Conscience

Everyone knows the experience: a quiet inner voice that says "do this" or "don't", and afterwards approves or accuses. Catholics take that voice very seriously. The Church teaches that conscience is where we meet God's law most personally, that we must follow it, and that, precisely because it matters so much, we must also take care to form it well.

What conscience is

The Second Vatican Council describes conscience as a person's most secret core and sanctuary, where they are alone with God, whose voice echoes in their depths (Gaudium et Spes 16; CCC 1776). Deep within, we discover a law we did not invent, which calls us to love the good, do it and avoid evil. St Paul speaks of a law written on human hearts, to which conscience bears witness (Romans 2:14–16).

In practice, conscience is a judgment of reason by which a person recognises whether a particular act, about to be done, being done or already done, is good or evil (CCC 1778). It is not a feeling or a mood, and it is not the same as personal preference. It is our mind applying what is truly good to a real decision. St John Henry Newman, writing in 1875, called conscience "the aboriginal Vicar of Christ" (quoted in CCC 1778): it speaks with an authority that comes from beyond us.

Hearing it takes some interior quiet. The Catechism notes how easily life distracts us from reflection and, with St Augustine, urges us to turn inward and return to our conscience (CCC 1779).

The duty to form it

Because conscience judges by what it knows, it needs to be taught. The Catechism says plainly that conscience must be informed and moral judgment enlightened (CCC 1783). A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful; it judges according to reason and in line with the true good willed by God's wisdom.

This education is lifelong (CCC 1784). It begins with the first lessons of childhood, and it never finishes, because we are always tempted to prefer our own judgment and to excuse ourselves. Forming conscience frees us; it brings peace of heart. In this work the Word of God is the light for our path, which we take in through faith and prayer and put into practice, helped by the gifts of the Spirit, the witness and advice of others, and the authoritative teaching of the Church (CCC 1785).

Following a conscience that can err

Two truths have to be held together.

First, a person must always obey the certain judgment of their conscience. To act deliberately against it would be to condemn oneself (CCC 1790). No one may be forced to act against conscience, especially in religious matters (CCC 1782).

Second, conscience can be wrong. It can remain in ignorance or make mistaken judgments (CCC 1790). Whether we are responsible for that depends on how the ignorance came about. If someone takes little trouble to find out what is true and good, or has let their conscience grow almost blind through habitual sin, they are responsible for the evil they do (CCC 1791). Ignorance of Christ and his Gospel, bad example, enslavement to passions, a false idea of conscience's autonomy and the rejection of the Church's authority are named as common sources of such errors (CCC 1792).

But if the ignorance is invincible, meaning the person could not reasonably have known better, and their judgment is erroneous through no fault of their own, the evil they do cannot be imputed to them. It is still an evil, a disorder, and we must work to correct our consciences (CCC 1793). So "I followed my conscience" is both true and important, and never the end of the conversation. The real question is whether I have done my honest best to form it.

Three rules that always apply

When the way is unclear, the Catechism gives three rules that hold in every case (CCC 1789):

1. One may never do evil so that good may result from it. A good goal does not justify a wrong means (cf. Romans 3:8).
2. The Golden Rule: treat others as you would want them to treat you (Matthew 7:12).
3. Charity always respects the neighbour and their conscience. St Paul warns against wounding the conscience of a weaker brother or sister (1 Corinthians 8:12).

Forming your conscience in practice

None of this is abstract. A few habits make a real difference.

• Read Scripture, especially the Gospels, so that Jesus' way of seeing becomes your own. The Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes are the place to start.
• Pray before decisions, asking the Holy Spirit for light. Prudence, the virtue of right judgment, grows with practice (CCC 1806).
• Learn what the Church teaches and why. The Catechism exists for this; when a teaching is hard, study its reasons rather than setting it aside.
• Ask for advice from someone wise and faithful: a priest, a spiritual director, a trusted friend.
• Examine your day. The Examen is a short evening prayer of reviewing the day with God, noticing both grace and failure.
• Go to confession. The sacrament of Reconciliation heals what we got wrong and steadily sharpens our sight. Regular examination of conscience before it is one of the best teachers there is.

A formed conscience is not a scrupulous one, anxious about everything, nor a lax one that notices nothing. It is the conscience of a free son or daughter of God, who wants above all to please the Father.

Going deeper

• The Virtues: prudence, the virtue conscience relies on.
• The Examen: a daily habit of reviewing the day with God.
• Reconciliation: the sacrament that heals and teaches.
• Read next in the Catechism: CCC 1776–1802, on moral conscience.