Father Shields’s Homily on “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship”: Sunday, September 27, 2020:

“No” is a prominent word in our life.  We learn it very early as early as 7 months. In American English, the 10 most frequent first words of a baby “No”, “mommy”, “daddy”, “ball”, “bye”, “hi”, “dog”, “baby”, “woof woof”, and “banana”. “No” ranks very high. We have two sons in today’s Gospel reading. One said “no” and repented. The other said “yes” and did not fulfill his promise. So what is this parable of two sons about? Well, it is about me and probably you. My father always said live by your word. Do what you say and say what you do was his motto. I always felt like one value I was to strive for was consistency, that is, to live what I believe.   So, do I? No, not always. In fact, I feel my life at times is more in line with St Paul when he said: “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do… it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me…What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” - Romans 7:15-17; 24-25. And I want to emphasize “thanks be to God!” He continues to deliver me" from my sin and stupidity. I do have a patient savior. Praise God.

What is the difference between the two sons? The one who said “no” and then went and acted showed repentance and a willingness to grow his conscious: to see what was right and where he was wrong and to act on what he discerned was right; to change his mind and, therefore, his action. The prophet Ezekiel chides those who complain about the difficulty of living as God wants. He invites his hearers to renounce their sinfulness. Each one who does this, “shall certainly live, and shall not die”. Now look at the other son who showed a lack of developed conscious as his inaction did not bother him.  We might say he had an unformed conscious or a self-serving conscious. While the other son moved from a self-serving conscious to a formed conscious. Jesus was making this point with the religious leaders. “For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.” - Mt. 21:32. The Psalm begs the Lord to teach us his ways and to enable us to walk in his truth, to remember his mercy and love for his people, rather than our sinfulness. To act from what we believe.  St Paul writes to invite the Philippians and us to be united in their conviction and love, living for a common purpose and with a common mind; to become, in their self-effacement and consideration of others, the same as Christ Jesus. 

I confess I have been both sons. Let me put it in terms of conscience that grew in me concerning my celebration of the Mass. As a young priest who was formed right after Vatican II I wanted the liturgy to be a bit more relatable. So I did some revising. It was only after a period of time I was convicted deeply in my conscience and the help of some parishioners that the Mass is not mine to revise. I am a servant of the Church and her teachings.  Besides, I looked at my hubris thinking I could improve on Jesus becoming present at every Mass: body, blood, soul and divinity under his sacramental form. I could improve on the Churches prayers? No, I could just reverently pray and embrace the ancient and new beauty of every Mass. MY conscience, as they say, was pricked which usually means a sort of repentance and doing or saying something differently. I think in a way we have to be patient with others and ourselves. We are all growing and developing our conscience. Maybe we also need some repenting to seek how we can grow a deep informed Catholic conscience that is clearly in line with the kingdom of God and the Church. I have been the second son saying “yes” but not really believing in that “yes” enough to change my actions. I have this inner rebellion that wants to live the exception to the rule rather than the rule.  I must tell you one of the greatest struggles in my life is living the gift and vow of obedience because quite frankly is crucifies my good ideas and my more perfect plans. I think if I honestly look at my life, I wanted sometimes to go my way because it was the easy way. I wanted to have God and the Church agree with me and, if they didn’t, I simply nodded their way was enough for me to feel good and I did what I wanted. I have been sunk to many times by my good intentions but poor reasoning. I have had to acknowledge two very important truths: I am not God and the Church is smarter than me, even if I don’t understand why. I am still growing my conscience because it is a lifetime work and it takes some real humiliations at times to simply say I will go with the Bishop other than my good ideas.  But obedience seems to be what God is asking of his Church. That means you, me, and the Bishop.

In the next few weeks I am going to speak about and pray with you on forming a good and deep catholic conscience. Because, in just over a month, we have important local and national elections. I do not intend to tell you who to vote for. I do intend to share what makes for a good Catholic conscience. I will be quoting directly from the Catholic Bishops publication “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship”, which you can read online at the US Bishop’s web site here: https://www.usccb.org/offices/justice-peace-human-development/forming-consciences-faithful-citizenship We will have some excerpts (here) on our parish web from this document as well..   Before we begin I have a suggestion for us. It comes from the Bishops also to make a pledge to be civil in our political and religious dialogue. I published it recently on our web site. Here is is:

I PLEDGE:

1. Civility
To recognize the human dignity of those with whom I disagree, treat others with respect, and rise above attacks when directed at me.
 2. Clarity
To root my political viewpoints in the Gospel and a well formed conscience, which involves prayer, conversation, study and listening. I will stand up for my convictions and speak out when I witness language that disparages others' dignity. 
 3. Compassion
To encounter others with a tone and posture which affirms that I honor the dignity of others and invites others to do the same. I will presume others’ best intentions and listen to their stories with empathy.  I will strive to understand before seeking to be understood. 

