Is conscience a small still voice, the voice of God? Not exactly. If it were
the voice of God, there could never be an error - but errors are far from
rare. Rather, conscience is a judgment of reason on the morality of acts to
be done here and now, or acts done.
God is involved in the sense spoken of in Jer 31:33:
"I will write my law on their hearts". This is echoed in Romans 2:15, where
St. Paul says of the gentiles who do not know revealed law: "They show the
work of the law written on their hearts".
Modern anthropology shows that primitive people have a remarkable knowledge
of the basic things in the moral law. However, this can be blotted out by
bad customs of the tribe, or by faulty instruction in schools, e. g, when
the children are taught, "Values Clarification" which says that if something
feels good, it is good, or by such things as proportionalism, which says
there are no moral absolutes, no act is good or bad by its nature: we must
consider, they say, the intentions and circumstances. Intention, they say,
can make any act morally permitted. These views of course are strongly
condemned by the Encyclical Veritatis splendor of Oct 5, 1993.
So, there are some things wrong by their very nature. Aristotle, who thought
morality depended on a golden mean, e.g., courage is a middle position
between rashness and timidity, yet said that there are things to which the
mean does not apply: murder, adultery, theft (Ethics 2. 6).
So conscience, since it is a judgment of reason, and not the voice of God,
can err. There are two kinds of errors, vincible, and invincible. Vincible
error is that which can and should be avoided or corrected. Invincible at
least practically cannot.
To avoid error, conscience must follow the teachings of the Church. Vatican
II did not change this. In Constitution on Divine Revelation #10: "The task
of authoritatively interpreting the word of God, whether written or handed
on [Scripture or Tradition] has been entrusted exclusively to the living
Magisterium of the Church, whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus
Christ." This does not clash with what is said on the Declaration on
Religious Liberty #3: "A man should not be forced to act against his
conscience. Nor should he be prevented from acting according to his
conscience, especially in religious matters." But that declaration has in
mind force from the civil state. It taught there is religious liberty -
which does not mean a right to be wrong, but just a right not to be jailed
etc. for wrong religious beliefs. This does not change what was said in On
Revelation # 10, just cited, for the On Revelation text does not refer to
force by the state but to divinely protected teaching from the Church, which
operates by the authority of Christ. In fact even the Declaration on
Religious Liberty # 1 says: "It [this document or council] leaves untouched
traditional Catholic doctrine about the obligations of men and societies
towards the one true Church." This really calls for an established Church,
supported by the State -not however in such a way that the State prohibits
other religions.
So a man should follow his conscience, but before that point, he has a
strict moral obligation to align his conscience with the law of God as
taught by the Catholic Church under divine protection. He may not say: "But
I think differently, my conscience tells me something else". To such a one
we quote Mt. 18:15-17, which tells us that when a Christian does wrong, we
should first correct him privately, then, if need be, with the help of two
or three witnesses. But then finally, call in the church: "If he will not
hear the Church, let him be to you as a pagan and a publican." The man in
question may not appeal to his conscience. He has the obligation to line
that up with the teaching of the Church. If he refuses, then we treat him
like a pagan and a publican, not like a Catholic who is just exercising his
rights. For the Catholic Church is not a democracy, in which the authorities
must dialogue with persons. Yes, all should be done in a pastoral and kindly
way. But when all is done, the bottom line is: he must accept the teaching
of the Church. Hence the Epistle to Titus says (3:10): "After one or two
warnings, avoid a heretical man." The word heretical here is not yet as
technical term: it means anyone who holds false doctrine and refuses to hear
the Church. He is to be considered as Mt 18:17 says, as a pagan and a
publican.
Suppose a man wanted to call himself a Mason, but broke with basic Masonic
teachings. He would not be a real Mason at all. Similarly, one who does not
follow the above teachings of the Catholic Church, especially that in On
Revelation #10 really should not call himself/herself Catholic, but
Protestant. For Protestants follow private interpretation, each one decides
for himself. Catholics follow the Church.
Suppose a man get a false notion that it is mortally sinful to eat a banana?
We should of course try to correct his thinking. If we cannot, and if after
that he eats a banana, he is guilty of mortal sin, not because eating a
banana is mortal sin, but because of his bad faith.
May we turn this around as it were and say that if a man cannot be convinced
that something, e.g., contraception, is sinful, he is justified? Not
objectively. Subjectively if he cannot be brought to see the truth, he may
not contract the formal guilt for contracepting. This, sadly, can happen
today, when there has been and is so much false teaching even by priests and
bishops on this matter and other things too. But no priest may knowingly
give Holy Communion etc. to such a one, if his sin is publicly known.
(Eucharist may be refused only to public sinners, not to those who sin
outside of public). Nor may we tell him: If you think it is all right, it is
all right. Cf. Leviticus 4, where several cases are given in which a person
violates the law of God without knowing he is doing something wrong at the
time of acting. When he finds out, he is obliged to offer a sacrifice to
make up for even unwitting violation. God punished Pharao and his household
severely for the fact that the King, in good faith, took the wife of
Abraham: Genesis 12:17.
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