Friday, September 29, 2017

The Pope’s Crisis of Conscience


Ever since August 11, when 40 Roman Catholic leaders presented a 25-page letter to Pope Francis (a “Filial Correction”), the issue of Christian conscience has generated discussion. Conscience is recognized as the inner core of a person that identifies morally good and evil choices in accord with right reason and God’s Word.

The discussion, however, has opened a can of worms.

The word “conscience” appears several times in the document, which seeks to correct the Pope’s recent statements on divorced Catholics. But it mostly does so in quoting Francis himself, who uses it to justify greater latitude regarding “irregular” situations in the church (“mortal sins,” and “heresies” according to other Catholics). Therefore, rather than merely evoking conscience as a means of inspiring obedience, the Pope also claims it as a way of recognizing “what for now is the most generous response.” Read More

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