 Quote of the bishops document:

“Unfortunately, politics in our country often can be a contest of powerful interests, partisan attacks, sound bites, and media hype. The Church calls for a different kind of political engagement: one shaped by the moral convictions of well-formed consciences and focused on the dignity of every human being, the pursuit of the common good, and the protection of the weak and the vulnerable. Catholics have a serious and lifelong obligation to form their consciences in accord with human reason and the teaching of the Church. Conscience is not something that allows us to justify doing whatever we want, nor is it a mere "feeling" about what we should or should not do. Rather, conscience is the voice of God resounding in the human heart, revealing the truth to us and calling us to do what is good while shunning what is evil. Conscience always requires serious attempts to make sound moral judgments based on the truths of our faith. As stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed. In all he says and does, man is obliged to follow faithfully what he knows to be just and right" (no. 1778). Aided by the virtue of prudence in the exercise of well-formed consciences, Catholics are called to make practical judgments regarding good and evil choices in the political arena. Here are some things we must never do, as individuals or as a society, because they are always incompatible with love of God and neighbor. Such actions are so deeply flawed that they are always opposed to the authentic good of persons. These are called "intrinsically evil" actions. They must always be rejected and opposed and must never be supported or condoned. A prime example is the intentional taking of innocent human life, as in abortion and euthanasia. In our nation, "abortion and euthanasia have become preeminent threats to human dignity because they directly attack life itself, the most fundamental human good and the condition for all others" (Living the Gospel of Life, no. 5). It is a mistake with grave moral consequences to treat the destruction of innocent human life merely as a matter of individual choice. A legal system that violates the basic right to life on the grounds of choice is fundamentally flawed. The right to life implies and is linked to other human rights-to the basic goods that every human person needs to live and thrive. All the life issues are connected, for erosion of respect for the life of any individual or group in society necessarily diminishes respect for all life. Catholics often face difficult choices about how to vote. This is why it is so important to vote according to a well-formed conscience that perceives the proper relationship among moral goods. As Catholics we are not single-issue voters. A candidate's position on a single issue is not sufficient to guarantee a voter's support. Yet if a candidate's position on a single issue promotes an intrinsically evil act, such as legal abortion, redefining marriage in a way that denies its essential meaning, or racist behavior, a voter may legitimately disqualify a candidate from receiving support In reference to solidarity, a special emphasis must be given to the Church's preferential option for the poor. In light of these principles and the blessings we share as part of a free and democratic nation, we bishops vigorously repeat our call for a renewed kind of politics: Focused more on moral principles than on the latest polls. Focused more on the needs of the weak than on benefits for the strong. Focused more on the pursuit of the common good than on the demands of narrow interests. This kind of political participation reflects the social teaching of our Church and the best traditions of our nation.

How to Form a Moral Conscience:

• Consult with  the teachings of the Church and/or pastor who understands and can explain the Church's teaching clearly and correctly.  Identify the fundamental truths or values on which this teaching is based and determine how essential this teaching is to the core of Catholic faith.
Beware of making decisions based on information you read in books or online which may not accurately explain the Church's teaching.
Assume that the Church's understanding of God's revelation and human nature is fuller, deeper and more reliable than any individual’s. The moral teaching of the Church is not just another opinion, but carries for us Catholics a weight of obedience.
Even though the Church's teaching may seem ideal, unrealistic or wrong to you, start from the assumption that it is correct and applies to your personal circumstances.
Evaluate your personal opinions, feelings and circumstances carefully.  Honestly assess the reasons why you are unable or unwilling to agree or comply with the Church's teaching.  
This is best done with the assistance of a pastor, confessor or spiritual guide who understands the Church's teaching as well as your personal circumstances.
 Pray for the grace to understand and appreciate the underlying truth or values which are reflected in the Church's teaching and for the grace to discern what is possible for you in your particular circumstances.
Be patient, and allow time for God's inspiration to guide you directly or through others who know and love you. As I began the homily, we need to be patient with ourselves and each other as we grow our conscious and pray that we to be united in our conviction and love, living for a common purpose and with a common mind; to become, in our self-effacement and consideration of others, the same as Christ Jesus.

BISHOP CONLEY'S WRITINGS:

Forming one's conscience in preparation for voting

Bishop Conley gave this address on forming one's conscience in preparation for voting, during a seminar on faithful Catholic citizenship, held at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Denver. Bishop Conley touches upon key points discussed in Archbishop Chaput's book "Render Unto Caesar."

