man galloping along on a horse which appeared out of control. An onlooker shouted to
the man “Where are you going?” The man replied “I don’t know, ask the horse!”
Sometimes life can seem out of control with little time to reflect on where one is going.
The philosophical adage of Socrates “an unexamined life is not worth living” is still
relevant and insightful today.
 A superficial gaze
A further challenge in coming to solutions for problems in the world of today is a
superficial, imminent gaze that does not see more deeply. 21 It is the challenge to see
beyond, to go deeper. A superficial gaze will never see the other as “Imago Dei”, made in
the image and likeness of God. 22 What will be noticed instead is their title, family name,
profession, social status, wealth, intelligence, how they speak and the colour of their skin.
Just look at the attention given to beauty in our contemporary world to see that our
gaze often is quite shallow. For skin colour in Europe ‘brown is beautiful’ and people
would die to have the appearance of a tanned, dark skin! Here in the Philippines it is the

20
CCC 2496
21
'We need first of all to foster, in ourselves and in others, a contemplative outlook.’ See EV 83
22
For a thorough evaluation of the concept of Imago dei see the document “Communion and
Stewardship: Human Persons Created in the Image of God” from the International Theological Commission at
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20040723_com
munion-stewardship_en.html

7
opposite - ‘white is sexy’ - the advertising billboards will tell you. The book of Samuel
reminds us that “man looks at appearances but God looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16,7).
If we do not look with contemplative eyes we may never see the other as a brother or sister.
This can have tremendous repercussions in a society. When the other is seen just as
“another mouth to feed” for example then I can begin to believe all the myths of
overpopulation and the population bombs, proposed so craftily by neo-colonial powers and
international organizations of nations that are united in trying to spread anti-natal policies,
funded by banks who are supposed to work for the benefit of the world. If I see the poor
through American dollar tinted spectacles of course I will not feel the slightest remorse in
proposing and supporting the reproductive health bills even though they will promote
widespread contraception. If our gaze remains superficial we will never enter into the
adventure of transcendence! We need to go beyond!23
In decisions of conscience indeed a deeper gaze is needed. A gaze that encompasses the
details of the problem at hand but that never loses sight of the dignity of the people
involved. Perhaps the words of the great Cappadocian Father, Saint Gregory of Nyssa, as
quoted by Pope John Paul II help us to have a more correct vision of man - "Man, as a
being, is of no account; he is dust, grass, vanity. But once he is adopted by the God of
the universe as a son, he becomes part of the family of that Being, whose excellence and
greatness no one can see, hear or understand. What words, thoughts or flight of the
spirit can praise the superabundance of this grace? Man surpasses his nature: mortal, he
becomes immortal; perishable, he becomes imperishable; fleeting, he becomes eternal;
human, he becomes divine." 24
Ways to form our conscience
Having viewed some of the challenges in the formation of the conscience we proceed to
look at the various ways that conscience can be formed.
1. Through prayer
The Word of God is a light for our path and lamp for our feet. We need to assimilate it in
faith and in prayer and put it into practice. In this way our moral conscience is formed. 25 A
prayerful spirit of interiority is needed to be able to listen to the voice our conscience. In a
noisy world, full of many voices, it becomes more difficult to listen to the whisper of God.
Elijah discovered this as God was not present in the hurricane, tumultuous earthquake or

23
“Beyond the limits of experimental methods, beyond the boundaries of the sphere which some call
meta-analysis, wherever the perception of the senses no longer suffices or where neither the perception of the
senses alone nor scientific verification is possible, begins the adventure of transcendence, the commitment to
"go beyond" them.” Benedict XVI, Address to participants at the 12 th General Assembly of the Pontifical
Academy for Life and Congress on “The Human Embryo in the Pre-implantation phase”, Rome, 27 February
2007. See http://www.zenit.org/article-15491?l=english, accessed on August 12, 2010
24
Quoted by Pope John Paul II in EV, 80 (from St Gregory of Nyssa’s De Beatitudinibus, Oratio VII:
PG 44, 1280)
25
See CCC 1785

