Ateneo Faculty on Conscience and Faith

Statement of Catholic Theology Teachers on Conscience and Faith

August 28, 2012

The Feast Day of St. Augustine, patron saint of theologians

We, the undersigned, speak only on our own behalf as Catholic theology teachers, and speak in no capacity either for Ateneo de Manila University or for its Theology Department, or for any other members of the Ateneo community.

Conscience allows God’s voice, not one’s own voice, to echo in one’s depths (cf. GS 16; CCC 1776). It subjectively applies transcendent moral norms. This subjectivity means that we apply the transcendent moral law within the given situation whose details, motivations, and ends we must discern truthfully and to the best of our ability (cf. CCC1780). Thus conscience involves the apprehension of transcendent truth, and is never simplya matter of one point of view versus another. For the well-formed Catholic, these transcendent moral truths are transmitted in the Tradition of the Church and are taught by its Magisterium (cf. CCC 2032-2036). Thus a good conscience is truthful and seeks the right, and a well-formed Catholic conscience seeks guidance for doing right in the authoritative teachings of the Church (cf. CCC 1783). But should any figure urge one, as a Catholic, to go against these transcendent norms which one has received and in which one has been well-formed, then it is better to disregard that figure than to disregard one’s Catholic conscience.

The preceding points are not difficult to grasp. They do not mean that faithful Catholic morality is unthinking. On the contrary, life often confronts us with what seem to be unbridgeable gaps between what we know is the ideal and what appear to be the reasonable options before us. The temptation is to believe that in these situations transcendent faith is useless. But the well-formed Catholic conscience has been formed in the light of the Word of God and in the contemplation of the Cross (cf. CCC 1785). The pierced side of Jesus Christ confronts us in a radical way with both our brokenness as human beings and our dignity as creatures made for God in God’s image (cf. DCE 12). Thus it is faith that comes to understand most profoundly that the space between the ideal and its application is the arena for extreme mercy and compassion. As Catholics we believe that it is precisely in these situations where the light of Church teaching in its full range helps us most towards taking full responsibility for our personhood and in moving towards what is truly good (cf. Benedict XVI, Light of the World: 117-119). For us as Catholics who are searching for solutions to the problems of the Philippines, it means exercising our conscience to full capacity in the light of faith, not against faith.

We observe, however, that in the wake of public statements released in 2008 and just recently in connection with the issue of the RH Bill, an erroneous understanding of what being a Catholic in good conscience means has been and is still being disseminated. This erroneous understanding is premised on an erroneous understanding of conscience itself. In this erroneous understanding, conscience is reduced simply to being one’s point of view, which in turn becomes absolute for oneself, set in contradistinction to another’s point of view, and is without any acknowledgment of transcendent truth (cf. VS 33). But in removing transcendent truth from conscience, this erroneous view undermines faith itself, for God, the object of faith, is transcendent truth. In undermining faith, this erroneous view destroys our capacity to come together as church and as church to seek solutions to our problems. It has resulted in an illusory dichotomy between genuine Catholic faith and the possibility of seeking real solutions to our problems. Indeed, a widening assault upon faith has followed in the wake of this erroneous view, accompanied by the bitter fruit of hatred for the Church.

This erosion of faith and this bitter fruit demonstrate that the choices that we make on the level of conscience affect not only our material being, but also the very fabric of our spirit as a people. The true beauty of Catholicism in the Philippines manifests in the strength of its spiritual devotions, especially among those who hold to these devotions not because of but in spite of difficult living situations. Living faith emerges from and ends in this spirit. Amid the choices that we make in good conscience towards the relief of our problems, it is this spirit that will finally see us through to the good Philippines of which we dream and for which we labor for the sake of our children. Yet it is this spirit that ultimately suffers when our children and our students see the search for the relief of our problems in the light of genuine Catholic faith come under denigration, especially by public authority figures. We hope that in correcting error and in speaking truth in light of Church teaching, we may help Catholicism in the Philippines find its way to what is right, and to do so in the spirit of genuine faith. 

Rafael Dy-Liacco (ADMU Theology)

Markus E. Locker (ADMU Theology)

Josemaria Roberto V. Reyes (ADMU Theology)

REFERENCES

Benedict XVI.

 Light of the World

. 2010. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

[CCC]. The Holy See. 1993. Vatican City: LibreriaEditrice Vaticana.

 Deus Caritas Est

[DCE]. Benedict XVI. 2005. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

Gaudium et Spes

[GS]. Second Vatican Council. 1965. Vatican City: Libreria EditriceVaticana.

Veritatis Splendor

[VS]. John Paul II. 1993. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.