RNS piece on the Catholic Bishops' statement leads with the most incendiary part of the statement. So does Cathy Lynn Grossman in USA Today, though she also details the process that led to the relatively tame statement in question.
Some good responses from Melissa Rogers and Beth Dahlman.
The prison writings of Alexei Navalny
19 hours ago
The language sternly reminds Catholic voters, "if they fail to form their consciences they can make erroneous judgments."
ReplyDeleteThe statement says voters can go astray because of "ignorance of Christ and his Gospel, bad example given by others, enslavement to one's passions, assertion of the mistaken notion of autonomy of conscience, rejection of the Church's authority and her teaching."
These references to an individual's conscience are the most interesting to me because there is much to be said about the relationship of the teachings of the hierarchy of the Church and the conscience of the individual. I find the phrases "mistaken notion of the autonomy of conscience" and "rejection of the Church's authority" are next to each other, because it might infer that our (Roman Catholics') consciences are formed solely by the magesterium. While some theologians would fall into that camp, there are those who posit that the magesterium is only plays a "subsidiary" role in conscience formation as well as those who write that we ought to respond to the teachings with "more than a respectful hearing and something less than a full commitment of faith."
Conscience development (and how it happens) is a conversation I wish was happening in parishes. It pains me to think of the varied responses to the abridged version appearing in weekly bulletins.
Sorry for the long comment...maybe I should start my own faith and politics blog.