Archbishop Listecki, Young Catholics for Choice and Erroneous Conscience

The incoming Archbishop of Milwaukee, Jerome Listecki, has responded to Young Catholic for Choice and pointed to their idea of conscience. He has quite correctly pointed out that their views cannot be held while being in communion with the Catholic Church, but what I wish to direct my attention at is the idea that people hold which allows them to erroneously believe that conscience is an excuse to defy Church teachings.

In the article, posted by Lifesite News [Milwaukee Archbishop: You Can’t Call Yourself Catholic and Support Contraception], it states the following position for the dissents:

"Using language first employed by Catholic dissenters to Humanae Vitae, YCFC calls on Catholics to use an "informed conscience" to decide to use birth control and the morning-after-pill, also called "emergency contraception."



Their ad campaign states: "Young Catholics are having sex. We are using contraception and condoms. We are having abortions. We are bisexual, gay, lesbian, straight and transgender. And none of this makes us any less Catholic than conservative Catholics who speak out against us."

As I have stated in my earlier posts, either you follow the teachings of the Catholic Church or you do not, but their is not an in between. Which leads me to my next point, erroneous conscience.

In this age of modernism, there is always talk about using your conscience in making decisions and following your conscience, but rarely do I ever see anything posted on the existence of an erroneous conscience. "A false or erroneous conscience tells us something that is really wrong is right, and something that is really right is wrong. We may be the blame for the blame for this error or not; if we are to blame, our conscience is said to be culpably erroneous; if we are not to blame, it is said to inculpably erroneous" (Catholic Morality, p. 18, Laux). "An informed conscience", to quote the groups words, I believe would understand that the Church is the deposit of faith and truth and to deviate from its truths would be to err in judgement. Further, a person could certainly not claim invincible ignorance, as the bishop has given stern admonition. Additionally, there are countless Church documents written on the subject.

If one were take into consideration Veritatis Splendor, they would also see great guidance in regard to conscience formation:

"63. In any event, it is always from the truth that the dignity of conscience derives. In the case of the correct conscience, it is a question of the "objective truth" received by man; in the case of the erroneous conscience, it is a question of what man, mistakenly, "subjectively" considers to be true. It is never acceptable to confuse a "subjective" error about moral good with the "objective" truth rationally proposed to man in virtue of his end, or to make the moral value of an act performed with a true and correct conscience equivalent to the moral value of an act performed by following the judgment of an erroneous conscience.[108] It is possible that the evil done as the result of invincible ignorance or a non-culpable error of judgment may not be imputable to the agent; but even in this case it does not cease to be an evil, a disorder in relation to the truth about the good. Furthermore, a good act which is not recognized as such does not contribute to the moral growth of the person who performs it; it does not perfect him and it does not help to dispose him for the supreme good. Thus, before feeling easily justified in the name of our conscience, we should reflect on the words of the Psalm: "Who can discern his errors? Clear me from hidden faults" (Ps 19:12). There are faults which we fail to see but which nevertheless remain faults, because we have refused to walk towards the light (cf. Jn 9:39-41).

Conscience, as the ultimate concrete judgment, compromises its dignity when it is "culpably erroneous," that is to say, "when man shows little concern for seeking what is true and good, and conscience gradually becomes almost blind from being accustomed to sin".[109] Jesus alludes to the danger of the conscience being deformed when he warns: "The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!" (Mt 6:22-23)."

This papal encyclical makes clear the position of the church on erroneous formation of the conscience, but the following speaks to proper formation:

"Christians have a great help for the formation of conscience "in the Church and her Magisterium." As the Council affirms: "In forming their consciences the Christian faithful must give careful attention to the sacred and certain teaching of the Church. For the Catholic Church is by the will of Christ the teacher of truth. Her charge is to announce and teach authentically that truth which is Christ, and at the same time with her authority to declare and confirm the principles of the moral order which derive from human nature itself".[111] It follows that the authority of the Church, when she pronounces on moral questions, in no way undermines the freedom of conscience of Christians."