8
raging fire but was in the tiny whispering sound (1 Kings 19, 11-13). To listen to this tiny
whispering sound of the voice of God it is needed to enter into one’s room, close the door
and pray to the Father who is in secret (See Matthew 6, 6). There are various ways in which
prayer can help form our conscience;
Discernment - To discern what is good and what is not. Often the moral choice is presented
as an ultimatum between good and evil. Rarely does the ordinary life of a Christian present
such a stark contrast. What is more typical is the choice between good and good! In other
words, the choice between two goods, two options which both seem beneficial. The
challenge to discern here is to elucidate what is good, what is pleasing and what is perfect
(See Romans 12, 2).
To reflect on our experience - In Gaudium et spes a certain credibility was given to human
experience as a valuable category in evaluating contemporary moral problems. This pastoral
exhortation reminds us to look for solutions to concrete problems in the light of the Gospel
and human experience.26 Of course what needs to be avoided is a certain absolutism,
whereby my experience becomes a kind of subjective and objective norm. To avoid this, the
personal experience of the believer on a certain issue of conscience can be healthily
contrasted and confirmed, even purified and perfected, by comparing it to the experience of
the whole Church as expressed in its Magisterium and in the lives and experiences of the
Saints who are part of the living Tradition of the Church.
Humility to accept mistakes – Seeing as one task of the conscience is to evaluate completed
actions, in prayer the Holy Spirit can remind us of our actions and it may be that we see in
the light of truth the error of our ways. In humble prayer we can also receive the desire or
resolve to mend our errant ways.
To correct our faults – The Catechism reminds us that modern day life often distracts us
from any “reflection, self-examination or introspection.” 27 Without this it is very hard or
almost impossible to detect our faults and failings. Instead it becomes very easy to only see
those of others! It takes work to remove the log from our own eye. Saint Alphonsus Liguori
in his ‘Discourse on the Necessity of Mental prayer for priests’ likened prayer to a spiritual
mirror;

“If one has a stain on one’s countenance and one looks in the mirror, one
sees it and takes it away; without this mirror, the stain remains, and will
always remain; as one does not see it, one does not take it away. So it is
with mental prayer: if we have a defect, if we find ourselves in a
dangerous occasion, when we go to mental prayer, as if going before the

26
GS 46. For an account on the importance of dialoguing with human experience see Dennis J. Billy,
‘Dialoguing with human experience: A challenge to Catholic moral theology’ in Moral theology - New directions
and fundamental issues, ed. by James Keating, New York: Paulist Press, 2004, 69-87
27
CCC 1779

9
 mirror, we see in our conscience this defect that we have, we see this
danger of losing God; we see it and we take it away.” 28
To find solutions to problems – One task of the conscience is to provide practical solutions
to concrete problems. Prayer helps the conscience perform this task as Pope Benedict XVI in
a recent address to the Italian Youth acknowledged. He commented that faith and indeed
prayer "do not resolve problems, but enable one to address them with a new light and
strength, in a way fitting to man, and also more serenely and effectively." He said the history
of the Church is full of saints who, precisely with prayer, "were always able to find new,
creative solutions to respond to concrete human needs in every century: health, education,
work, etc."29
Grace filled encounter - Many times man experiences the same turmoil as Saint Paul “I do
not do what I want to, but do what I hate” (Romans 7,15). It is not merely that the
conscience needs to know what to do, but thereafter we need to actually put into practice
what it is telling us. Hell is full of people with just good intentions they say! The Scholar of
the Law knew many things but he also needed to put them into practice. That is why Jesus
told him “Do this and you will live” (Luke 10:28). What is needed to put our resolutions into
practice? Man needs the grace-filled prayerful encounter with the Risen Lord. “The law
comes from Moses, but the grace and truth comes from Christ” (See John 1, 17 ).
Eschatological dimension of prayer – Finally prayer reminds us of heaven, our ultimate
destination. It can be a useful reminder in our decisions of conscience in our daily life to
bear in mind where we are heading. In this way we are more likely to follow the Way and
not get lost in the journey.
2. Listening to the preaching of the Gospel
The preaching of the Gospel can help so much to form the conscience of the believer as
the proclamation of the Gospel enlightens the conscience. 30 Saint Paul in his second letter to
Timothy urges his disciple to announce the Gospel in season and out of season, to convince
and correct, and to counter falsehood “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ
Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power:
proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince,
reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching. For the time will come when
people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable
curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to
myths. But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the
work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:1-5)
28
Saint Alphonsus Liguori, ‘Discourse on the Necessity of Mental prayer for Priests’ in Dignity and
Duties of the Priest (or ‘Selva’), I, 165. This work, accessed on August 12, 2010, is available online in PDF format
at http://www.freewebs.com/wallmell/LiguoriDignityDutiesPriest.pdf
29
Pope Benedict XVI, Address to Youth in Sulmona, Italy, July 5, 2010. Accessed on Aug 12, 2010 at
www.zenit.org/article-29803?l=english
30
EV 6

