Amoris Laetitia Develops the Subjective Conscience from Veritatis Splendor
The subjective and objective aspects of conscience often exist in tension in Catholic theology: there is a need to affirm that an objective law exists by which proper conscience formation is judged, while acknowledging a subjective aspect in each person, obliged to follow her, even erroneous, consci...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Journal of Moral Theology, Inc.
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Journal of Moral Theology |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.55476/001c.136487 |
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| Summary: | The subjective and objective aspects of conscience often exist in tension in Catholic theology: there is a need to affirm that an objective law exists by which proper conscience formation is judged, while acknowledging a subjective aspect in each person, obliged to follow her, even erroneous, conscience. Although not the focus of either _Veritatis Splendor_ or _Amoris Laetitia_, these two papal documents demonstrate these dual aspects of conscience well and allow a better understanding of conscience together than they could apart. Reading each in light of the other provides a fuller view and illuminates the tension between the two aspects of conscience. _Veritatis Splendor_ provides a clear explanation of the objective aspect of conscience while briefly mentioning the subjective. _Amoris Laetitia_ briefly reaffirms the objectivity of conscience and then dramatically expands on its subjectivity, spending significant time on mitigating factors and the formation of conscience as both a starting point and an end goal. This paper analyzes these documents in dialogue with Charles Curran as contrary view to the two popes. |
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| ISSN: | 2166-2851 2166-2118 |