WHAT IS CONSCIENCE AND HOW DOES IT FUNCTION?

What conscience is not?

 Following the crowd
 A feeling
 A gut – instinct
 The superego
 Some voice whispering in our ear
 A myth

What is conscience then? (cf. CCC 1777-1782)

Conscience is a practical judgement of reason made by the intellect regarding the

good or evil of a particular act in light of objective moral standards. Conscience
testifies to the moral law, and it is the only witness to how the person responds.
When we listen to a well-formed conscience, we listen to God. Conscience is not an
infallible guide, so we have a duty to form it in order to kno0w the moral law and
apply it to concrete situations.

Catechism of the Catholic Church (1778)

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.

Gaudem et Spes
1. In the depths of his conscience, man detects a law which he does not impose upon
himself, but which holds him to obedience. Always summoning him to love good
and avoid evil, the voice of conscience when necessary speaks to his heart: do
this, shun that. For man has in his heart a law written by God; to obey it is the
very dignity of man; according to it he will be judged (cf. Rm 2:15-16).
Conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of a man. There he is alone with
God, whose voice echoes in his depths.(1) In a wonderful manner, conscience
reveals that law which is fulfilled by love of God and neighbor (cf. Mt 22:37-40;
Gal 5:14). 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. Hence, the more right
conscience holds sway, the more persons and groups turn aside from blind choice
and strive to be guided by the objective norms of morality. Conscience frequently
errs from invincible ignorance without losing its dignity. The same cannot be said
for a man who cares but little for truth and goodness, or for a conscience which by
degrees grows practically sightless as a result of habitual sin.

This definition reveals three interlocking aspects of conscience, all which deal with our
awareness of moral truth. They are:
 Conscience is awareness of God’s call to be loving persons

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  Conscience is awareness of God’s call to know the good and to do the good, that
is, to love.
 Conscience is a practical judgment of the intellect

Conscience can be called the practical judgment about the moral value of a concrete act.
It does not concern itself with abstract and generalized moral reasoning. Conscience
decides whether a particular choice is in accordance with man’s personal response to God
calling him here and now, or a departure from the effective working out of the Spirit’s
guidance. Though basically a judgment of man’s reason enlightened by the gift of grace,
it involves the total person. Conscience thus does not make judgments about what other
people should do. The FOR ME aspect of conscience demonstrates the profound
personal character of moral choice (subjective norm). A moral choice which results from
the judgment of conscience presupposes the person’s grasping himself and his proposed
action in a human fashion. This means that to arrive at a decision of conscience always
presumes understanding and freedom, man’s properly human qualities. The individual
must know the morality of a proposed action and he must will the morality as he sees it.
A personalized knowing and willing thus enters into every conscience judgment.

In weighing the morality of any proposed action a person actually makes a twofold
judgment. One concerns the inner moral value of what he proposes to do; the other
concerns his own personal fulfillment to be realized through actually accomplishing or
doing the proposed action.

In the Old Testament conscience appears as the presence of the responsible man before
God and as the Divine Law interiorized. It is always related to hearing God’s word, the
acceptance of his will, consciousness of one’s own created position before God, and the
Divine judgment.

In the New Testament the term conscience is not found in the Gospels but Jesus
continually describes the reality of man’s inward moral attitudes; man’s entire life springs
from the basic choices made in his inner self, in his heart. In the Epistles, St. Paul uses
the term over 20 times; most often conscience is characterized as a witness; it
accompanies our actions a an incorruptible witness within us, and can also be called upon
to attest to the truth of our assertions. According to St. Paul, man experiences himself in
conscience as bound to an interior norm which is not the Jewish law and is independent
of himself. He views himself as bound to the demands and judgments of a personal God.
The New Testament considers conscience as a personal reality, proper to each individual;
not merely natural judgment but one enlightened by faith.

An adequate theory of moral principles and conscience must show:

1. against a theory of moral feelings, how conscience is a judgment
2. against intuitionism, how moral reflection starts from principles and proceeds
by reasoning
3. against personal choice theory, how moral principles and norms are objective
4. against Divine Command theory, how the norms are truths
5. against cultural relativism, how the norms are more than social facts

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 6. against scholastic natural law theory, how the norms guide persons to act for
human fulfillment

Our individual conscience must join the human community in search for truth, in
discovering and applying the objective norms of morality to issues that affect the
common good. The Christian vocation not only applies to the individual follower of
Christ but also to our lives together. Many issues of right and wrong involve community
decisions, like how a nation should deal with the poor, immigrants, those who are
discriminated against, and so forth. An important element of a Christian’s responsibility
is to help the community examine its conscience and to judge the morality of those
policies and practices that affect our life together.

