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.

Suicide

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Though it’s a horror from which Catholics may recoil, it is a fact that since 2001, the year our continuing war in Afghanistan was begun, more U.S. military personnel have committed suicide than have been killed in action in that … Continue reading →

Modesty in Dress

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Traditional, Family, and Property, Luiz Sergio Solimeo: “I love vulgarity. Good taste is death, vulgarity is life.”These words by English fashion designer Mary Quant, who took credit for inventing the miniskirt and hot pants, reveal one of the most important, … Continue reading →