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1-1-2010

Primacy of Conscience: A Pastoral Theological Construction of

Agency for Catholic Moral Decision-Making
Donald Augustine Rickard
University of Denver

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Primacy of Conscience: A Pastoral Theological Construction of Agency for
Catholic Moral Decision-Making

Abstract
A significant pastoral problem for some Catholics flows from the dissonance they experience when
attempting to integrate certain Church teachings with the leading of their conscience as they make moral
decisions. All Catholics do not accept every established moral answer or position provided by the Church
and integrating those differences between the Church teaching and one's conscience can be difficult--a
difficulty affecting parishioner, priest, and Church. This problem is, in part, rooted in and reinforced by the
fact that there are two theological strands in the Church's tradition regarding morality. One strand
suggests that the moral response is to obey normative Church moral teachings, whereas the other strand
suggests that the moral response is to follow your conscience which is informed by Church teaching. The
pastoral problem of understanding and exercising conscience while striving to be informed by and
responsible to normative Church teachings is at the heart of this research in order to ameliorate the
polarization and division that is currently present in this arena.

One of the unstated assumptions and/or insufficiently developed concepts within the primacy of
conscience debate between obedience to tradition and following individual conscience is the status of
agency as it relates to primacy. The principal thrust of this study of primacy of conscience is that agency
is a critical element in understanding the meaning and function of primacy of conscience within the
relationship between the social group (as reflected in the terms tradition and teaching) and the individual
(as reflected in the term primacy of conscience)--an agency that is interdependent and at times in
conflict. This pastoral theological study employs Larry Graham's psychosystemic approach to pastoral
theology as it expands the conversation by identifying the pastoral problem of primacy of conscience and
the role of agency from a pastoral theological methodology that examines relevant personal and pastoral
experience, historical antecedents to the problem, and appropriate conceptual theological and secular
resources.

As this study reviews the long and varied history of conscience in the Catholic tradition as illustrated in
several critical historical moments, it identifies the problematic character of the two strands within the
tradition and reveals the importance of a more developed understanding of agency in light of the
tradition's inherent ambiguity. By integrating Albert Bandura's systemic Social Cognitive Theory, this study
offers an enhanced understanding of agency from a disciplined behavioral scientific perspective on the
social-personal interfaces involved in decision-making in general (i.e., self-reflectiveness, perceived self-
efficacy, and social persuasion) which apply to moral concerns and, consequently, amplifies an
understanding of primacy of conscience that can inform priestly counsel to Catholics seeking moral
guidance.

Document Type
Dissertation

Degree Name
Ph.D.

Department
Religious and Theological Studies

First Advisor
Larry K. Graham, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Sandra Dixon

Third Advisor
Daniel N. McIntosh

Keywords
Agency, Albert Bandura, Catholic, Conscience, Pastoral theology, Primacy of conscience

Subject Categories
Catholic Studies | Practical Theology | Religion

This dissertation is available at Digital Commons @ DU: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/551

 PRIMACY OF CONSCIENCE:

A PASTORAL THEOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTION OF AGENCY

FOR CATHOLIC MORAL DECISION-MAKING

__________

A Dissertation

Presented to

the Faculty of the University of Denver and

the Iliff School of Theology Joint PhD Program

__________

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

__________

by

Donald Augustine Rickard

June 2010

Advisor: Larry Kent Graham

©Copyright by Donald Augustine Rickard 2010

All Rights Reserved

Author: Donald Augustine Rickard
Title: Primacy of Conscience: A Pastoral Theological Construction of Agency for
Catholic Moral Decision-Making
Advisor: Larry Kent Graham
Degree Date: June 2010

ABSTRACT

A significant pastoral problem for some Catholics flows from the dissonance they

experience when attempting to integrate certain Church teachings with the leading of their

conscience as they make moral decisions. All Catholics do not accept every established moral

answer or position provided by the Church and integrating those differences between the

Church teaching and one’s conscience can be difficult—a difficulty affecting parishioner,

priest, and Church. This problem is, in part, rooted in and reinforced by the fact that there are

two theological strands in the Church’s tradition regarding morality. One strand suggests that

the moral response is to obey normative Church moral teachings, whereas the other strand

suggests that the moral response is to follow your conscience which is informed by Church

teaching. The pastoral problem of understanding and exercising conscience while striving

to be informed by and responsible to normative Church teachings is at the heart of this research

in order to ameliorate the polarization and division that is currently present in this arena.

One of the unstated assumptions and/or insufficiently developed concepts within the

primacy of conscience debate between obedience to tradition and following individual

conscience is the status of agency as it relates to primacy. The principal thrust of this study of

primacy of conscience is that agency is a critical element in understanding the meaning and

function of primacy of conscience within the relationship between the social group (as reflected

in the terms tradition and teaching) and the individual (as reflected in the term primacy of

conscience)—an agency that is interdependent and at times in conflict. This pastoral

ii
theological study employs Larry Graham’s psychosystemic approach to pastoral theology as it

expands the conversation by identifying the pastoral problem of primacy of conscience and the

role of agency from a pastoral theological methodology that examines relevant personal and

pastoral experience, historical antecedents to the problem, and appropriate conceptual

theological and secular resources.

As this study reviews the long and varied history of conscience in the Catholic tradition

as illustrated in several critical historical moments, it identifies the problematic character of the

two strands within the tradition and reveals the importance of a more developed understanding

of agency in light of the tradition’s inherent ambiguity. By integrating Albert Bandura’s

systemic Social Cognitive Theory, this study offers an enhanced understanding of agency from

a disciplined behavioral scientific perspective on the social-personal interfaces involved

in decision-making in general (i.e., self-reflectiveness, perceived self-efficacy, and social

persuasion) which apply to moral concerns and, consequently, amplifies an understanding

of primacy of conscience that can inform priestly counsel to Catholics seeking moral

guidance.

iii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter One: Introduction to the Pastoral Problem..........................................................1

Expanding the Problem of Conscience ................................................................9
The Potential for Constructing New Theological Understandings ....................14
A Systemic Perspective of Agency in Clarifying Primacy of Conscience ........16
Location and Identity .........................................................................................23
Literature and Resources ....................................................................................24
Outline of Chapters ............................................................................................32

Chapter Two: Emerging Pastoral Theology ...................................................................38

A Pastoral Theological Illustration of Primacy of Conscience...........................46
Exploring the “Lost” ...........................................................................................55
Contemporary Advances in Pastoral Theology ..................................................60
Vignette from a Systemic Perspective of Agency ..............................................72
Theological Anthropology at the Crux of Pastoral Theology.............................76

Chapter Three: The Problematic Tradition of Conscience .............................................80

Primacy of Conscience Examined ......................................................................86
Historical Review................................................................................................91
Traditionalist and Revisionist Schools..............................................................115
Legalistic and Personalist Perspectives ............................................................123
Understanding Ambiguity within the Tradition................................................137
Summary ...........................................................................................................146

Chapter Four: The Lens of Agency ..............................................................................150

A Catholic Study of Conscience in the 1970’s .................................................160
Social Cognitive Theory Background and Overview .......................................178
Social Cognitive Theory and Self-reflectiveness..............................................186
Social Cognitive Theory and Perceived Self-efficacy ......................................189
Social Cognitive Theory and Social Persuasion ...............................................192
Summary ...........................................................................................................195

Chapter Five: A Pastoral Theological Construction of Primacy of Conscience...........198

Synthesis and Primary Conclusions..................................................................200
Illustration of Primacy of Conscience...............................................................224
Reflection upon Pastoral Conversation.............................................................247
Future Research ................................................................................................250
Conclusion ........................................................................................................252

Bibliography .................................................................................................................254

Appendices....................................................................................................................282
Appendix A.......................................................................................................282
Appendix B .......................................................................................................285

iv
 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION TO THE PASTORAL PROBLEM

For pastoral theology contends that unaddressed theological issues often

arise from the particularity of human experience, including the actual
practice of ministry, and that further interpretation of what actually takes
place in concrete experience has the potential for constructing new
theological understandings or clarifying unresolved matters in the
tradition.1

Some Catholics experience dissonance when attempting to integrate certain Church

teachings with the leading of their conscience as they make moral decisions. As a priest for the

last twenty two years, I have experienced numerous Catholics, myself included, struggling at

times between following their conscience and being obedient to the authority of the Church’s

teaching. Frequently this dissonance is addressed confidentially within the context of pastoral

care, counseling, or confession and the topics are quite diverse (e.g., contraception, pacifism,

divorce, obligation to pay taxes, sexual orientation). Yet occasionally this experience of

dissonance for Catholics gets writ large, as recent public controversies during the United States’

presidential elections of 2004 and 2008 clearly demonstrate.2 In either instance, what becomes

immediately apparent is that not all Catholics accept all established moral answers provided by

1
Larry Kent Graham, Discovering Images of God: Narratives of Care among Lesbians
and Gays (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997), 2.
2
See Eric Gorski, “Catholic Politicians Scolded,” The Denver Post A1, April 15, 2004;
and Laurie Goodstein, “U.S. Bishops Urged to Challenge Obama,” New York Times
A15, November 11, 2008.
1
the Church and that managing differences between the Church teaching and one’s conscience

can be difficult—a difficulty affecting parishioner, priest, and Church.