A Catholic’s Formation of Conscience, the Political Environment and Abortion

I am happy to speak on this very important and timely topic, as difficult and as controversial as it may be, because it is vital to our Catholic faith, and to our responsibility as faithful citizens in the United States.

The topic that has been assigned to me is: "A Catholic's Formation of Conscience, the Political Environment and Abortion". There are some very important background materials which are available which include the most recent publication on this subject by the Bishops of the United States entitled: "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A call to political responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States" which was published in November of 2007.

Also, hot off the press (issued on Monday), is the Voters Guide for Catholics published by the Colorado Catholic Conference which is endorsed by the Bishops of Colorado. There are a number of voters' guides that have been and will be published and many of them are very good, but this is the official voters guide for Catholics in Colorado.

A third document which is very important and Archbishop Chaput quoted from it in his column last week in the DCR is entitled: "Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics" which was a "pastoral letter" published by the U.S. Bishops ten years ago in 1998 and, in the words of Archbishop Chaput (and I would concur with his statement) "it is the best document ever issued by the U.S. bishops on the priorities of Catholic citizenship".

This document was developed in light of three other Church documents which were recently published at the time and we don't have available this evening, but they should be a part of every serious Catholic's library: Pope John Paul II 1993 encyclical on Moral Theology, Veritatis Splendor (on the Splendor of the Truth) and his 1995 encyclical Evangelium Vitae (the Gospel of Life), as well as the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994 English).

What I will try to do this evening is divide my talk into three sections: 1) a basic primer on the nature, function and formation of a Catholic conscience, 2) a little bit about the "Faithful Citizenship" document, 3) some reflections on our responsibilities and duties conscientious voters. I have been given about 40 minutes for this presentation. After I finish I think we will open it up for questions and I am sure Andrew Watson will be happy to answer any questions that you have about my talk!

Introduction

With the elections less than a month away, it is a time when all citizens need to prepare to exercise their civic and moral duty in our democratic society to vote in a conscientious and informed manner. We, as Catholics, take this responsibility and privilege very seriously. Responsible citizenship is a virtue and our participation in political life is a moral obligation. This is why the Colorado Catholic Conference worked so diligently over these past weeks to "get out the vote". I hope and pray that everyone in this room made sure they are registered to vote, because Monday was the deadline. This is one of things I had to put on my to-do list when I moved to Colorado this summer.

Registering to vote is just the first step. Who we vote for and how we come to that decision is the hard part. The Catholic bishops of the United States and the bishops of Colorado, in publishing the aforementioned documents, do so to help Catholics form their consciences in accordance with the truth. Our faith demands that we make moral judgments guided by well-formed and well-informed consciences. We do not do this in a partisan manner and we do not tell Catholics how to vote and for whom to vote. In fact, Catholics may often feel politically disenfranchised since no political party and few candidates share our comprehensive and consistent commitment to human life and human dignity, from the very first moment of conception to natural death.

Nevertheless, both clergy and laity have important and complementary roles in public life. As bishops and priests, it is our duty to hand on the authentic moral and social teaching of the Catholic Church. While it is neither our role nor our intention to tell Catholics how to vote, it is our responsibility as teachers of the faith to assist Catholics to properly form their consciences so that they may cast their vote in light of fundamental moral principles rooted in the truth as discerned through reason and enlightened by Catholic faith.

I became a Catholic when I was 20 years old and a junior in college at the University of Kansas, an institution, as I like to say, known more for its basketball program (and as of late its football program too), than its Catholicism. KU plays the Buffalos in Lawrence on Saturday!

I remember talking to my father, God rest his soul, during that fall before I converted and I asked him what he thought. He told me: "now you know son, if you become a Catholic, the pope in Rome is going to do all of your thinking for you. You won't be able make any decisions on your own now. But if you want to become a Catholic and give up your freedom to think on your own, then go ahead - but don't forget that I warned you".

About 16 years later, after I had been ordained a priest for six years, both my parents asked to be received into the Catholic Church. Come to find out, neither of them had ever been baptized, so I had the privilege of baptizing, confirming and giving first Holy Communion to my mother and father. But before I received my father into to the Church, I told him: "now dad, you know if you become Catholic, the pope in Rome is going to make all your decisions for you".

I became Catholic because I believe that the Catholic Church, under the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has the fullness of the truth about Jesus Christ, salvation and about the human person. And it is through the teaching office of the Church, what we call the Church's Magisterium, guided by the Successor of Saint Peter, the Vicar of Christ on earth, that we receive infallibly true teaching on faith and morals. And it is in this area of Catholic moral theology that we learn about the truth of the human person.