How does conscience work?

In our daily routine most of our decisions of conscience are implicit – habitual,
semiautomatic. They result from our already acquired values and attitudes. Recall that a
good habit is a virtue that empowers us to do good with ease and identify and avoid bad
habits – vices. Virtues are like spiritual muscles. Both spiritual disciplines – acquiring
virtues and conquering vices – are essential practices for growing in holiness and training
Christian consciences.

In contrast to most of our daily choices, when we have more important decisions to make,
we will take the time to make an explicit, more deliberate reference to our conscience.
These are the times when we have to employ the S.T.O.P. Sign approach (see below).

When one freely responds to the good he is using conscience. Conscience is an act of
judgment about what ought to be done to achieve the good end. Conscience is operative
before, during and after the action.

According to the documents of Vatican II conscience applies at once

 To awareness of moral principles
 To the process of reasoning from principles to conclusions
 To evaluation of the conclusions

This understanding of conscience implies that one’s conscience be formed. The formation
of conscience would require learning and thinking in at least the following areas:
 Learning about moral principles which requires exploring both scripture and
natural law
 Learning about the practical possibilities or alternatives posed by the various
moral challenges of the day
 Learning about how to reason from principles to their application in the practical
situation
It should be clear that this formation is an ongoing process that will continue throughout
one’s lifetime.

Another method for making moral decisions is known by the acronym SEER – study,
elect, execute, and review. Not the meaning of the word seer. A see-er is a person in

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tune with the truth. A seer is also called a prophet, that is, someone gifted with profound
moral insight and remarkable powers of expression. From a biblical viewpoint, prophets
listen to God’s word, recognize the truth, and then announce and put it into action.
Christians are called to be seers. They search out God’s truth about the human person.
And using their God-given intellects, they judge what God wants them to do right here,
right now. In other words Christians are called to live these two important /
fundamental principles regarding conscience:
 you must always form and keep informing your conscience and
 you must follow your conscience (conscience is a subjective norm of morality)

Here is how the SEER method can help:

STUDY
In an important sense, conscience is a judgment of the intellect. Therefore, conscience is
concerned with discovering objective truth so we do not simply act on our feelings or
preferences. A key principle of Catholic morality is to form our consciences and work
throughout our lives to keep them informed. This requires study accompanied by
reflection and deliberation.

Concerning a particular decision we should gather information about the moral object
(what is being done), the motives, and the circumstances involved in particular decisions.
We will then consider the various options before them and the consequences that follow
from each. Also we will review the fundamental principles of morality and consider how
best to apply essential moral rules.

To guard against prejudice and self-interest, persons of conscience also seek the advice of
trusted moral mentors and the magisterium. As expressed in the Vatican II document
Declaration on Religious Freedom, 14:
“In the formation of their consciences, the Christian faithful ought carefully to
attend to the sacred and certain doctrine of the church. The Church is, by the will of
Christ, the teacher of the truth. It is her duty to give utterance to, and authoritatively to
teach, that Truth which is Christ himself, and also to declare and confirm by her authority
those principles of the moral order which have their origin in human nature itself.”

Also it is necessary in making moral decisions to take the time for self-reflection, to
examine true motives, to reflect, and to look at their past experiences in similar situations
– persons of conscience learn from past experiences.

ELECT
After studying the issues involved in a particular situation, it is time to elect, that is, to
choose the right course of action. Your decision should ultimately be based on whether
your proposed action is consistent with who you are as God’s special creation made in his
image.

An essential part of making this decision is to be in the presence of the Lord and to pray.
Prayer enables us to go to the divine teacher who will assure us of his love for us, who

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will remind us of our special vocation to be persons of dignity, and who will give us the
graces to help us follow through on what we know is the right thing to do. Seeking
counsel in prayer is also a way to slow down and react against a culture that constantly
seeks instant gratification. The listening part of prayer means to pay close attention to
how the Lord might be speaking to us through our intellects, imaginations, and memories.
Finally, in prayer we should ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen our wills with the gift of
fortitude so we might have the courage to do what our consciences tell us is the right
thing to do.

EXECUTE
Execution is the next step in making a moral decision. This involves putting into action
what you have decided in conscience is the right thing course of action for you right now.
Execution involves responsibility. You must do what your conscience tells you is right. If
you do not do so, you sin. A good rule here: Be an actor, not a reactor. Take control of
your own actions and own them.