In ministering as a priest, I have observed manifestations of this difficulty ranging

from the affective and cognitive to the behavioral and organizational. It is not

uncommon for adults to feel as if they are being treated like children or to judge the

Church as antiquated, irrelevant, or rigid. Disengagement and/or acquiescence reflect

just a portion of the range of behaviors that accompany this struggle. On the

organizational level, priests, as representatives of both the pastoral ministry and

hierarchical governance of the Church, can feel caught “between a rock and a hard place”

to the degree that it seems like they must side either with the parishioner or the Church

teaching. This conflict observed in my pastoral work is clearly documented as a larger

problem for U.S. Catholics in general and is reflected in several studies that identify the gap

between Church teaching and the actual beliefs and practices of many Catholics.3

In many instances a critical pastoral problem emerges, regardless of the particular

moral issue being engaged, if the result of an individual’s moral decision-making differs from a

specific normative Church teaching. Although potential complications are manifold in this

3
See Jennifer Ohlendorf and Richard J. Fehring, “The Influence of Religiosity on
Contraceptive Use among Roman Catholic Women in the United States,” The Linacre
Quarterly 2, (2007): 135-144; Andrew Greeley, The Catholic Revolution: New Wine, Old
Wineskins, and the Second Vatimican Council (Berkeley: University of California Press,
2004); L. W. Tentler, Catholics and Contraception: An American History (Ithaca: Cornell
University Press, 2004); R. Fehring and A. M. Schlidt, “Trends in Contraceptive Use
Among Catholics in the United States: 1988-1995,” The Linacre Quarterly 2, (2001):
170-185; Andrew Greeley, The Catholic Myth: The Behavior and Beliefs of American
Catholics (New York: Scribner, 1990); George Gallup, Jr. and Jim Castelli, The
American Catholic People: Their Beliefs, Practices, and Values (New York: Doubleday
& Co., Inc., 1987); and John Deedy, American Catholicism: And Now Where? (New
York: Plenum Press, 1987).
2
situation, at base a serious pastoral problem comes into play. Some pastoral careseekers and

providers are unclear as to whether or not Catholics can simultaneously be faithful to the

tradition and authority of the Church while occasionally differing from it because of the

guidance of their conscience as related to a specific moral topic. Does such a difference

necessarily translate into a compromised or deficient status within the Church (e.g., being

considered anything from unfaithful or sinful to even heretical or not truly Catholic)?

Central to this pastoral problem is the fact that the normative teaching of the Church

has two strands in the tradition regarding being a moral Catholic that can readily give rise to

quite the moral conundrum. One strand suggests that the moral response is to obey the specific

teaching regarding the topic at hand. Yet the other strand suggests that the moral response is to

follow one’s conscience, even if it differs from a specific normative moral teaching of the

Church. Very often the moral teachings of the Church and the dictates of a Catholic’s

conscience coincide, yet that is not always the case. When it is not, how to understand and

navigate that dissonance can be both complicated and troublesome. The pastoral problem of

understanding and exercising conscience while striving to be informed by and responsible to

normative Church teachings is the starting place of this research.

Addressing the Pastoral Problem

Pastoral theology not only recognizes, but also employs pastoral problems

such as the one identified as resources that may lead toward greater

understanding, if not amelioration and/or resolution of a given pastoral problem.

This project is pastoral theological in method and purpose, as it addresses

occasions when Catholics experience dissonance when attempting to integrate

certain Church teachings with the leading of their conscience as they make moral

3
decisions. By pastoral theology, I mean “…the branch of theology which

develops theoretical understandings of and practical guidelines for the ministry of

care.”4 The pastoral theological method that I am utilizing has several features. It

begins with theological questions that arise in pastoral practice and serve as a

ground and generative guide for the method. It moves to the tradition to see how

the tradition has addressed those questions. If the tradition has not adequately

addressed them, pastoral theology refines and refocuses the questions for

contemporary exploration. To develop more adequate theological answers,

pastoral theology draws upon contemporary resources, from both theology and

secular sciences.5

In order to anecdotally illuminate the theological questions of this dissertation as

they arise in pastoral practice, I will first draw upon one example of my personal

experience as a Catholic struggling with following specific Church teachings and the

leading of conscience while making a moral decision. My personal experience is being

engaged for principally two reasons. First, on an illustrative level, this example is

appealed to in order to concretize and illuminate the type of questions and complications

that can surface for a Catholic when encountering the two strands in the tradition regarding

being a moral Catholic. Second, on a more profound methodological level, this personal

experience reflects how “…pastoral theology contends that unaddressed theological issues

4
Larry Kent Graham, Care of Persons, Care of Worlds: A Psychosystems Approach to
Pastoral Care and Counseling (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1992), 20.
5
Nancy Ramsay, “A Time of Ferment and Redefinition,” in Pastoral Care and
Counseling: Redefining the Paradigms, ed. Nancy J. Ramsay (Nashville, TN: Abingdon
Press, 2004), 5.
4
often arise from the particularity of human experience, including the actual practice of

ministry…”6 In this example, my particular experience is an expression of an encounter

with an unaddressed theological issue arising for me on a very personal level. Yet also,

as a priest in ministry for over twenty years, in the actual practice of ministry I have

witnessed and journeyed with a variety of Catholics encountering and struggling with the

very same unaddressed theological issue I had come to recognize, even though the

specific content has differed substantially from person to person (e.g., birth control,

sexual orientation, and divorce). Both my experience and my pastoral assessment of the

similar experience of others have led me to identify the pastoral theological problem to be

addressed by this dissertation.

My Personal Pastoral Theological Double-bind

After thirteen wonderful and formative years as a member of a religious order

within the Roman Catholic Church (i.e., the Congregation of the Mission), I terminated

my relationship with the religious order, left active ministry as a Roman Catholic priest,

and later was married.7 Without going into great detail or the whole process of that life-

altering choice, I can readily state that the final decision to not fulfill what were explicitly

understood as lifetime vows, both as a member of a religious order and as a priest, was

profoundly difficult on a variety of levels. The normative teaching of the Church

regarding the permanency of ordination to the priesthood was then and still remains very

6
Graham, Discovering Images of God 2.
7
The Church is broader than Roman Catholicism and includes all other Christian
denominations. Yet in order to avoid repeated use of the lengthier phrase “Roman
Catholic Church,” from this point forward in this study the term “Church” will only refer
to the Roman Catholic Church unless otherwise noted.
5
clear.8 Comparable to the Catholic understanding of the sacrament of matrimony, the

sacrament of holy orders is understood as being for the lifetime of the person receiving

the sacrament.9 Similarly, permanent vows in a religious order are clearly considered just

that—permanent!

How was and am I to understand this decision morally, both as it relates to myself

as well as the Church? Can the act of breaking permanent lifelong vows, whether they be

those of being a member of a religious order or a priest, ever be morally justified, given it

is counter to the normative teaching and tradition of the Church? Given this normative

teaching, is such a choice and act necessarily darkened by the shadow of being judged as

wrong, unfaithful, sinful, or the like? Or can such a choice ever be considered a

responsible and moral act, even though differing from normative Catholic teaching?

When considering the possibility of terminating my permanent vows with the

Congregation of the Mission and leaving active ministry as a Roman Catholic priest, in

addition to being aware of the normative teaching of the Church regarding the

permanency of vows in a religious order and priestly ordination, I was also aware that the

Church teaches its members, whether lay or cleric, that they are obliged to follow their

consciences in all matters. In fact, I even knew that the Church has a doctrine called

primacy of conscience, although I was not particularly well versed in it at the time.

8
The functional terms “normative teaching of the Church” and/or “tradition” will be used
when referring to the teaching role of the Church. The more technical Roman Catholic
term Magisterium, which also refers to the teaching role of the Church, will be kept to a
minimum simply because the other terms are more readily accessible in their meaning.
9
In like fashion, for purposes of ease, when the terms “Catholic” or “Catholicism” are
used they will only refer to Roman Catholics and Roman Catholicism (e.g., not Eastern
Orthodox, Coptic Catholic Church, and Polish National Catholic Church) unless
otherwise indicated.
6
Primacy of conscience is basically the doctrinal name for what has been described thus

far as the obligation to follow one’s conscience, even if it differs from normative Church

teaching.10 How was I to understand the responsibility and obligation to follow my

conscience if it seemed to be moving in a direction that was inconsistent with the

Church’s normative teaching regarding the permanency of religious vows and ordination?