This comprehensive human and Christian anthropology based on the dignity and sanctity of the human person who is created in the image and likeness of God, is really at the heart of all Catholic social and moral teaching. And it is based on this doctrine of the human person that we shape and form our consciences so that we can make judgments in the political and social arenas for the common good and vote our consciences accordingly.

When we Catholics cast our ballot and make political choices, we ought to be guided by moral convictions rooted in both our faith and our reason, rather than our mere attachment to a political party. In his new book, Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life, Archbishop Chaput puts it like this (see page 4):

Let me explain what this book will not do. It will not endorse any political party or candidate. Both major U.S. political parties have plenty of good people in their ranks. Neither party fully represents a Catholic way of thinking about social issues. One of the lessons we need to learn from the last fifty years is that a preferred American "Catholic" party doesn't exist. The sooner Catholics feel at home in any political party, the sooner that party begins to take them for granted and then to ignore their concerns. Party loyalty is a dead end. It's a lethal form of laziness. Issues matter. Character matters. Acting on principle matters. The sound bite and the slogan do not matter. They belong to a vocabulary of the herd, and human beings deserve better. Real freedom demands an ability to think, and a great deal of modern life seems deliberately designed to discourage that.

This is why it is necessary to always work to transform and improve the party to which we belong, rather than allow the party to transform us in such a way that we ignore fundamental and foundational moral truths, like the right to life.

Our Catholic faith, as revealed through Sacred Scripture and interpreted by the teaching authority of the Church, gives us a vision of what is true, good and beautiful both for the individual person and for society. It is the vision that Christ the Teacher has revealed to be in harmony with our human nature as created in the image and likeness of God and endowed by God with dignity and rights.

Conscience

In his new book which just came out last month entitled, "Knowing Right from Wrong: A Christian Guide to Conscience", Fr. Thomas Williams (who teaches theology at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical Athenium in Rome and is the Vatican Analyst for CBS News) begins his book by re-telling the classic story of Pinocchio, written by the 19th century Italian author Carlo Collodi. Some of you might recall that this story was made into a popular animated film in 1940 by Walt Disney. I remember watching this cartoon movie when I was very young and the story had a profound impact on me.

The story is about a wooden marionette who longed to be a real boy, but in order to do so he must become good. Pinocchio kept straying from the right path, betrayed by false friends, his own weakness of character and his proclivity to lie. You will recall that every time he told a lie, his nose would grow longer. This really frightened me as a little kid and I was actually afraid that it could happen to me if I lied! It was a good deterrent!

Fortunately, early in his adventures Pinocchio meets an important friend who will accompany him through life and provide him with wise counsel and guidance. In the 1883 Italian original Collodi calls this wise voice the grillo parlante ("talking cricket"). He was re-christened in the Disney film as "Jiminy Cricket". In the movie version, the figure of Jiminy Cricket becomes explicitly identified with Pinocchio's conscience. Many authors claim that the initials of Jiminy Cricket are a veiled reference to Jesus Christ (the initials "JC"). Oh that they would make such movies again.

When Pinocchio asked Jiminy Cricket just what is a "conscience" and how does it work, he tells Pinocchio that his conscience is that "still, small voice" that will tell him how to choose between right and wrong and that he must always obey his conscience. Hence the mantra of Jiminy Cricket was "always let you conscience be your guide". This is actually very sound Catholic moral theology but it needs to be fleshed out.

Catholic teaching

Both the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the encyclical by Pope John Paul II on Fundamental Moral Theology, Veritatis Splendor (The Splendor of Truth), begin the section on conscience with a passage from the Second Vatican Council's Apostolic Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (perhaps better known as Gaudium et Spes). I believe this is worth quoting because it gives us a beautiful description of the nature, function and formation of conscience. The Council Fathers wrote:

Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment... For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God... His conscience is man's most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths (GS 16).

We tend to use a lot of metaphors when we speak about conscience: "that little voice inside my head", "my heart of hearts", "the voice of God", "my gut feeling", etc. These metaphors can be helpful, but we have to be careful because conscience is much more than a "hunch" or a "feeling" about what is right or wrong. For many people conscience is synonymous with personal preference. Or it becomes an appeal to that which one already believes or thinks.

The US bishops put it this way in Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship:

 “Conscience is not something that allows us to justify doing whatever we want, nor is it a mere "feeling" about what we should or should not do. Rather conscience is the voice of God resounding in the human heart, revealing the truth to us and calling us to do what is good while shunning what is evil.” (FCFC 17)

Conscience does not invent what is right or wrong. Conscience does not make law. Conscience does not establish or create good and evil. Rather, conscience recognizes the moral quality of an act.

