Conscience and Catholicism: Vatican II

The church calls all of her children to have well formed and informed consciences.  We Catholics therefore need to know the catechism of the Church and be able to give a defense for our joy when challenged.  

Sadly, many in today's Catholic church are poorly informed, poorly catechized and easily misled.  In addition and even worse, there are some informed Catholics mistaking Vatican II's instructions for the role of conscience in our lives as a license to do whatever one feels is right for one self.  This occurs most frequently in some politically loaded hot button issues.  As this relates to sin in the world today, this misinterpretation has become an instruction that leads to the lethal philosophy of relativism.  It is due to this relativism, under the guise of the 'primacy of conscience', that some of our brothers and sisters whom we still love dearly refuse to call the use of contraception a sin because they feel that by doing this they are condemning their friends that use it.  

The following is what we all need to know.  First, by standing with the church on this issue, no one is so empowered as to be a judge of other souls.  This is the business of God our Father.  No, we who stand with the church and her teachings are not the ones who condemn anyone.  In fact,  by standing with the Church we may serve our friends in a gentle correction for a behavior that is of grave nature to our souls.  

The twist is that by not standing with the church on this matter, we are playing the role of God declaring for ourselves what is good and what is evil. We are free but in our freedom we do not have the power to declare what is good and what is evil.  The nature of our actions whether they are good or evil has been set up by God at the foundation of creation as an outpouring of God's very own nature.   Jesus gave us His Church to be for us these 2000+ years our teachers of this nature guiding us all down the straight and narrow path that leads to righteousness and salvation.

Why is this so important to all of us.  The reason- We may very well be held accountable for the loss of the souls that we should have helped by informing them about the will of God on this very important matter of our Catholic Family.  The following link will take you to an excellent explanation of this very matter.  May you be blessed in reading on the following link.  The most relevant material is found under the heading No Primacy of Conscience.

  Using the following link will take you to a great statement given by By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney on this very matter.  Please use this link  http://www.sydney.catholic.org.au/Archbishop/Addresses/200433_853.shtml