I did know that the Church’s understanding of primacy of conscience presumed that

Catholics act from an informed conscience, that is, a conscience that is engaged with and

formed by the Church tradition as well as other relevant secular resources related to the

matter in question. The Second Vatican Council stated that secular scientific insights

have a significant role in the formation of a Catholic’s understanding of faith and,

consequently, conscience.11

Given that I have multiple theological degrees, am gifted with being relatively

intelligent, and am an ordained priest, I am inclined to say that I was, by and large, as

informed as the next person, and probably more than most. In short, I would say that my

10
Significant terms introduced in this first chapter (e.g., primacy of conscience, pastoral
theology, and the legalistic and personalist schools) will receive only the barest definition
in this chapter as is necessary for the flow. Focused elaboration and development of the
terms will be forthcoming in the subsequent chapters.
11
For example, “In pastoral care sufficient use should be made, not only of theological
principles, but also of the findings of secular sciences, especially psychology and
sociology: in this way the faithful will be brought to a purer and more mature living of
the faith.” This quote is taken from “Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern
World (Gaudium et Spes),” in Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar
Documents, ed. Austin Flannery, O. P. (Collegeville, IN: The Liturgical Press, 1992),
966-967. This text will serve as the reference for all Second Vatican II documents used
in this dissertation. Further, an English translation of Latin titles for Church documents
will be used in this dissertation for ease of reading. The original Latin title will be given
in the first reference to any particular text and will be retained if used in quotes by any
other author.
7
choice fulfilled the expectation of being made from an informed conscience, yet therein

lies the rub and a principal question of this dissertation. Just as I was aware of the

Church’s position regarding the permanency of religious vows and ordination (i.e., a

topical normative Church teaching), I knew that primacy of conscience also stood among

the array of normative Church teachings within the tradition. A Catholic making a moral

decision from an informed conscience can be, as I was, confronted by ambiguity in the

tradition of the Church. How does the Church’s normative teaching regarding primacy of

conscience stand in relationship to other normative Church teachings (e.g., the

permanency of religious vows and ordination) when one does not seem to reinforce the

other? Is there a pecking order or trump card among them?

At first blush it can seem as if the principal question is whether or not a Catholic

can deviate from normative Church teaching and not be considered wrong and/or sinful.

As important as that question may be, it is far from the only relevant question in play.

Upon deeper examination it becomes clear that the situation is much more complicated. As

stated earlier, the Church has two strands in the tradition regarding being a moral Catholic—

one strand stating that a Catholic follow Church teachings regarding any particular moral topic

and the other strand stating that a Catholic must always follow one’s conscience, even if it

differs from Church teaching. When those exceptions occur where the leading of conscience

differs from the normative teaching of the Church, in a sense, a situation is created that is

analogous to what is called, in psychological terms, a double-bind. That is, either choice

or direction is, at least in part, a losing proposition (i.e., conformity to a given normative

teaching may go against the mandate to follow one’s conscience which may be

suggesting an alternative course or, conversely, conformity to following one’s conscience

8
may go against the mandate to conform to a specific normative Church teaching). In

short, fulfilling both mandates can seem mutually exclusive, resulting in a “damned if

you do or damned if you don’t” situation, so to speak.

Expanding the Problem of Conscience

This particular experience of some Catholics and the unaddressed theological issues

that give rise to it is not an esoteric theological conundrum irrelevant to the Catholic population

at large in the United States. Although my personal and pastoral experience suggested that

this pastoral problem of the primacy of conscience in relation to obedience to established

Church teaching was broad in scope it has become increasingly concrete and clear that

this question can and frankly does affect many members of the Church and is far from

resolved. The presidential campaigns of 2004 and 2008 are two major public events that

blatantly manifest the breadth of its potential embrace for Catholics in the United States.

The understanding and exercise of primacy of conscience became an explicit topic of

discussion for many Catholics during both these elections, from Catholics in the pews to

the National Catholic Conference of Bishops, and the tension and lack of clarity is

indisputable.

So as another example of how “unaddressed theological issues often arise from

the particularity of human experience” as well as an expression of the two strands within

the tradition regarding being a moral Catholic, I will draw upon the most recent 2008

U. S. presidential election as a concrete and large scale expression of the theological and

moral conundrum Catholics may face regarding understanding and applying primacy of

conscience as related to normative Church teachings. Although both U. S. presidential

elections drew national attention and press coverage regarding the topic of primacy of

9
conscience, I will limit my focus to the latter election of 2008 for three principal reasons.

First, one example will be sufficient to make the necessary point. 12 Second, the 2008

election resulted in a large number of Catholics being the subject of judgment as related

to the normative Church teaching on abortion and conscience.13 Third, and most

importantly, the very problem identified regarding two strands within the tradition

regarding being a moral Catholic was clearly manifest within and by the representative

teaching authorities of the Church itself. It is important to not confuse this public

example with my own experience or actual practice of ministry, although presumablely

this event did translate into the actual practice of ministry for those who were directly

12
Given that I will not review the 2004 U. S. presidential election, a brief summary is in
order. During the election, presidential candidate Senator John Kerry, a Roman Catholic,
was the principal target of judgment and potential penalty by the Church hierarchy due to
his pro-choice political platform. Senator Kerry argued that a Catholic, be they a
candidate or a voter, could support a pro-choice position due to the Church’s teaching
about the obligation to follow one’s conscience, that is, the doctrine of primacy of
conscience. Archbishop Chaput of the Archdiocese of Denver and some like-minded
bishops argued and lobbied that Senator Kerry should be penalized by denying him
communion due to his pro-choice status and its inherent relationship to the topic of
abortion. They prioritized the Church’s normative teaching on abortion, suggested that a
pro-choice platform such as Kerry’s primarily supported abortion rather than moral
decision-making, and basically skirted the issue of primacy of conscience. Senator Kerry
did not reside in the location under these bishops’ jurisdictions and was never denied
communion by the bishop where he resided.
13
It is paramount to underline that the specific moral issue (i.e., abortion) being
addressed in this public example of the muddled understanding of primacy of conscience
in the 2008 election is not the focus of the dissertation. As important as the topic of the
value of life is, whether addressed when discussing abortion, capital punishment,
weapons of mass destruction, or an array of other relevant domains, this example is
included in order to concretize and illuminate the scope of the confusion and potential
complication contemporary U. S. Catholics may encounter related to integrating any
specific normative Church teaching and the obligation to follow one’s conscience.
10
involved with the situation and it commensurate pastoral care.14 In sum, this public

example draws upon a large-scale concrete experience to demonstrate the contemporary

confusion and complication operative regarding the Church’s teachings related to

primacy of conscience and, consequently, the context potentially affecting U.S.

Catholics’ understanding and exercise of primacy of conscience.

Immediately upon the election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the United

States, Father Jay Scott Newman, pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenville,

S.C. stated the following in his homily on November 9, 2008.

In response to this [election], I am obliged by my duty as your shepherd to

make two observations:

1. Voting for a pro-abortion politician when a plausible pro-life

alternative exists constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil,
and those Catholics who do so place themselves outside of the full
communion of Christ’s Church and under the judgment of divine law.
Persons in this condition should not receive Holy Communion until
and unless they are reconciled to God in the Sacrament of Penance,
lest they eat and drink their own condemnation.

2. Barack Obama, although we must always and everywhere disagree

with him over abortion, has been duly elected the next President of the
United States, and after he takes the Oath of Office next January 20th,
he will hold legitimate authority in this nation. For this reason, we are
obliged by Scriptural precept to pray for him and to cooperate with
him whenever conscience does not bind us otherwise. Let us hope and
pray that the responsibilities of the presidency and the grace of God
will awaken in the conscience of this extraordinarily gifted man an
awareness that the unholy slaughter of children in this nation is the

14
Drawing upon the 2008 U. S. presidential election is not an attempt to do public
theology, as that has distinct characteristics that will not inform the methodology of this
dissertation. For further reference on public theology, see Larry Kent Graham, “From
Relational Humanness to Relational Justice: Reconceiving Pastoral Care and
Counseling.” in Pastoral Care and Social Conflict, eds. Pamela Couture and Rodney
Hunter (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995), 220-234.
11
 greatest threat to the peace and security of the United States and
constitutes a clear and present danger to the common good.15

As Father Newman interpreted his obligation to fulfill his duty as a priest and

pastor, it is fairly clear in his first observation that his judgment is that those who voted

for President Obama (i.e., according to Newman, a “pro-abortion” politician) have

committed a sin that needs attention. Curiously, although he refers to the binding

character of conscience in his second observation as it may condition cooperation with

the newly elected president, the statement does not seem to recognize the possibility that

such a dynamic may have been operative for those who voted for Obama and were

conscious of the fact that his political platform is pro-choice. In short, Father Newman’s

statement predominantly reflects the strand of the tradition that suggests that the moral

response for Catholics is to obey the specific teaching regarding the topic at hand, in this

instance, abortion. The exercise of conscience, as presented by Father Newman, seemingly

applies to only social and civic responsibilities and teachings, but not to those of the Church.