The great 19th century convert to the Catholic faith, the Ven. John Henry Card. Newman, who had a huge influence on my conversion to the Catholic Church (and whose cardinalatial motto I stole for my episcopal motto - but he actually stole it from Saint Francis de Sales!) wrote a lot about the subject of conscience. He is quoted four times in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the most quoted nonsaint in the catechism (although he is soon to be beatified).

In his famous Letter to the Duke of Norfolk, which is quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Newman wrote that conscience "has rights because it has duties" He went on to say:

 “Conscience is a law of the mind... (it) is a messenger of him who, both in nature and in grace, speaks to us behind a veil, and teaches and rules us by his representatives. Conscience is the aboriginal Vicar of Christ.”

Commenting on this passage from Newman, Archbishop Chaput writes in his book:”

“As Catholics, we must act according to our conscience. But we should also remember that we all have a great skill at self-deception when it suits us. Conscience is never merely a matter of personal preference or opinion. Nor is it a self-esteem coach! It is as gift of God; the strong, still, uncomfortable honest voice inside us that speaks the truth if we let it.” (Chaput, 148).

In the words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

 “Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed. In all he says and does, man is obliged to follow faithfully what he knows to be just and right. It is by the judgment of conscience that man perceives and recognizes the prescriptions of the divine law.” (CCC 1778).

In fact, so important is the judgment of conscience and our need to obey the voice of conscience, Newman concludes his Letter to the Letter to the Duke of Norfolk with a line that is very often quoted and very often misunderstood: "I add one remark. Certainly, if I'm obliged to bring religion into after dinner toasts (which indeed does not seem quite the thing) I shall drink to the pope, if you please - but still to conscience first, and to the pope afterwards."

Thus, the words of Jiminy Cricket ring true: "always let your conscience be your guide" Why? Because our conscience is our only moral barometer. It is the only way we know whether something is right or wrong! We can never go against our conscience.

Formation of Conscience

However, we can't stop here. Obviously, we are not born with a fully formed conscience. As a child matures and reaches the age of reason, the ability to exercise his or her judgment of conscience slowly develops. There are many factors that contribute to the formation of conscience in an individual - our family upbringing, education, life experience, our environment, the influence of friends, the development of our faith, etc. The process of forming and informing a Catholic conscience is a long process and the education of conscience is a lifelong task.

Conscience must be grounded in the truth, rooted in objective reality. We were made for the truth, the truth of Jesus Christ, and the truth, our Lord promises, will set us free. For this reason conscience must appeal to the truth - objective truth. If conscience is not rooted in the truth, erroneous judgments will be made.

Because we live in an age of moral confusion, it is not always easy to recognize the truth. Pope Benedict XVI, just before he was named pope, called this the "dictatorship of relativism". Relativism, by definition, claims that there is no absolute or objective truth. Relativism teaches that each person can make up his own truth and this becomes the dictate of the individual. What is right or wrong for me, is not necessarily what is right or wrong for you. "To each his own" as the saying goes.

If conscience, therefore, is not rooted in objective truth and is not in conformity with reality, then erroneous judgments will be made. Because we have a serious obligation to obey the judgment of our conscience about what is right and just ("always let your conscience be your guide" as Jiminy Cricket said) then we have an equally serious prior and primary moral responsibility to form and inform our consciences properly. Without proper formation of conscience based on universal moral principles, the truths of our faith, as they are revealed to us in and through the Catholic Church and her authoritative teaching Magisterium which is guided by the Holy Spirit and is manifested in the teachings of the bishops in union with the Holy Father, the Vicar of Christ on earth, our conscience is likely to make erroneous judgments about the right course of action in particular instances. Our conscience then becomes a blind guide.

Each one of us has the responsibility to form and inform a correct Catholic conscience. Claiming to be Catholic and claiming to have conscience does not guarantee that one will have a correct Catholic conscience. We have seen this all too often with high profile Catholic politicians. They give scandal not only to Catholics but also to non-Catholics, because they distort and misrepresent what the Catholic Church really teaches.

Prior and Primary Obligation to Form and Inform

While it is true, as Jiminy Cricket says: "always obey your conscience", there is a prior and primary responsibility for every person of good will and particularly every Catholic, to make sure that our conscience is objectively correct and in sync with the truth. No one is dispensed from this obligation, not even the pope himself, which is what Newman was alluding to in his remarks. We all have the obligation to continually form and inform our consciences.

Pope John Paul II in Veritatis Splendor wrote: "Jesus calls us to form our conscience, to make it the object of continuous conversion to what is true and to what is good" (VS 64).