Mature people of conscience, after studying and choosing, execute a right course of
action. They take charge and do what their conscience tells them is the right thing to do.
Execution – doing the right thing – is the hardest part of the moral decision-making
process.

REVIEW
Our conscience not only helps us discern the right course of action before we decide and
as we act, but it also helps us evaluate and reflect on actions we have already performed.
If we have taken steps to develop a good conscience along the lines suggested above, and
have chosen the good, then our conscience will be clear. But if we have gone against
what we know e should have done, and have sinned, then our consciences can help
accuse us, to call us to repent and to reform.

Many saints through the ages have recommended a nightly examination of conscience,
that is, a review of our day to discover what we have done (or not done) to become (or
not become) the kind of persons the Lord calls us to be. This regular examination of
conscience is a great help for those who wish to grow in holiness and who want to do
right, according to God’s plan for them.

Peer Pressure, Fortitude and Conscience

At any age conformity to the standards and actions of members of our same age or social
group greatly affects our way of looking at life, our values, and our way of behaving.
Some conformity can be good, if, for example, we choose to associate with friends who
are hard working and who prod us into higher achievement. Other conformity is neutral,
if, for example, we are influenced by friends when we choose what baseball cap to wear.
But caving in to some peer pressure can be very negative, for example, when it makes us
go against what our conscience tells us is the right thing to do. We simply rationalize and
say, “Everyone is doing it”. “It” might refer to cheating, drinking, smoking pot,
shoplifting, driving wildly, engaging in pre-marital sex, mocking an unpopular student, or

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whatever. Going along with the crowd destroys our individuality and can even lead to
personal tragedy.

To do what is right takes FORTITUDE. The CCC defines fortitude as

… the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the
pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome
obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear
of death, and to face trials and persecutions. It disposes one even to renounce ands
sacrifice his life in defense of a just cause (CCC 1808)

All virtues moderate between extremes. The virtue of fortitude steers us between fearful
inaction and foolish rashness caused by misdirected anger or a false sense of bravery.
Fortitude has an active dimension that prompts us to work for God’s kingdom. It also has
a passive side that involves patient suffering for God’s kingdom. Prudence and justice
help us exercise the virtue of fortitude. Prudence teaches us what is worth suffering for;
justice points out situations contrary to the gospel and hence worth our efforts to correct.
The ultimate act of fortitude is martyrdom. In a certain sense, we are a kind of martyr (a
word that means witness) when we stand up to any evil and injustice.

Some disciplines that will help us grow in fortitude are:

 regularly practice some form of self-denial for the Lord
 pray to be true to yourself
 help someone less fortunate than you
 play hard, study hard, work hard

People often fail to do right out of fear of what others might think. Many of us do not
want to stand out, so we go along. Unfortunately, “going along” too often turns us into
cowards without moral backbone. Cowards stand for little and fail to defend Christian
values when they are attacked.

Some ways that fortitude can help to resist negative peer pressure are:
 resolve to be your own person
 know your own standards
 use humor and grace to say “no”
 stay away from situations that might tempt you
 remember the power of prayer

Addendum from CCC re: Formation of Conscience

Conscience must be informed and moral judgment enlightened. A well-formed
conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its judgments according to reason, in
conformity with the true good willed by the wisdom of the Creator. The education of
conscience is indispensable for human beings who are subjected to negative influences
and tempted by sin to prefer their own judgment and to reject authoritative teachings.

The education of 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

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education teaches virtue; it prevents or cures fear, selfishness and pride, resentment
arising from guilt, and feelings of complacency, born of human weaknesses and faults.
The education of conscience guarantees freedom and engenders peace of heart.

In the formation of conscience the Word of God is the light for our path; we must
assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. We must also examine our
conscience before the Lord’s cross. We are assisted by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, aided
by the witness and advice of others and guided by the authoritative teaching of the
Church.

To develop a well-formed conscience, we must learn the moral teachings of the Catholic
Church, approach matters of faith and morals with humility, engage in a serious life of
prayer centered on the Word of God and the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the
Eucharist, practice frequent and honest self-examination that leads tol sincere repentance,
and take advantage of solid spiritual direction. All Catholics must be prepared to explain
and defend the moral law when necessary in a kind, persuasive way. We may be the only
people available to bring this message to those around us. The fullness of conscience
involves a clear awareness that every Christian is called by Baptism to become a saint:
Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Addendum from CCC re: Erroneous Judgment

A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience. If he were to
deliberately act against it, he would condemn himself. Yet it can happen that moral
conscience remains in ignorance and makes erroneous judgments about acts to be
performed or already committed.

