Category: Morals

The First Vatican Council pronounced that the pope, in or out of council, would be protected by God with the gift of infallibility whenever he should define a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals. Matters of Faith can only involve religious propositions and the matter of those propositions are true or false judgments. A moral definition would involve a proposition that is right or wrong, rather than true or false. The difference between the two involves the end being sought. A doctrinal pronouncement defines a religious truth, which is the object of the intellect. A moral pronouncement defines a good, which is the object of the will. One could say that Faith engages intellectual belief, morals engage voluntary action.

A moral act is a human act performed with knowledge and free will. Every consciously deliberate action is a moral act, and each one is either morally good or morally evil. If it leads us to our final end, eternal salvation, it is a morally good act. If it takes us away from salvation, it is a morally evil act, a sin. Morals, therefore, pertain to human conduct.

Articles in this section treat of a wide variety of issues that, immediately, proximately, or remotely, deal with the morality of human acts, whether individually or as a society.

Are Smoking and Drinking Sinful?

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Father Chad Ripperger, in an eight and a half minute sermon, answers this question with scholastic acumen and competence. The bottom line is that neither is evil unless abused.

To Vote or Not?

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The full force of the nation’s quadrennial general-election campaign season is about to hit us. It will not occur to the majority of the nation’s voters who identify as Catholic to assess candidates in the light of teachings of the … Continue reading →

Anti-Life

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I don’t know about you, but old enough as I am to remember how the killing of more than 200,000 Japanese civilians in the nuclear obliteration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, especially the technological feat of accomplishing it with a single … Continue reading →

Triumphant Voices in Germany

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The official website of the German Bishops, katholisch.de, is full of praise for Amoris Laetitia. Well-known experts who have been expressing many heterodox positions during the earlier discussions on marriage and family, seem now convinced that their expectations have been … Continue reading →

Amoris Laetitia Rundown

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The Holy Father’s much awaited post-synodal apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, has been released. A summary of it may be read at Rorate Caeli. Here are links to commentaries on Pope Francis’ work, commentaries we have helpfully categorized according to what may … Continue reading →

On Abortion and the Occult

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Judie Brown, Renew America: Consider this example as well. Inside the walls of the Summit Women’s Center, an abortion clinic in Connecticut, a sign on the waiting room wall reads: “The staff in this office does sacred work and though you … Continue reading →

Nothing Better to Do Sister?

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My father was a volunteer with the Legion of Decency. Men would go to stores with certificates for store owners to put in their windows saying that their establishment does not sell (or at least display) pornography. The Legion didn’t … Continue reading →