How do we do this? How do make sure our conscience is well formed and in sync with the truth? Pope John Paul II tells us that "Christians have a great help for the formation of conscience in the Church and her Magisterium" (VS 64). He goes on to say that (and this is a brilliant line) "freedom of conscience is never freedom from the truth but always freedom in the truth".

In other words, freedom without truth is really not freedom at all, it is simply license. And so to say that you are acting out of conscience and then you do not take the time to form and inform your conscience, then you are either being lazy or you are being irresponsible in your duty to form your conscience for faithful citizenship.

When conscience is properly formed it moves us to embrace the true, the good and the beautiful and to act accordingly. Therefore, if we are to address political and social questions in a responsible manner at the polls, each person must be sure that his conscience is well-formed.

The US bishops teach us that "formation of conscience includes several elements. First, there is a desire to embrace goodness and truth. For Catholics this begins with a willingness and openness to see the truth and what is right by studying S.S. and the teaching of the Church as contained in the CCC. It is also important to examine the facts and background information about various choices. Finally, prayerful reflection is essential to discern the will of God" (FCFC 18).

Misinformed or mal-formed conscience

The Catholic Church teaches that no one should be forced or coerced to act against or contrary to his or her conscience. Nor should anyone be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters.

In fact, new federal regulations protecting health care providers' conscience rights were released for public comment August 21, by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The U.S. Catholic bishops welcomed the proposed regulations as a way to protect medical personnel from being coerced to violate their consciences in federally funded programs.

Diedra McQuade, the bishops' spokesperson said: "Doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel face pressure to participate in abortion - a practice that many find abhorrent in good conscience and the enforcement of federal laws designed to protect their freedom of conscience is long overdue."

However, when we speak about the inviolable nature of conscience, we have to keep in mind that even though we have the right and obligation to form and inform our consciences, it is always possible that we might not do a very good job of that formation. In other words, we can have a misinformed or malformed conscience which leads us to act erroneously.

Culpable and non-culpable ignorance

This ignorance which leads to a misinformed or malformed conscience can be either culpable or nonculpable (traditionally known as vincible or invincible ignorance) which will determine whether or not a person is responsible for their erroneous judgments.

What is this culpable or vincible ignorance? The CCC tells us:

 “This ignorance can often be imputed to personal responsibility. 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 case, the person is culpable for the evil he commits.” (CCC 1791).

The catechism goes on to say:

“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, rejections of the Church's authority and her teaching, lack of conversion and charity: these can be at the source of errors of judgment in moral conduct.” (CCC 1792)

What is non-culpable or invincible ignorance? There is also a situation in the formation of conscience when the ignorance is non-culpable or invincible ignorance and therefore the person is not responsible for his erroneous judgment.

The CCC teaches us that through genuine ignorance due to lack of education, emotional or mental disability, psychological immaturity or honest misunderstanding,

 “...the moral subject is not responsible for his erroneous judgment and the evil committed by the person cannot be imputed to him. It remains (however) no less an evil, a privation, a disorder. One must therefore work to correct the errors of moral conscience.” (CCC 1793).

This is where all Catholics have to be brutally honest with themselves - if they wish to be authentically Catholic. For example, if I find myself at odds with the teachings of the Catholic Church on some of the really important moral issues of our day, I need to be humble enough to admit it and then try and seek clarification, and change my way of thinking if necessary.

I think this was the case with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Governor Joseph Biden regarding the statements they made in their interviews on Meet the Press which was why the archbishop and I wrote those letters. It is the responsibility of Catholic public officials to properly form their consciences in light of authentic Catholic moral principles to assist them in their public service. Speaker Pelosi and Sen. Biden were seriously misinformed on the Church's position on when human life begins and the gravity of the sin of abortion.

Both of their bishops, the Archbishop of San Francisco and the Bishop of Delaware, have requested to meet with them and I am sure that they are going to try and point out to them that their positions on abortion are at odds with received Catholic teaching and that they should really know better.

Without presuming to know their intentions or subjective responsibility, it is nonetheless true that Catholic public officials, who in their public acts and statements repudiate the Church's moral teaching on such a grave moral evil as abortion, become a scandal to others, a scandal to both Catholics and non-Catholics. Their public actions not only contribute to the perpetuation of grave moral evil, but they can lead others to accept a position wholly incompatible with the love of God and love of neighbor, one that is gravely sinful.

This brings up the whole phenomenon of what has come to be known as "cafeteria Catholicism" where one picks and chooses what they accept and reject among the array of Catholic doctrine and moral teachings. This mistaken attitude and false ecclesiology also leads to the malformation of conscience. One of my theology professors in the seminary used to call this the "Swiss cheese" syndrome - where there are strategic holes in one's conscience.