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 cases, the person is
culpable for the evil he commits.

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.

If – on the contrary – the ignorance is invincible, or the moral subject is not responsible
for his erroneous judgment, the evil committed by the person cannot be imputed to him.
It remains no less an evil, a privation, a disorder. One must therefore work to correct the
errors of moral conscience.

The good and pure conscience is enlightened by true faith, for charity proceeds at the
same time from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith.
 The more a correct conscience prevails, the more do persons and groups turn
aside from blind choice and try to be guided by objective standards of moral
conduct.

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Addendum from CCC re: To Choose in Accord with Conscience
Faced with a moral choice, conscience can make both a right judgment in accordance
with reason and the divine law or, on the contrary, an erroneous judgment that departs
from them.

Man is sometimes confronted by situations that make moral judgments less assured and
decisions difficult. But he must always seriously seek what is right and good and discern
the will of God expressed in divine law.

To this purpose, man strives to interpret the data of experience and the signs of the times
assisted by the virtue of prudence, by the advice of competent people, and by the help of
the Holy Spirit and his gifts.
Some rules apply in every case
 One may never do evil so that good may result from it
 The Golden Rule: Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.
 Charity always proceeds by way of respect for one’s neighbor and his conscience:
Thus sinning against brethren and wounding their conscience you sin against
Christ. Therefore it is right not to do anything that makes your brother stumble.

FULL KNOWLEDGE: The clear and deliberate knowledge of the merit or sinfulness of
an action. It is required as a condition before a person can be guilty of sin.

PARTIAL KNOWLEDGE: Knowledge that is incomplete due to the presence of some

obstacle interfering with a moral judgement.

VINCIBLE IGNORANCE: Lack of knowledge for which a person is morally

responsible due to lack of diligence.

INVINCIBLE IGNORANCE: Ignorance that cannot be overcome by ordinary

diligence. The guilt of a sin committed under invincible ignorance is not imputed to the
sinner. This ignorance can be a lack of knowledge, either of fact or of law, scarcity of
evidence, insufficient time or talent in the person, or some other factor.

DOUBTFUL CONSCIENCE: Judgement of conscience that occurs when there is doubt

about the good or evil of an act done or committed. Unless one is required to act
immediately, the person is required to determine the moral rectitude of an act before
acting on a doubtful conscience.

PRINCIPLE OF DOUBLE EFFECT: The decision to carry out an action which, as a

consequence, has unintended bad results may be made only when the good effect cannot
be reasonably brought about in any other way and when certain conditions have been
met.
 The action must be good in itself
 The agent must have the right intention
 The good act must be the means of good effect
 The good effect must be proportional to the evil effect

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The human person fulfills himself by following his personal conscience. Thus every
person has the right to follow his personal conscience. But a person does not have
unlimited freedom to follow his personal conscience in carrying out all his external
actions:
 A person who follows his erroneous conscience without injuring others should not
be prevented from acting, unless he objects unreasonably against his own welfare
as in the prevention of suicide or grave self-mutilation or injury to one’s health
 A person who follows his erroneous conscience and injures others should be
prevented from performing his external deed
 One may not morally coerce or persuade another to act against his conscience;
this does not exclude attempts to persuade another to change his judgment by
offering new arguments; the principle does imply however, that if a person
remains convinced of a certain course of action despite all argument to the
contrary, he should follow this conviction and not be impeded. To induce him to
do otherwise, especially by force, would be to lead him to sin.

Moral decision-making: the S.T.O.P. sign method:

S – Search out the facts; ask the questions:

1. WHAT – to get at the moral object / action being done;
2. WHY – to determine the intention / motive of the person making the decision;
3. WHO, WHEN, WHERE and HOW – to reveal the circumstances in the
particular situation. At this stage you are determining the issues and values
involved in the choice. This process will include examining Scripture and
official Church teachings in regard to determining the values and
understanding the morality of the action.

T – after searching out the facts, we must think about the consequences of and
possible alternatives to our proposed action

O – To be human means to live with other people; to be Christian means to live for
other people. When we make moral decisions, we should ask: How do my proposed
actions affect others? Can others help me make my decisions?

P – Prayer, communication with God, is an ongoing, life-long process and is our

most powerful help in making decisions because it reflects openness to the truth.
Our relationship with God, if we develop it, will help us both to see and act in a
loving way.

