Bishop Robert Hermann: On a correctly informed conscience

"My conscience is my guide." For many people, following this principle is a disaster. Some terrorists follow their conscience. Some suicide bombers follow their conscience. We can use this principle to justify whatever course of action suits us....

[Pope John Paul II states]: "Sin darkens the intellect. Old spiritual books used to say that as a commonplace, but today it has been largely forgotten. Those who live conscientiously by the Commandments are better judges of morality than clever people who live in sin. That can sound arrogant, but it is simply the truth. As Cardinal (John Henry) Newman (the famed 19th-century Catholic convert) put it, it is a better ethical disposition that enables some to discover the truth. Cardinal Newman also spoke of an ‘ethical incredulity’ that blocked some from accepting genuine evident miracles. Courage to face the truth, a desire to know the truth and humility in accepting it from others or from a higher authority such as the New Testament and official Church teaching play a greater part in having right moral and religious beliefs than native intelligence or cleverness...."

For anyone really willing to grow in the spiritual life, I would encourage such a person to select either the Scripture passage or a Church teaching that bothers them deeply. Then I encourage such a person to study all that the Catholic Church teaches about such an issue, especially in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I also encourage such a person to prayerfully reflect as to why such a teaching bothers them so deeply. It usually points to rebellion or self will....