Letters

Conscience?

Thomas & Patricia Watkin

Contents - Apr 2011 - Buy a copy now Homily: Pope Benedict XVI's Holy Thursday homily - Pope Benedict XVI Climate expert refutes alarmist attack on Cardinal Pell - William Kininmonth Homosexual rights trump the rest, especially Christians' - Fr John Flynn LC News: The Church Around the World Catholic Church's pivotal role in South Korea's pro-life revival - Babette Francis Music that elevates faith and worship of God - Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev Literature: The 'impossible dream' of Don Quixote (1 Corinthians 1:21) - Andrew Kania Marian Valley and Penrose Park: spiritual powerhouses - Br Barry Coldrey Letters: Conscience? - Thomas & Patricia Watkin Letters: Same-sex 'marriage' - Robert Prinzen-Wood Letters: Easter shopping - Arnold Jago Letters: God's presence - Noel Nugent Events: Holy Week 2011 - St Aloysius, Caulfield North Books: THE RIDDLE OF FATHER HACKETT: A Life in Ireland and Australia, by Brenda Niall - Colin Jory (reviewer) Books: THE LOSER LETTERS, by Mary Eberstadt - Terri Kelleher (reviewer) Books: EUROPE AND THE FAITH, by Hilaire Belloc - Michael Daniel (reviewer) Books: HANDBOOK OF CATHOLIC APOLOGETICS: Reasoned Answers to Questions of Faith - Br Barry Coldrey Books: TOWARDS A THEOLOGY OF THE ENVIRONMENT, by Paul Haffner - Barry Coldrey (reviewer) Books: Order books from www.freedompublishing.com.au Reflection: Benedict XVI: Palm Sunday means following Jesus Christ - Pope Benedict XVI

Joe Lopez (February AD2000) delights in the leadership given in the Victorian Bishops' letter, Your Vote Your Values, Bishop Fisher's statement on euthanasia and Bishop Elliott's sermon at the conclusion of the Christus Rex Pilgrimage.

Nonetheless, Joe finds it somewhat disconcerting that "one priest" even informed his congregation that euthanasia was "a matter of conscience", and left it at that! A paradox?

A paradox is an apparent contradiction that really contains a prodigality of meaning. Indeed, it does when the faithful are confronted with the written word of priests, imprimatur and all, that state: after deep prayer and consultation with clergy (a Catholic priest) a man or woman finds that as they are in the "utmost good faith", albeit "in error", they must give preference to the primacy of conscience and do what their conscience tells them to do: "error has rights".

It seems this twintruth solution can also be applied to contraception, abortion, same sex love, etc. It is all "a matter of conscience".

THOMAS & PATRICIA WATKIN
Camberwell, Vic

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 24 No 3 (April 2011), p. 16