For those sitting in the pews who voted during the 2008 election, these words were

anything but indifferent. One can just imagine how this message might have been received

by the members of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenville or in the Diocese at large.

But actually we need not speculate nor wonder as to how Father Newman’s message was

received by the official representatives of the Diocese itself.

15
Father Jay Scott Newman, “Homily on November 9, 2008 [emphasis added],” retrieved
11/22/2008 from http://www.catholic.org/politics/story.php?id=30564; the full text of the
homily is available at this URL.
12
 In slightly more time than Christians claim it took Jesus to rise from the tomb, on

November 14th, Monsignor Laughlin from the Office of Administration for the Diocese

of Charleston issued the following response to Father Newman’s homily.

As Administrator of the Diocese of Charleston, let me state with clarity

that Father Newman’s statements do not adequately reflect the Catholic
Church’s teachings. Any comments or statements to the contrary are
repudiated. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “Man has the
right to act in conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral
decisions.” ….Christ gives us freedom to explore our own conscience and
to make our own decisions while adhering to the law of God and the
teachings of the faith. Therefore, if a person has formed his or her
conscience well, he or she should not be denied Communion, nor be told
to go to confession before receiving Communion.16

Monsignor Laughlin’s response, in contrast to Fr. Newman’s homily, predominantly

reflects the strand of the tradition that states that Catholics must follow the leading of

conscience, even if it differs from normative Church teaching. Although the Monsignor

claimed and intended that his response on behalf of the Diocese would be a statement of

clarity, it is not far-fetched to think that even after this sincere effort, perhaps the

Catholics of South Carolina, as well as other U.S. Catholics, were still a bit confused.17

The fact of the matter is that Fr. Newman and Monsignor Laughlin do not reflect

some bizarre difference of opinion between themselves regarding how to be a moral

Catholic. Their expressions are actually manifestations of two well established positions

regarding conscience within Catholic moral theology—the legalistic perspective and the

personalist perspective. In very broad strokes, the legalistic perspective emphasizes Church

16
docnotes.catholic-doc.org/statement/Statement%20on%20Voting%20and%20
Communion.pdf
17
For a more in-depth perspective on the topic, see Laurie Goodstein, “U.S. Bishops
Urged to Challenge Obama,” New York Times A15, November 11, 2008.
13
teaching as the dominant way by which the objective dimensions of morality are understood. It

claims that this morality is founded upon the existence of absolute and universal moral

principles. Furthermore, it considers the Church hierarchy as the principal means by which

moral truth is expressed. The personalist perspective elevates the personal responsibility and

autonomy of individuals when it comes to morality. Although it acknowledges the Church as a

great and unique resource regarding moral matters, it emphasizes conscience as the mediator of

the divine moral law. Additionally, it opposes ethical systems that claim to be founded upon

absolutist principles.18

The Potential for Constructing New Theological Understandings

If a relatively intelligent priest with multiple theological degrees finds himself

muddled and mired when trying his best to be a responsible moral Catholic, is it

surprising to find in the actual practice of ministry that any numbers of Catholics have

also found themselves painted into the corner of this moral conundrum within the

tradition? If Catholic Senator Kerry, in the midst of a presidential campaign where one

media gaff may turn the political tide, and an Archbishop, whose national statements are

presumably well measured and pastorally strategic, find themselves in an unresolved

theological logjam regarding primacy of conscience, would we expect to discover that

their experience regarding the doctrine itself is an anomaly and that no other Catholics

are similarly stumbling over this log on their Catholic moral roads? If duly placed

Catholic teaching authorities in the same historical moment and geographical context,

who are obliged by office to serve and teach the very same Catholic constituency,

18
Linda Hogan, Confronting the Truth: Conscience in the Catholic Tradition (New York:
Paulist Press, 2000), 29.
14
radically differ, if not contradict one another, is it not possible to claim that a serious

pastoral problem is present, requiring sustained reconsideration of key theological issues

within the tradition? The question of primacy of conscience is an “unresolved matter in the

tradition” that extends well beyond a Catholic Senator and Archbishop, well beyond a

Monsignor and a pastor, and even well beyond an individual Diocese and its membership for

that matter.

As stated earlier in the summary sketch of the pastoral theological method

employed, after a particular pastoral problem emerges, the focus turns to the

tradition to explore how it has addressed the issues at hand. If the tradition has

not sufficiently addressed them, as is the case with primacy of conscience,

pastoral theology refines and refocuses the questions for further examination in

order to develop more adequate theological answers. This examination appeals to

the insights of both theology and secular sciences. The theological resources that

I will principally use for this purpose are historical Catholic documents (e.g.

Second Vatican Council) and Catholic moral theology, especially from the

personalist perspective. These will be used to set both the historical and

contemporary context of the debate on primacy of conscience in general as well

as focus upon current perspectives of the meaning and function of primacy in

particular. In addition to utilizing these theological materials, the secular material

I will use is principally Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory (SCT),

especially his research on agency.19 In order to establish a broader and

19
For the sake of efficiency, the acronym SCT will be used to represent Social Cognitive
Theory throughout the dissertation unless the full term is required for the sake of clarity.
15
contemporary context for engaging the intersection between both theological and

psychological interpretations and critiques of the concept of conscience, I will

also draw upon Thomas Srampickal’s comparative analysis of conscience as

articulated in both the documents of the Second Vatican Council and several

major schools of empirical psychology.20

A Systemic Perspective of Agency in Clarifying Primacy of Conscience

Even a cursory review of the pastoral problem presented reveals an array of

dynamics that contribute to its complexity. The need to reflect upon, understand, if not

integrate differences is clearly operative and is manifest in a variety of ways. For

example, 1) the relationship between the two theological strands in the tradition regarding

being a moral Catholic; 2) the relationship between differing interpretations of what is the

moral choice in a given circumstance; 3) the relationship between differing parties in the

Church ranging from parishioner to priest; and 4) the relationship between differing

voices of authority ranging from pastor to diocesan representative. This list is far from

exhaustive, yet even these obvious examples point to the fact that the pastoral problem is

clearly both relational and multi-faceted.

Relational differences always have the potential of being interpreted from an

either-or perspective that can, in turn, result in polarization. The question of who is right

and who is wrong can readily introduce itself into relational differences and potentially

result in one party being pitted against the other. This possibility is far from hypothetical,

as the examples reviewed testify to this reality. Further, the question of who is right and

20
Thomas Srampickal, The Concept of Conscience in Today’s Empirical Psychology and
in the Documents of the Second Vatican Council (Innsbruck, Austria: Resch Verlag,
1976).
16
who is wrong is far from merely an academic exercise, as it bears real substance and

consequence in the lives of Catholics and the Church (e.g., denying communion to a

person). Engaging differences within relationships inevitably has an influence on those

involved. That is, being in relationship involves agency or power and the impact of that

agency may be particularly difficult in the face of differences that are of high value for

the parties involved. In short, one dimension of all relationships is the presence of

agency which inherently and necessarily has a real affect, whether positive or negative,

upon all the participants.

Understanding the multitude of relationships present in this pastoral problem as

well as the embedded agency or power within those relationships presses for an approach

or perspective that is capable of constructively engaging those particular dynamics. A

systemic perspective is well suited for just such an endeavor, inasmuch as it is highly

relational and recognizes the dynamic of agency within relationships. In order to address

the complexity of primacy of conscience as a pastoral theological construction of agency

for Catholic moral decision-making, this dissertation will principally appeal to a systemic

perspective both in the arguments made as well as the resources drawn upon. Therefore,

a brief introduction to a systemic perspective is in order as well as a basic orientation to

how systemic theories will be employed.