Either we believe that what the Church teaches in the area of doctrine and morals is true, or we don't. If we want to be authentically Catholic and fly the Catholic flag, then we have to buy in to the whole ball of wax, so to speak. When I became a Catholic at the age of 20, there was no way that I could know everything that the Catholic Church taught, but I trusted and believed that everything she did teach was true.

Cardinal Newman, who was not really known for his excessive sense of humor once said, "the aim of most conscientious and religious people, is not how to please God first above all things, but how to please themselves without displeasing God, too much". I think this is a real insight into human nature.

Ultimately faith is a mystery and the formation of our consciences is not a mechanical process where you plug in the data and out comes good conscientious decisions. The formation of conscience is an exercise of reason and faith. The more a correct and well formed conscience prevails in an individual and in society, the more do persons and groups turn aside from blind choice and try to be guided by objective standards of moral conduct (GS 16).

In another insightful passage from Archbishop Chaput's book: “Render Unto Caesar” (page 149): he writes:

 “Obviously, faith is not a mathematical equation. People often face difficult issues in daily life. Some Catholics may find themselves sincerely unable, in conscience, to accept a point of Catholic teaching. When that happens, the test of a believer's honesty is his humility; that is, his willingness to put the matter to real prayer and the seriousness of his effort to accept the wisdom of the church and follow her guidance.

If after this effort he still cannot reconcile himself with the teaching of the church, he must do what he believes to be right, because ultimately, every Catholic must follow his or her conscience. At the same time, we should remember that honest private decisions - the kind that come from hard self-examination - are very different from the organized, premeditated, public rejection of Catholic belief by persons who use their Catholic identity to attack what the Catholic faith holds as true.”

Prudence

The exercise of a properly formed conscience is greatly assisted by the virtue of prudence. This cardinal virtue enables us to "discern the good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it" (CCC 1806). Sometimes there are various ways to achieve the good purpose we are seeking. Prudence assists us to choose the best means available.

This is the case with Amendment 48, the Personhood Amendment. The bishops of Colorado acting on the best advice from Constitutional lawyers across the nation who have a Catholic vision and who are following the various cases in the appeals courts in the hopes of overturning Roe vs Wade, have chosen not to support the Personhood Amendment, but are not actively opposing it either. Perhaps we can talk about this more in the question and answer session, but this obviously is a prudential judgment on the part of the bishops, a question of strategy and where we want to put our resources.

By the way, this is not, unfortunately, the reason why Governor Ritter is opposing Amendment 48, as we read in this morning's Denver Post. The Catholic Church does believe in the personhood of the embryo and that there is no distinction between a human being, person or human life. We believe that life begins at the moment of fertilization and that that is a person and needs to be protected as a newborn. Unfortunately, Governor Ritter believes this is an extreme position. In this case, I think he is mistaken.

As the Denver Post correctly quoted, the Colorado Catholic Conference questions whether or not Amendment 48 is the right strategy or right public policy approach. A statement from Colorado's three Catholic bishops says that while the goals of Amendment 48 supporters are admirable, federal courts are likely to throw it out. Thus, "it does not provide realistic opportunity for ending or even reducing abortions in Colorado."

This question is also true of other social issues. For example, we may differ in our prudential judgment on the best public policies for addressing the challenges of poverty, achieving universal health care or comprehensive immigration reform. In terms of public policy, even Catholics with well formed consciences may differ legitimately in our prudential judgments when it comes to addressing various social issues.

Intrinsic Evil

But even though we may differ in our prudential judgments about the best means to achieve a good end, there are some things we must never do, either as individuals or as a society. These are what we call intrinsically evil acts and they can never be justified, regardless of the circumstances or intentions of the subject. The Catholic Church teaches that these intrinsically evil acts are always wrong because they are always incompatible with the love of God and neighbor. They are always opposed to the good of the human person. An intrinsically evil action can never be chosen even to achieve a good end, such as finding a cure for disease. A good end can never justify an evil means. These intrinsic evils must always be rejected and never supported.

Preeminent among these intrinsic moral evils is the direct and intentional killing of human life through abortion. In our time "abortion and euthanasia have become preeminent threats to human dignity because they directly attack life itself, the most fundamental human good and the condition for all others" (LGL 5). Other intrinsic evils include human cloning and embryo-destructive stem-cell research, torture, racism, and directly targeting non-combatants in acts of war or terrorism.

As voters we must always oppose these evils and those who support them. In addition to always opposing intrinsically evil acts, we have a positive duty to contribute to the common good. Both opposing evil and doing good are essential obligations. We have not exhausted our responsibility merely by being passionately committed to one aspect of the Church's moral or social teaching.