10
The regular homily is for many Christians “the central moment of encounter with the word
of God”.31 The Instrumentum Laboris of the most recent synod of Bishops, on the Word of
God in the Life and Mission of the Church, stated “In the homily, preachers need to make a
greater effort to be faithful to the biblical text and mindful of the condition of the faithful,
providing them assistance in interpreting the events of their personal lives and historical
happenings in the light of faith.” 32 What is being asked here is to make the Word flesh, to
incarnate the Word of God in the biblical text in the situations of daily life.
One challenge is how to affront some of the challenging issues of conscience in the
preaching of a typical homily? Perhaps it is not directly to discuss the technique of in-vitro
fertilization (IVF) in the Sunday homily but instead to lay the foundations, giving general
principles about respect for life and the need to respect the dignity of every human being
from conception to the grave. A reference could be made to the injustices of IVF whereby
hundreds of thousands of excess embryos are now frozen (500,000 in the USA alone)
awaiting their fate and living a kind of ‘hell on ice’. There are many other moments of
informal preaching too such as dialogues about the faith, catechism classes, lessons of
theology – in fact many situations where foundations can be laid and delicate issues
addressed more appropriately.33
3. The role of the Christian community34
The task of forming the conscience is not merely an individual one but also a social one - “In
fidelity to conscience, Christians are joined with the rest of men in the search for truth, and
for the genuine solution to the numerous problems which arise in the life of individuals from
social relationships.”35 In our decision making, subjective peace of mind should be
contrasted with the Magisterium of the Church because the conscience can also be in
error.36

31
Synod of Bishops, XII Ordinary General Assembly, Concluding message, Oct 24, 2008, III.7. Accessed
on Aug 12, 2010 at www.zenit.org/article-24043?l=english.
32
Synod of Bishops, XII Ordinary General Assembly, Instrumentum Laboris, Vatican City 2008, no.37
33
“To be truly a people at the service of life we must propose these truths constantly and
courageously from the very first proclamation of the Gospel, and thereafter in catechesis, in the various forms
of preaching, in personal dialogue and in all educational activity. Teachers, catechists and theologians have the
task of emphasizing the anthropological reasons upon which respect for every human life is based. In this way,
by making the newness of the Gospel of life shine forth, we can also help everyone discover in the light of
reason and of personal experience how the Christian message fully reveals what man is and the meaning of his
being and existence.” See EV 82.
34
“Conscience is always personal, but it cannot be isolated from community.” See Seán Fagan,
‘Conscience today’ in An Irish Reader in Moral Theology, Dublin: Columba Press 2009, 362
35
GS 16. Also GS 30 “No one can allow himself …to wallow in the luxury of a merely individualistic
morality”!
36
“In forming their consciences the faithful must pay careful attention to the sacred and certain
teaching of the Church.” See Dignitatis humanae, Declaration on Religious Liberty, 14. “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