First and foremost, a systemic perspective is oriented toward understanding how

things influence one another within the context of the whole. Whether one draws upon

the classic systemic theory claim that “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts” or

Thich Nhat Hanh’s spiritual tenet that “we are here to awaken from the illusion of our

separateness,” a systemic perspective views reality through a holistic lens. The very title

17
of Ken Wilber’s systems theory book A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for

Business, Politics, Science, and Spirituality captures the inclusivity of this approach—a

systemic perspective examines the context as a whole including the relationships within

it.21

In understanding whatever might be considered the whole within a given reality, a

systemic perspective examines the relationships that comprise the whole as well as the

various influences operative within those relationships. A systemic perspective emerges

from a particular context or whole by attending to the complex interactions that comprise

the relationality within it. As applied to the pastoral experience, the diversity of potential

relationships has the breadth and depth of whatever demographics might be considered

within the overall context. A systemic perspective will often have the following

characteristics: attention to ongoing processes and transactions; emphasis on the whole

rather than the parts; appreciation for the cooperation and mutuality of influences; and

openness to both/and thinking rather than seeing possibilities only in terms of either/or.22

Very broadly defined, “…systemic thinking is a view about the universe, or a

picture of reality, that affirms that everything that exists is in an ongoing mutual

relationship with every other reality.23 Throughout this dissertation, a systemic

perspective will be understood and employed in this fashion. Furthermore, from this

systemic perspective, this research will integrate systemic theories, specifically Larry

Graham’s psychosystems approach to pastoral care and counseling and Albert Bandura’s
21
Ken Wilber, A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for Business, Politics,
Science and Spirituality (Boston: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 2000).
22
Graham, Care of Persons 39.
23
Ibid., 40.
18
Social Cognitive Theory. Although Graham and Bandura’s systemic theories emerge

from differing disciplines, pastoral theology and social psychology respectively, both find

a common mooring and great resonance in the preceding broad definition and common

characteristics of a systemic perspective.24

This very broad definition of a systemic perspective develops throughout the

dissertation as Graham and Bandura’s systemic theories are explored in greater detail and

applied to the question of primacy of conscience, especially in terms of agency. As the

systemic perspective is elaborated in this research, the question as to how a person’s

agency is systemic and not merely individualistic is both critical to the pastoral problem

at hand and vital as a theoretical underpinning of this dissertation. Both Graham and

Bandura’s systemic theories examine this question in detail and offer substantial

constructive possibilities. For example, Social Cognitive Theory examines the reciprocal

and interactive agential framework within which personal and social dynamics emerge

and are operative such that one cannot be fully understood in isolation from the other

(e.g., individuals are both products and producers of social systems).25 Finally, although

a general orientation will be given to both of these systemic theories, only particularly

salient and relevant dimensions will be engaged in depth (e.g., agency) due to the

24
A systemic perspective manifests itself within a variety of disciplines and
corresponding theories. Very broadly, the difference between a perspective and a theory
is that the former is broader and general while the latter is more focused and specific. For
example, Alfred North Whitehead’s Process and Reality is a classic within the field of
philosophy, just as Murray Bowen’s Family Therapy in Clinical Practice is a classic
within the field of psychology. Both theories are rooted in a systemic perspective while
each pursues a particular relevant trajectory and expression within their given disciplines.
25
Albert Bandura, “Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective,” Annual Reviews
of Psychology 52, (2001): 15.
19
necessary limits of this research and the possibility of substantial meaningful outcomes

and contribution.

Agency is one dimension and way to understand and examine systemic

relationality and its inherent multiplicity.26 Moral decision-making inherently involves and

reflects agency, and an unclear and/or underdeveloped understanding of it seems to be central

to the pastoral and theological problem of the relationship of primacy of conscience to

normative Church teaching. Further interpretation suggests that a systemic understanding of

agency is important in addressing the issue. The primary interpretation of agency in this

dissertation is drawn from Bandura’s SCT that understands agency as the capacity “…to

intentionally make things happen by one’s actions.”27 Core questions that relate to agency are:

1) how are moral decisions understood and made in circumstances when normative

Church teaching and primacy of conscience seem to be at odds?; 2) what might be the

understanding and role of agency in the process for all parties involved?; and 3) when

agencies conflict, how are disparate claims adjudicated?

One of the unstated issues within the primacy of conscience debate between topical

normative Church teaching and following individual conscience is the status of agency as it

relates to primacy. It is the argument of this dissertation that the act of claiming primacy of

conscience to guide moral decisions that may occasionally differ from Church teaching

requires an adequate view of agency that systemically combines individual authority with

26
A similar term for agency is power. Further, the term “authority” is commonly used when
identifying a person, role, or group that has a particular claim to express agency or power
within a particular relationship and/or context. Although all three terms will be used
throughout this dissertation, agency will be the primary focus and terminology employed.
27
Bandura, “Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective,” 2.
20
communal teachings and norms. The doctrine of primacy of conscience inherently speaks of

such agency, yet this has not been sufficiently developed. Primacy of conscience reflects an

agency by which Catholics, both clergy and laity, engage both the Church’s normative

teaching and one’s own context, and can be morally responsible and faithful to the

tradition and authority of the Church, even if Catholics make specific judgments that put

them in opposition to certain Church teachings or if their judgments are ultimately wrong.

The thesis of this dissertation is that a constructive pastoral theological appropriation

and interpretation of the personalist view of primacy of conscience in the Roman Catholic

tradition, when primacy is amplified by the implications drawn from social psychologist

Bandura’s SCT view of agency, is a critical resource for helping contemporary U.S. Catholics

and their spiritual guides to make moral decisions that are informed but not controlled by the

established tradition of the Church. The personalist view of primacy of conscience will be

addressed in detail in Chapter 3, but for the moment suffice it to say that the personalist

perspective moves toward examining the importance of agency within the relationship between

the individual Catholic and the Church, although not from the discipline of social psychology.

I will argue that the personalist strand of the debate on conscience is consistent with and

supported by a more comprehensive understanding of the meaning and function of

primacy with respect to the exercise of conscience. Further, I will contend that the

personalist position resonates with and is enhanced by the identification of agency as a

central construct inherent within the concept of primacy.

This turn toward agency brings several questions about primacy of conscience

into the foreground. This dissertation reflects my attempt to examine several of those

questions. For example:

21
 • How is agency predominantly understood within the current debate

regarding conscience, and in what other ways might it be understood?

• Is there something beneficial within the concept of primacy of conscience

that has either been “lost” or not yet discovered within the tradition?

• Does the concept of “primacy” within the tradition of conscience hint at or

even push toward a certain interpretation of agency?

• What difference or benefit might a systemic perspective of the human

person within society offer regarding understanding primacy of conscience

and agency in conversation with Church teachings and authority?

• Might we better and further understand primacy in light of the insights

regarding agency from Bandura’s SCT?

• How might the personalist perspective of primacy of conscience be

bolstered by SCT’s systemic perspective and insight into agency?

My attempt to explore and respond to these and other questions comprises

Chapters 2 through 5 of this research. Before entering the core of this research reflected

in those chapters, three final pieces will be addressed. First, I will identify my personal

location given that the pastoral theological method for this dissertation recognizes and

employs contextuality. That is, the pastoral theological method for this research

acknowledges that the specifics of the social situation influence and inform the pastoral

theological reflection itself in both content and process. Second, the principal literature

that informs and serves as resources for this dissertation will be examined. Finally, an

outline of the chapters will orient the reader as to how the research will unfold and

progress throughout the dissertation.

22
 Location and Identity

I need to identify my own social location and context, as it is inherently and

necessarily an influence operative in this research. I am a middle-aged, middle-class,

Caucasian citizen of the United States who is married with two children and living in

Colorado. I come from an Irish Roman Catholic family of ten and was ordained a Roman

Catholic priest in 1987. I was in a religious order for thirteen years and left ordained

ministry as a Roman priest in order to marry. I am currently a Ph.D. candidate with a

concentration in psychology and religion specializing in pastoral theology. Prior to

accepting a call to serve as a pastor and priest in an alternative Catholic community, I had

a private pastoral counseling practice. As the opening of this chapter states, I have

experienced the topic of this dissertation both in my personal life and in my practice of

ministry.

In terms of the theoretical context of this dissertation, I locate myself within the

pastoral theological framework that was synthesized by Seward Hiltner and

modified/enhanced by subsequent pastoral theologians who nevertheless retain

foundational dimensions of his seminal insights (e.g., Larry Graham). This pastoral

theological framework will readily emerge with much greater detail within Chapter 2. In

terms of the scope of this research, given the historical and geographical breadth and

diversity of Catholicism, as well as the significant shifts marked by the Second Vatican

Council, this dissertation's principal location of this pastoral problem will be post-Vatican

II Catholicism in the United States, even though the debate is situated within a broader

historical and geographical context.

23
 Literature and Resources

Before delving into the heart of the research, a dissertation literature review is

pretty standard fare. Given that the research is usually focused within a specific domain

(e.g., English literature), the review serves as a basic platform that orients the reader on at

least three levels. First, the review sets the overall parameters of the field and literature

being engaged by the dissertation. Due to the breadth of a discipline’s literature related

to almost any specific topic, these parameters within the field itself function as a

preliminary identification of the resources being considered for the research and the

limits operative (e.g., historical periods, geographical locations, and languages). Second,

within these overall identified parameters, often the review sketches dominant and/or

significant positions within the literature that will have a bearing on the research, whether

that is historical background, cutting-edge theory, or whatever is pertinent to the project.