Two important observations to keep in mind:

1. according to Catholic morality, a good reason for doing something
(intention) or a good result (end) does not justify an evil means

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 2. according to Catholic morality, if any of the elements in a proposed action
are wrong – the moral object (what one does), the intention, or the
circumstances – then the action is wrong

Note that the Teaching Office of the Church (Magisterium) offers sound moral
guidance and points one’s behavior towards the message of the Gospel.

Note the fact that while conscience is primary, Church teaching allows a person to
transcend cultural and historical bias.

Note that a well formed conscience is not blind obedience, nor is the well formed
conscience used to allow the person to do what they wish at the moment.

Erroneous approaches to moral decision-making:

 Situation Ethics: an ethical system that determines the good or evil nature of
an act from the circumstances.
 Consequentialism: an ethical system that determines the level of goodness or
evil from the effects or results of an act.
 Proportionalism: an ethical system that deduces the moral value of an act
from the proportion of its good and evil effects.
 Fundamental option: the free and responsible choice a person makes to
orient, in a radical manner, his whole existence in a moral direction toward
good or evil. (To some theologians the fundamental option is a way to deny
the traditional doctrine of mortal sin by making the only grave sin a bad
fundamental option.)

What about law?

All good law works for our good and as such serves as an OBJECTIVE NORM against
which we can measure what we want to do. Law aids and protects freedom and its
opposite, which is often mistaken for freedom, is license.

From the Catholic perspective (Aquinas) all good law has four characteristics:
1. law is reasonable
2. law contributes to the common good
3. good laws must be made by a competent authority
4. law must be promulgated

Catholic tradition recognizes four kinds of law that guide moral decisions:
1. Natural Law
2. Civil Law
3. Divine Law
4. Church Law

NATURAL LAW is UNIVERSAL and applies to ALL PEOPLE. It refers to our

ability to understand what it means to be human and what we must do to develop as

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human beings. Natural Law also refers to those principles that we can deduce from the
way that God made us. Natural Law corresponds to three basic human drives and needs:
 Preserving life
 Developing as individuals and in community
 Sharing life with others

Some examples of Natural Law are:

 Do good and avoid evil
 Develop your unique talents
 Don’t rape
 Don’t steal
 The Ten Commandments also reflect the Natural Law

CIVIL LAW (positive law) is a PARTICULAR application of the Natural Law for the
SOCIETY IN WHICH WE LIVE. Not all Civil Law is good law – Civil Law is only
good insofar as it conforms to Natural Law.

Some examples of Civil Law include:

 Laws forbidding speeding
 Discharging weapons in public
 Discriminating based on sex or race

DIVINE LAW (eternal law) is the highest norm of human life and as such is
UNIVERSAL and applies in some fashion to ALL PEOPLE. St. Thomas teaches that
God gave us Divine Law for four reasons:
1. It helps us in our journey to God
2. because people arrive at conflicting ideas of right and wrong, God reveals to us
what we should do and what we should avoid
3. God’s law speaks to our hearts – our motivations; human law can only govern our
external actions
4. Divine law tells us what is sinful – those actions and attitudes that kill or stifle our
relationship with God and others

Two summaries of Divine Law found in Scripture are:

1. the Ten Commandments
2. the Beatitudes

CHURCH LAW is the PARTICULAR application of Divine Law and as such applies
to MEMBERS OF A SPECIFIC CHURCH OR CONGREGATION. Cannon Law is
another name for Church Law.

The following are examples of Church Law and are called Precepts of the Church:
1. To keep holy the day of the Lord’s resurrection; to worship God by participating
in Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of obligation; to avoid those activities that
would hinder renewal of soul and body on the Sabbath (e.g., needless work and
business activities, unnecessary shopping, etc.).

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2. To lead a sacramental life; to receive Holy Communion frequently and the
Sacrament of Penance regularly – minimally, to receive the Sacrament of Penance
at least once a year; minimally also to receive Holy Communion at least once a
year, between the first Sunday of Lent and Trinity Sunday
3. To study Catholic teaching in preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation, to
be confirmed, and then to continue to study and advance the cause of Christ
4. To observe the Marriage laws of the Church; to give religious training, by
example and word, to one’s children; to use parish schools and catechetical
programs.
5. To strengthen and support the Church – one’s own parish community and parish
priests, the worldwide Church and the Pope.
6. To do penance, including abstaining from meat and fasting from food on
appointed days.
7. To join the missionary spirit and apostolate of the Church

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