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The dialogue with others is a great help in clarifying issues at stake. The book of Tobit tells
us “Take counsel from every wise person and don’t despise useful advice” (Tobit 4,18).
Listening to others helps to keep us humble and open in an on-going search for the truth. 37
The approach taken by Saint Alphonsus Liguori in solving practical problems is quite
remarkable particularly his zealous search for the truth and his consultation with the wider
Christian community. He said that when confronted by a difficult problem he sought to
inform himself as best he could – reading the writings of learned men, the Popes, the Saints
and then dialoguing with experts about it. Even after all this ‘external’ work he would turn
to the Lord and begin the just as important ‘interior’ work – to purify his vision so that he
would not give a biased opinion. Having done all this, then and only then he would
comment on the case in question.38
How much more clarity would be transmitted to the faithful if each time a person in charge
of shepherding others, whether it be a catechist, a theologian or even a fellow Christian,
was likewise responsible in their diligent search for the truth.
How often opinions are given by Christians on serious and important themes such as
euthanasia or in-vitro fertilization without ever having taken seriously the task of
discovering the truth. The prophetic voice of the Church is much weakened when we take
little effort to be informed about issues of life and death. Many Christians today would
wrongly be in favour of IVF for example without really knowing what it involved and not
having taken the time or trouble to read what the Church teaches on the subject. This is
irresponsible. If a person was in an operating theatre as a bystander and was asked by the
surgeon in a critical moment of the operation if he should cut this structure or not, only a
foolhardy spectator would answer without having studied well the matter in question. For
similar matters of life and death such as abortion, cloning, embryo research and euthanasia
it is becoming increasingly fashionable to give opinions on such lofty and serious matters
with little or no interest in discovering what these issues actually involve. It is amazing how
many people would be in favour of IVF without understanding the technique and its
dangers. Many would even have strong opinions against the teaching of the Church without
even having read what she says! This is why the Catechism exhorts us to educate and thus
form our conscience well “The education of conscience is indispensable for human beings

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.” See VS
64.
37
“The person eager to make true moral judgments will, of course, be anxious to learn what he or she
can from moral advisers who can be trusted.” See William May, An Introduction to Moral theology, 2nd edition,
Huntington, USA: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, 2003, 64
38
See Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Risposta a un anonimo..., in Apologie e confutazioni, vol. I, Monza 1831,
77-78

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who are subjected to negative influences and tempted by sin to prefer their own judgment
and to reject authoratitive teachings.” 39
4. Spiritual elements in formation of conscience
Various other elements in the spiritual life can assist the formation of a mature conscience
including the exam of conscience itself. This exercise has a long and trusted tradition in the
spiritual patrimony of the Church. For ordinary Christians it can be done in a moment of
break at lunchtime or in a quiet moment at the end of the day. The sacrament of
reconciliation is indispensable for the correct formation of conscience. The penitent can
acknowledge those moments in which they have not followed the light of their conscience,
or have failed to properly inform themselves before making or taking a decision. Overall the
sacrament helps the person to recognize their weaknesses and to grow in humility, learning
to rely more on the Lord. Finally spiritual direction can help the person walk the Christian
path and allows them to share the light of the spirit with a trusted guide and friend. Of
course, spiritual direction is more fruitful when the person is actually living a spiritual life!
That is the person needs to be praying regularly and listening to the insinuations of the Spirit
so that they actually have a spiritual life first when they come to seek the help of a director
or guide. The director can never replace the Holy Spirit in the life of the person being
guided. The danger here is that the director becomes a substitute conscience of the person
asking for help.
Conclusion
The formation of the conscience remains the ethical challenge of the church today. To
form Christians with a well formed conscience and to be able to make mature and
responsible decisions in front of the concrete problems of today. 40 Prayer is vital in this
task, helping place the person in touch with the voice of God which echoes in the depth
of their conscience, as well as the possibility to dialogue humbly, openly and critically
with fellow believers to discern God’s will in front of a myriad of possible choices.
Although the believer has a duty to follow their conscience, care needs to be taken to
form the conscience well. A major problem today is the speed of life with little time for
reflection, leading to a superficial gaze on things, and often an injudicious and uncritical
use of sources even among moral theologians. A sound grounding in and fidelity to the
teaching Magisterium of the Church should first be encouraged before forays are
undertaken into the wide body of theological literature available. It is indeed a challenge
to form the conscience well. As our Lord reminded us “the lamp of the body is the eye. If
your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light” (Mt 6,22). A well formed

39
CCC 1783
40
For Seán Fagan a mature conscience lives more by a ‘morality of responsibility rather than of
permissions’. See ‘Conscience today’ in An Irish Reader, 361. For Fr. Fausto B. Gómez, O.P., the well formed
conscience is critical, dynamic and dialogical. See ‘Formation of a moral conscience…’, 203-204.

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conscience can give so much light to the person, to the Church and to the problems of the
modern world. It is a challenge to form the conscience well but a worthwhile one.

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