Generally this also includes a position(s) that the dissertation intends to advance as well

as any differing position(s) that must be addressed given a potential challenge that it

might present to the direction the research is taking. Finally, the literature review usually

narrows in focus as principal theorists and corresponding texts are identified. At the end,

within the limits identified, these resources serve as representative voices within the

given field and, although far from exhaustive, are adequate to move the research forward.

Clearly this structural and methodological approach to a literature review within a

dissertation has and does serve a vital purpose, even if it may, at times, seem to distract

from the primary focus of the dissertation. However, research methodologies and topics

differ substantially and the structure of the dissertation should correspond to and work

with those differences in a responsible manner that best suits the project itself. Inasmuch

24
as this dissertation is founded upon a pastoral theological method that is by design cross-

disciplinary, the normal structure of a literature review just described is not well suited to

serve the purposes of this research.28 Specifically, this dissertation broadly incorporates

four fields of research—pastoral theology, moral theology, historical theology, and social

psychology. The cumbersome, if not counterproductive, nature of navigating an initial

literature review across such an array of fields and commensurate resources is probably

readily apparent. Nevertheless, a dissertation’s identification and delimitation of the

literature and resources operative in the research is important and vital.

The value of an initial review of the literature and resources mooring a pastoral

theological dissertation can be readily accomplished by understanding how pastoral

theology engages its resources and, therefore, what presentation of literature is

appropriate. Basically three points not only sketch a framework for understanding how

the literature and resources are operative within this dissertation, but also set a general

and partial understanding of the pastoral theological method that will be employed. First,

cross-disciplinary studies such as pastoral theology, by definition, draw upon literature

and resources from varying fields. The primary research of a given field, understandably,

emerges from the field itself (e.g., moral theology, historical theology, and social

psychology) and not from cross-disciplinary applications. Therefore, the cross-

disciplinary researcher, in this instance a pastoral theologian, generally appeals to the

theory and claims of a given field in a summary fashion that is intended to illuminate or

enhance an understanding of the topic at hand. Further, as it is not its principal purpose,

28
Chapter 2 will develop the pastoral theological method in detail, including its cross-
disciplinary structure.
25
pastoral theology as cross-disciplinary research rarely, if ever, directly advances the

specific fields themselves, as it draws upon their resources in order to enhance

theological insight. For example, the benefit that pastoral theology receives from a

neuro-scientific understanding of brain activity ordinarily does not further neuro-science

in an immediate or direct way.

Consequently, the charge of the cross-disciplinary researcher is to accurately and

responsibly represent whatever given disciplines are being integrated into the research.

In addition to the more obvious dimensions of accurately representing a given field (e.g.,

statements that correctly present the theory and research), a significant reflection of the

responsible use of the integrated resource is to not overextend the claims being made by

the cross-disciplinary application. In this research, for example, it is essential to be clear

that the final result will be a pastoral theological conversation informed and illuminated by the

insights of moral theology, historical theology, and social psychology, but is not in the final

analysis a moral theology, historical theology, or social psychology as such. That being the

case, although in-depth literature reviews are appropriate within the specific fields themselves,

they are not well suited to cross-disciplinary studies both due to the nature and limits of the

method itself (i.e., the integration of the theory and claims of a given field in a summary

fashion) as well as pragmatic concerns (i.e., the sheer quantity that would be involved across

multiple fields).

Second, as a dimension of an accurate and responsible use of multiple fields,

identifying the portion of the discipline being integrated is critical, as it also functions to

avoid an overextension of what might be claimed. For example, even though this

research draws upon social psychology, it integrates a very small portion of what social

26
psychology incorporates. SCT is but one expression of the many theories that fall under

the larger umbrella of social psychology. Further, Bandura’s framing of social cognitive

theory represents only one expression of a variety of social cognitive theories. Resources

like social psychology or, more specifically in this limited instance, SCT are employed with the

interest of potentially gaining insight and perspective into the question and problem the

theological project is addressing. Both the possibilities and limits of the contribution of SCT

will be identified and explored. However, it is not incumbent upon pastoral theology to

identify, let alone resolve, the differing positions within social cognitive theory itself, provided

the theory and research being employed (e.g., SCT) still has formative power within its own

field.

Third, although an in-depth initial review of the literature across an array of disciplines

is not well suited for the opening chapter of a cross-disciplinary dissertation, it should be noted

that the depth of literature and resources informing the project are embedded throughout the

text. Ultimately, greater exposure and engagement with the variety of literature operative in the

research emerges, even if not in the form of an initial literature review. The depth of resources

reflected in the footnote references alone is but one example of the resources being integrated.

Further, as another reflection of a responsible use of multiple fields, the process for and

development of a bibliography is vital. The bibliographic procedure reflects a

comprehensive identification of potentially pertinent resources that may relate to the

topic at hand.29 From the inception of this dissertation, the bibliographic procedure has

functioned to identify and substantiate the current status of literature regarding the topic

29
The bibliographic procedure used for this dissertation is in Appendix A following the
Bibliography.
27
as well as what contributions might be possible. The bibliographic procedure, in turn,

results in a bibliography that reflects and serves as a greater platform of potential

resources informing the research. In sum, the bibliography functions as a broad and

efficient review of the potential literature informing the cross-disciplinary research.

With those three points in mind, the remaining portion of this section regarding

literature and resources will identify principal theorists and literature from the fields of

pastoral theology, moral theology, historical theology, and social psychology that

contribute to this cross-disciplinary conversation. These authors and their work represent

a stable perspective within their corresponding disciplines, but are neither exhaustive nor

definitive. They resonate well with the pastoral and theological problem central to this

dissertation, and offer credible resources for constructively responding to it. The outline

of chapters reflects where each discipline will receive its principal development.

As a cross-disciplinary methodology, pastoral theology frames the structure and

discourse of the entire dissertation, whether explicitly or implicitly. In Chapter 2 pastoral

theology is explicitly addressed with significant detail, as it articulates the methodology

present throughout the dissertation. This methodology can be seen as having several

intersecting movements within the overall pastoral theological enterprise: reflecting on

personal and pastoral experience; defining a pastoral theological problem to be

addressed; identifying the historical antecedents to the problem; and finding appropriate

conceptual resources—both theological and secular. All of these are parts constructively

work together according to the pastoral theological methodology.

As Chapters 3 and 4 explore historical theology, moral theology, and social

cognitive theory, pastoral theology provides the intersection of these resources as they

28
illuminate and inform the pastoral theological question being addressed. For example,

the pastoral theological method has given rise not only to the theological question itself,

but also to identifying and critically evaluating relevant resources that potentially promise

a better understanding of and/or responding to the pastoral need inherent in the situation.

In short, pastoral theology is a methodological standpoint that orders all the parts of this

study. In terms of a specific pastoral theology, Larry Graham’s work provides a

contemporary expression of a method for pastoral theology that initially emerged in the

late 1950’s with Hiltner’s text Preface to Pastoral Theology: The Ministry and Theory of

Shepherding.30 This method of pastoral theology, as noted previously, is a contextual

pastoral theology, but what makes Graham’s framing particularly well suited for the

research of this dissertation is the systemic perspective it brings to understanding

relationships and agency. The principal pastoral theological texts drawn upon from

Graham are Care of Persons, Care of Worlds: A Psychosystems Approach to Pastoral

Care and Counseling and Discovering Images of God: Narratives of Care among

Lesbians and Gays. In addition to Graham, an array of theologians who similarly locate

themselves within pastoral theology are engaged as well throughout the dissertation.31

In terms of historical theology, within the last decade Linda Hogan has emerged

as one of the more noted historical theologians researching the topic of conscience within

Catholicism. Her text Confronting the Truth: Conscience in the Catholic Tradition stands
30
Seward Hiltner, Preface to Pastoral Theology: The Ministry and Theory of
Shepherding (New York: Abingdon Press, 1958).
31
Larry Graham is the principal advisor of this dissertation. Other pastoral theological
articulations were available, but Graham was a student of Hiltner and his own
formulations of pastoral theology are well attested in the field and seem relevant to this
topic. After due consideration, his work was chosen as a major methodological
orientation.
29
as a prominent contemporary expression of research in this arena.32 Although Hogan’s

historical embrace of the topic exceeds the parameters of this dissertation, her research of

the 13th century with Thomas Aquinas up and through the Second Vatican Council

reflects the general historical orientation of this project.