When it comes to voting, the US bishops write this in their document Faithful Citizenship:

 “As Catholics we are not single-issue voters. A candidate's position on a single issue is not sufficient to guarantee a voter's support. Yet a candidate's position on a single issue that involves an intrinsic evil, such as support for legal abortion or the promotion of racism, may legitimately lead a voter to disqualify a candidate from receiving support.” (FCFC 34).

Here we have to understand that in the pursuit of good, not all issues have equal weight and importance.

They must not all be treated as morally equivalent. Pope John Paul II cautioned that: "right to health care, to home, to family, to culture is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination" (Christifideles Laici 38).

In the words of our Archbishop in his October 1, 2008 column in the DCR:

“This is why abortion is not merely one among many urgent issues, but rather the foundational one. It provides the cornerstone for a whole architecture of human dignity. When we revoke legal protection for unborn children, we violate the first and most important human right - the right to life itself. And once we do that, and then create a system of alibis to justify it, we begin to put every other human and civil right at risk.”

As I mentioned above, in addition to always opposing intrinsically evil acts, we have a positive duty to contribute to the common good. But we have to see and understand this hierarchy of moral issues today. The US bishops in their 1998 document which I mentioned at the outset entitled "Living the Gospel of Life" put all of this in perspective when they said ("Opposition to abortion and euthanasia...." Living the Gospel of Life 23).

Can a Catholic in good conscience vote for a pro-choice candidate?

We live in an imperfect world and not all existing laws are just. When morally flawed laws already exist, those who formulate laws and all who participate in public life have an obligation in conscience to work toward correcting those morally defective laws. If we and those whom we elect to public office neglect to attempt to limit the harm and overturn these laws, we too cooperate in that evil.

In a similar sense a Catholic cannot rightly vote for a candidate who supports an intrinsic evil, such as abortion or racism, precisely because they stand for that intrinsic evil. This would be in terms of traditional Catholic moral theology, "formal cooperation" in grave evil and would be seriously sinful.

A candidate may appear attractive because of his or her positions on a number of issues which are compatible with Catholic moral and social teaching. But what if they also take positions that are in support of certain intrinsic evils as well?

As we saw earlier, we have to recognize that not all goods carry equal moral weight. We cannot ignore or look aside when it comes the more fundamental and foundational issues. Even before promoting certain goods, there is a prior claim on our conscience to oppose acts that are always and in every circumstance evil. To vote for a candidate who supports an intrinsic evil, such as abortion or genocide, would require a proportionately grave moral reason for ignoring such a flaw. This may be easier to conceive in theory than to discover in actual practice.

Archbishop Chaput asks this question with regard to abortion: "what would a proportionate reason look like". He said it is the kind of reason that you could explain, with an honest heart, to the unborn victims of abortion when you meet them in heaven and have to justify your actions.

What if all the candidates hold positions in favor of some intrinsic evil? In this case the conscientious Catholic voter faces a dilemma. If the choices are so horrendous, I suppose we would have to either not vote or vote for a third candidate.

However, after careful deliberation, we may decide to vote for the candidate less likely to advance the morally flawed position and will do the least harm while promoting other authentic goods.

Conclusion

Voting is not just a civic or political action, it is a moral act. It involves duties and responsibilities. As bishops, we are not presuming to tell Catholics how they should vote. We simply want to teach how we should form our consciences and consider issues in the light of these fundamental moral principles.

I know this has been a long talk and I thank all of you for your patience. My background is in fundamental moral theology and so I hope that my talk has been somewhat helpful in understanding the Catholic Church's teaching on the formation of a Catholic Conscience. The application of that teaching to the present political environment and the issue of abortion is more complex and was somewhat new territory for me, as a "baby bishop".

I have a confession to make - a sort of disclaimer. I have relied heavily on many sources but probably the source I relied upon the most was a series of articles written by Bishop Paul Coakley of the Diocese of Salina (KS) which appeared in the Salina Register this past August. Bishop Coakley was my roommate all through college so this isn't the first I have relied upon his wisdom - he actually got me through college.

I would like to conclude with one last quote from our beloved archbishop from his new book, Render Unto Caesar (page 219):

“If we really love this country, and if we really treasure our faith, living our Catholic beliefs without excuses or apologies, and advancing them in the public square, are the best expressions of patriotism we can give to the nation. American Catholics need to be more Catholic, not less; and not simply "more Catholic" but more authentically and unselfishly Catholic - in the way we live our personal lives, and in our public words and actions. That includes our political choices.”