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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| Language: | English |
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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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| author | Matthew P. Schneider |
| author_facet | Matthew P. Schneider |
| author_sort | Matthew P. Schneider |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d00415552eee4d4cba18210bdc530563 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2166-2851 2166-2118 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | The Journal of Moral Theology, Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Moral Theology |
| spelling | doaj-art-d00415552eee4d4cba18210bdc5305632025-08-20T02:16:10ZengThe Journal of Moral Theology, Inc.Journal of Moral Theology2166-28512166-21182025-04-0114SI 110.55476/001c.136487Amoris Laetitia Develops the Subjective Conscience from Veritatis SplendorMatthew P. SchneiderThe 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.https://doi.org/10.55476/001c.136487 |
| spellingShingle | Matthew P. Schneider Amoris Laetitia Develops the Subjective Conscience from Veritatis Splendor Journal of Moral Theology |
| title | Amoris Laetitia Develops the Subjective Conscience from Veritatis Splendor |
| title_full | Amoris Laetitia Develops the Subjective Conscience from Veritatis Splendor |
| title_fullStr | Amoris Laetitia Develops the Subjective Conscience from Veritatis Splendor |
| title_full_unstemmed | Amoris Laetitia Develops the Subjective Conscience from Veritatis Splendor |
| title_short | Amoris Laetitia Develops the Subjective Conscience from Veritatis Splendor |
| title_sort | amoris laetitia develops the subjective conscience from veritatis splendor |
| url | https://doi.org/10.55476/001c.136487 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT matthewpschneider amorislaetitiadevelopsthesubjectiveconsciencefromveritatissplendor |