Yet beyond simply the timeframe and topic of conscience, Hogan’s historical

methodology is especially relevant to substantiating and understanding the moral

conundrum regarding encountering two strands within the tradition when a Catholic is

making moral decisions. Rather than minimizing differences in the Church’s teaching,

Hogan intentionally and specifically brings them into the light. In short, the differences

within the tradition regarding conscience are concretely identified within the historical

texts as well as the potentially commensurate tension, ambiguity, and confusion that may

surface for Catholics. Additionally, the majority of the historical texts presented on the

topic of conscience are from the Church itself in the form of Conciliar and Papal

statements, especially from the Second Vatican Council. This is due to not only the

authoritative claim they hold for Catholics, but also the public and comprehensive

character they reflect in terms of normative Church teaching regarding the doctrine of

primacy of conscience.

In terms of moral theology, two principal moral theological perspectives within

Catholicism that have consolidated since the Second Vatican Council are engaged—the

Revisionist and Traditionalist schools. Charles Curran and Richard McCormick are

representative of the Revisionist school and Germain Grisez is representative of the

Traditionalist school. Further, their research reflects the dominant Catholic framings of

32
Hogan.
30
the doctrine of primacy of conscience, namely, the personalist and legalistic perspectives.

Given the prominence of these moral theologians for Catholicism within the United

States, the corpus of their work spanning over twenty five years has been consulted for

the moral theological mooring of this project regarding conscience. Even though these

three moral theologians specifically represent the Catholic moral theological field, they

also resonate with and reflect a relatively similar position in the ecumenical dialogue

within the Christian communion at large, especially as related to Christian ethics and

morality.33

In terms of social psychology, as noted previously, the research of Bandura

represents not only a fraction of the discipline itself, but also only a portion of the social

cognitive theories available as well. Over the last three decades, Bandura’s research with

SCT has explored a systemic understanding of relationality. Broadly SCT complements

and contributes to the resources of this research on two foundational levels. First, it

shares and enhances the dynamics and dimensions of contextuality and a systemic

perspective that are operative in the pastoral theological method I am utilizing. Graham’s

work with agency as an important dimension of power explores the pastoral and

theological situation in systemic terms. The integration of Bandura’s work gives social

scientific grounding for this view, and offers resources Graham does not for relating this

to the personalist view of primacy of conscience. Second, within the SCT systemic

theoretical framework, agency and its dimensionality have been at the forefront of its

research. SCT offers more disciplined behavioral science research and theory on the

33
For a more in-depth discussion of the broader ecumenical dialogue, see James
Gustafson, Protestant and Roman Catholic Ethics (Chicago: The University of Chicago
Press, 1978).
31
social-personal interfaces involved in decision-making in general (i.e., self-reflectiveness,

perceived self-efficacy, and social persuasion) which apply to moral concerns and,

therefore, have implications for amplifying an understanding of primacy of conscience.

Given the introduction of SCT in 1986 with Bandura’s seminal work Social Foundations

of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory, this text serves as the starting point

of the subsequent corpus of SCT literature.34

Outline of Chapters

Chapter 2 develops in depth the pastoral theological method employed in this

dissertation. Graham’s work Care of Persons, Care of Worlds serves as the principal

pastoral theological method of this research. It is systemic in nature and draws upon

foundational pastoral theological principals present in Seward Hiltner’s pastoral theology

Preface to Pastoral Theology. This method reflects upon and integrates concrete human

experience, theological resources, and cognate resources in the process of pastoral

theological construction. It constructively contributes to both pastoral theology and

practice. Graham’s contribution of systemic thought to the understanding of pastoral

theology is of particular importance, as it presents a framing of agency that is highly

relevant to an enhanced understanding of primacy of conscience. Although the pastoral

theological method that I am using is Protestant in origin, it will be related to Catholic

moral reflection in order to contribute voices and resources to the debate and problem

that heretofore have not been included.

34
Albert Bandura, Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory
(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986).
32
 The constructive character and foundation of pastoral theology will be laid out in

this chapter, particularly as it recovers and develops dimensions of the Catholic tradition.

Also, the theological resource and role of primacy of conscience will be introduced.

Similarly, foundational aspects of Bandura’s SCT will be introduced as a relevant social

psychological resource for this research in its understanding of agency. In order to

illuminate the pastoral theological method being employed, a pastoral vignette will be

integrated throughout the chapter as a means to concretize both the need and difficulty

experienced by some Catholics when making moral decisions that may differ from

certain Church teachings or tradition. Finally, the importance and inevitability of

theological anthropology within pastoral theology will close out the chapter.

Chapter 3 addresses the Catholic tradition in order to explore what resources the

Church has to offer in order to understand and address questions regarding the doctrine of

primacy of conscience. The principal theological resources employed will be drawn from

the fields of historical and moral theology. Both Catholic historical and moral theology

surface two points directly related to this research—the presence of ambiguity and the

necessity for agency. First, both theologies present a tradition that has diversity and,

therefore, corresponding ambiguity. Second, this shared conclusion of a diverse tradition

that inherently faces ambiguity necessitates understanding agency more fully when

examining primacy of conscience.

After establishing a working definition and theological framework of primacy of

conscience, the historical portion of this chapter will begin from the point of Thomas

Aquinas and his articulation of the doctrine of primacy of conscience. The long and varied

history of conscience in the Catholic tradition will be reviewed in summary fashion vis-à-vis

33
three critical historical moments—the Reformation and subsequent Council of Trent (1545-

1563) as symbolized by Martin Luther, the rise of modernism and the subsequent Syllabus of

Errors (1864) as symbolized by John Henry Newman, and the Second Vatican Council (1962-

1965).

This historical review of the doctrine of primacy of conscience from Aquinas to

and through the Second Vatican Council culminates with the Church’s call to recover and

reclaim conscience within the tradition. This mandate from the Second Vatican Council

ultimately results in the subsequent consolidation of the legalistic and personalist

perspectives regarding the doctrine of primacy of conscience. These two perspectives

reflect the Traditionalist and Revisionist schools respectively and will be illuminated

through a review of the Basic Goods Theory as expressed by Grisez and the Proportionate

Reason Theory as expressed by McCormick and Curran. This summary examination will

demonstrate the incontestable ambiguity in the tradition and thereby argue for the

necessity of both understanding and exercising agency when considering primacy of

conscience.

The diverse and even contradictory trajectories of the doctrine that have been

shown through the historical review will be summarized by Hogan’s historical

theological understanding of ambiguity within the Catholic tradition of conscience and

drawn upon to support the development of the doctrine of primacy of conscience through

a pastoral theological interpretation of personal and communal agency. Operating from a

historicist perspective, the concept of a homogenous tradition is rejected, as the diversity,

plurality, and permeability of contexts exist across both time and topic. Hogan’s work

demonstrates this type of plurality within the Catholic tradition regarding conscience and

34
reflects a historicist sensibility and analysis, even if not overtly. Ultimately, in addition

to identifying the personalist perspective on conscience as one of the two dominant

contemporary perspectives within the field of moral theology, her historical analysis

bolsters the personalist perspective on the topic.

Chapter 4 addresses the concept of agency as interpreted through the lens of

Bandura’s perspective on SCT. Bandura’s insight into agency and its implications can

help recover, as well as amplify and expand the initial understanding and role of primacy

within the doctrine of conscience. By drawing upon SCT, as one distinct and well

established social cognitive theory, this chapter intends to offer support for the

personalist view of conscience when primacy is amplified with the implications drawn

from an SCT understanding of agency.

The chapter opens with framing the limits of how scientific theory and data is

employed, especially in terms of agency and SCT. Then a recent historical mooring and

baseline follows to provide an understanding for the contemporary intersection between

psychology and Catholic moral theology regarding the concept of conscience. Thomas

Srampickal’s comparative analysis of conscience will serve as one expression of the

broader context in its exploration of both theological and psychological interpretations

and critiques of the concept of conscience. His research includes the concept of conscience

in the empirical psychology of his day, an examination of the use of the concept of conscience

in the documents of the Second Vatican Council, and a synthesis of how the empirical

psychologies during the period of the Second Vatican Council intersect with the understanding

of conscience operative in the documents of the Second Vatican Council.

35
 From this historical location, an overview of Bandura’s SCT serves as a starting point

for understanding his theory and research regarding agency. SCT will serve as the platform for

understanding individual and communal agential dynamics as related to the possible meaning

and function of primacy when exercising conscience. Bandura’s SCT view of agency

integrates critical psychological and anthropological advances operative from a systemic

perspective. From the systemic foundation of SCT, more nuanced dimensions of the theory

will be considered. This will include what SCT considers the normative cognitive dynamics of

self-reflectiveness, perceived self-efficacy, and social persuasion as they may relate to

better understanding agency within the exercise of primacy of conscience.