From reading this excerpt from Veritatis Splendor, we can indeed see how a conscience can indeed be erroneous and how the culpability may be the fault of the person, especially when the person decidedly turns away from the Church and Magisterium. I believe this to be the case with Young Catholics for Choice and many group who dissent because of moral teachings. They pridefully adhere to their own erroneously formed beliefs and decidedly turn away from the teachings of Christ. Paradoxically, it is these same groups which still fallaciously call themselves Catholic. However, they fail to realize that Catholicism is a way of life and they must adhere to its tenets. If they do not, they are simply not Catholic.

Evangelium Vitae, written by Pope John Paul II, speaks to the effect that contraception and abortion are against the teachings of the Catholic Church.

"But despite their differences of nature and moral gravity, contraception and abortion are often closely connected, as fruits of the same tree. It is true that in many cases contraception and even abortion are practised under the pressure of real-life difficulties, which nonetheless can never exonerate from striving to observe God's law fully. Still, in very many other instances such practices are rooted in a hedonistic mentality unwilling to accept responsibility in matters of sexuality, and they imply a self-centered concept of freedom, which regards procreation as an obstacle to personal fulfilment. The life which could result from a sexual encounter thus becomes an enemy to be avoided at all costs, and abortion becomes the only possible decisive response to failed contraception."


"The close connection which exists, in mentality, between the practice of contraception and that of abortion is becoming increasingly obvious. It is being demonstrated in an alarming way by the development of chemical products, intrauterine devices and vaccines which, distributed with the same ease as contraceptives, really act as abortifacients in the very early stages of the development of the life of the new human being."

"As I emphatically stated at Denver, on the occasion of the Eighth World Youth Day, "with time the threats against life have not grown weaker. They are taking on vast proportions. They are not only threats coming from the outside, from the forces of nature or the 'Cains' who kill the 'Abels'; no, they are scientifically and systematically programmed threats. The twentieth century will have been an era of massive attacks on life, an endless series of wars and a continual taking of innocent human life. False prophets and false teachers have had the greatest success".[15] Aside from intentions, which can be varied and perhaps can seem convincing at times, especially if presented in the name of solidarity, we are in fact faced by an objective "conspiracy against life", involving even international Institutions, engaged in encouraging and carrying out actual campaigns to make contraception, sterilization and abortion widely available. Nor can it be denied that the mass media are often implicated in this conspiracy, by lending credit to that culture which presents recourse to contraception, sterilization, abortion and even euthanasia as a mark of progress and a victory of freedom, while depicting as enemies of freedom and progress those positions which are unreservedly pro-life."

"Today an important part of policies which favour life is the issue of population growth. Certainly public authorities have a responsibility to "intervene to orient the demography of the population".[114] But such interventions must always take into account and respect the primary and inalienable responsibility of married couples and families, and cannot employ methods which fail to respect the person and fundamental human rights, beginning with the right to life of every innocent human being. It is therefore morally unacceptable to encourage, let alone impose, the use of methods such as contraception, sterilization and abortion in order to regulate births."

Pope John Paul II and those before him promulgated that there is a right to life of every human being. In the Catholic faith we believe that human life begins at conception, so any group that would willingly promote contraception, abortion, or anything related to the "culture of death" is in fact anti-Catholic. They can live in the delusional world as much as they please, but it does not change the basic fact that what they preach and what the Church teaches are completely different. Their conscience or logic, you choose which, are erroneous. Their logic seems tantamount to Anton Lavey's "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law", which was of course one of the tenets for the Church of Satan, and this is where their prideful behavior has led them, doing as they please without respect for the authority of the Church.

As the good bishop said in his article, we should pray for our lost brethren, but more importantly they should search their souls and return to their Father's house, lest they die of wretchedness and hunger.

Pax tecum.