Bandura’s conceptualization of agency facilitates a more sophisticated

interpretation of the dynamic interplay between the agency of the individual and the

Church when considering the exercise of primacy of conscience (i.e., agency operates

within a reciprocal individual and communal interaction). This chapter principally

explores dimensions of agency beneficial for interpreting the meaning and function of

primacy of conscience from a personalist Catholic viewpoint, including both a broad

examination of individual and communal agential dynamics from a SCT systemic

perspective as well as specific dimensions and factors operative in the exercise of agency

itself. SCT presents agency in a way that supports and amplifies the personalist

interpretation of primacy of conscience and its prioritization of the personal autonomy

and responsibility of individuals in moral matters while taking seriously the communal

agency of the tradition. This systemic perspective resonates and aligns readily and

profoundly with the personalist perspective where authoritative moral agency finally resides in

the primacy of conscience of the acting moral agent. Primacy of conscience becomes the moral

36
voice of the individual expressing initiating agency as it emerges as an expression of the

Church community. It neither ignores nor displaces normative Church teaching, just as

normative teaching neither ignores nor displaces it.

Chapter 5 functions constructively to develop an enhanced understanding of

primacy of conscience through a pastoral theological integration of agency as understood

through Bandura’s SCT. Informed and supported by the depth of research in the

preceding chapters (e.g., pastoral theology, moral theology, historical theology, and

social psychology) regarding the topic of conscience and agency, this chapter interprets

and synthesizes those resources and concrete experience as it attempts to construct an

enhanced pastoral theological understanding of primacy of conscience. This pastoral

theological construction of agency for Catholic moral decision-making is intended to

better clarify the unresolved matter in the tradition when a Catholic encounters the two

strands of normative Church teaching and primacy of conscience. Possible amelioration

and/or resolution of the pastoral problem identified will be explored and illuminated vis-

à-vis examples of pastoral practice. In short, Chapter 5 will begin to articulate how both

the Church and the Catholics that comprise it might benefit from a pastoral theological

articulation of the doctrine of primacy of conscience from a personalist perspective, when

primacy is amplified with the implications drawn from Bandura’s SCT view of agency.

37
 CHAPTER TWO

EMERGING PASTORAL THEOLOGY

There are occasions when the use of valuable

data is hindered because basic theory is inadequate.35

Whether one makes a cursory contemporary review or an extensive historical

study of pastoral theology, it is immediately apparent that the term is anything but

univocal. Regardless of whether the pastoral theology is principally Catholic or

Protestant in origin, the content, meaning and purpose for theological reflection pertinent

to pastoral situations is quite diverse. That being said, it is vital to locate and define the

pastoral theology operative throughout this dissertation, given this project is pastoral-

theological in both method and purpose. Additionally, as I articulate my pastoral theological

method, several dimensions of the pastoral problematic identified in Chapter 1 will be engaged

and illustrated, especially the paradigmatic shift between individualistic and systemic thinking

as well as the role of agency within relationships.

First, an overview of this chapter is in order. It will begin by identifying and

elaborating dimensions of my pastoral theological method, including its compatibility

with Catholicism. A pastoral vignette will serve as a means to illustrate both the need and

complication experienced by some Catholics when making moral decisions that may differ

from certain Church teachings or tradition. The constructive character of pastoral theology

35
Hiltner, Preface 7.
38
will be engaged, particularly as it recovers and develops dimensions of the Catholic

tradition. The resource and role of primacy of conscience will be introduced, but will receive

its principal development in Chapter 3. Similarly, dimensions of Albert Bandura’s SCT will be

identified as a resource for this dissertation in its understanding of agency, but Chapter 4 will

engage in greater detail its contribution to this research. Larry Kent Graham’s contribution of

systemic thought to the understanding of pastoral theology will be incorporated, especially as it

articulates a framing of agency. Finally, the importance of theological anthropology within

pastoral theology will close the chapter.

Currently, three general definitions substantially cover the diverse continuum of

how pastoral theology is understood. One view positions the pastoral theological project

within the development and articulation of “…practical principles, theories, and

procedures for ordained ministry in all of its functions.”36 Basically this approach is

limited to establishing procedures and/or techniques that chart the normative course by

which ministry is delivered, predominantly if not exclusively by a denomination’s

publicly recognized ministers. A second view focuses pastoral theology within the

parameters of practical theology and, more specifically, the theory and practice of

pastoral care and counseling.37 In this instance, the practical quality of the work is most

salient, as theological reflection is predominantly directed toward the development of

pastoral caregiving practices. The third and final view frames pastoral theology as “a

36
Rodney J. Hunter, ed. Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling (Nashville, TN:
Abingdon Press, 2005), 867.
37
Ibid.
39
form of theological reflection in which pastoral experience serves as a context for critical

development of basic theological understanding.”38

Without calling into question the particular pastoral value possible in the first and

second view of pastoral theology, given that they are complementary rather than

competitive with the third view, this dissertation will limit its method to the third or last

approach where “…pastoral theology is not a theology of or about pastoral care but a

type of contextual theology, a way of doing theology pastorally.”39 Consequently, as this

method engages theology pastorally, it generates new theological understandings in order

to better address the pastoral issue or question at hand. In reflecting upon this method of

pastoral theology, John Patton distinguishes between context and contextuality. 40 The

former is understood as the overall situation or location pertinent to a given circumstance

whereas the latter is the recognition that these particularities of the social situation

influence and inform the pastoral theological reflection itself in both content and process.

Although this approach to pastoral theology currently enjoys substantial currency

within the field, this has not always been the case.41 In 1958 Seward Hiltner’s ground-

breaking work Preface to Pastoral Theology: The Ministry and Theory of Shepherding

introduced a systematic integration of a variety of resources in the creation of this now

38
Ibid.
39
Ibid, emphasis in original.
40
John Patton, “Introduction to Modern Pastoral Theology in the United States 2000,” in
The Blackwell Reader in Pastoral and Practical Theology, eds. James Woodward and
Stephen Pattison (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 2000), 55.
41
Carrie Doehring, Emmanuel Lartey, Joretta Marshall, Teresa Snorton, and Peggy Way
are just a fraction of the many contemporary published pastoral theologians located in
this approach in addition to those who are appealed to directly in this dissertation.
40
prevalent contextual pastoral theological method. The array of specifics Hiltner

identified to nuance his pastoral theology is less of a concern in this research than the

seminal and enduring foundational theoretical structure he coined. As noted in the

opening chapter, this pastoral theological method has several dimensions. Beginning

with theological questions that emerge in pastoral practice, it explores the tradition to see

how those questions have been addressed. If the tradition’s response seems deficient,

pastoral theology refines and refocuses the questions for contemporary exploration. In

constructing more adequate theological responses, pastoral theology also draws upon

contemporary resources, from both theology and “cognate secular materials”42 The term

cognate secular materials or sources basically refers to the sciences and other disciplines

that are not explicitly theological (e.g., psychology, human biology, cultural

anthropology, sociology, ethnography), yet are relevant to the conversation at hand.

The prescient quality of Hiltner titling his work a “Preface” clearly has been born

out, as a number of noteworthy critiques and advances have transpired in the nearly five

decades since he penned his work.43 For example, William Clebsch and Charles Jaekle’s

Pastoral Theology in Historical Perspective augments Hiltner’s initial shepherding

perspective and corresponding functions of healing, sustaining, and guiding with an

additional pastoral function of reconciling.44 In a similar vein some three plus decades

42
Ramsay, 5.
43
Coval B. MacDonald, “Methods of Study in Pastoral Theology,” in The New Shape of
Pastoral Theology: Essays in Honor of Seward Hiltner, ed. William B. Oglesby, Jr.
(Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1969), 165.
44
William A. Clebsch and Charles R. Jaekle, Pastoral Theology in Historical Perspective
(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc. 1964).
41
later, Carroll Watkins Ali’s In the Name of Survival and Liberation: A Preface to Pastoral

Theology in the African-American Context appealed to the importance and limits of

contextuality and added the pastoral functions of survival and liberation as relevant for

the African-American community.45 Larry Kent Graham’s work Care of Persons, Care of

Worlds: A Psychosystems Approach to Pastoral Care and Counseling made the

paradigmatic shift from an individualistic approach to a systemic one.46 Graham’s

advance will be addressed in more detail later in this chapter.

Nevertheless, the principal theoretical formulation—pastoral theology is

dialectically and contextually constructed by drawing upon secular knowledge, theology,

and the practice of ministry in the process of advancing theological understanding—

basically remains in force today both within the field and this dissertation. As pastoral

theology is created, three basic dimensions of Hiltner’s pastoral theology remain

foundational to this day. Watkins Ali summarizes them as being:

(1) Hiltner’s methodological approach set the precedent for bringing

theological reflection to bear on concrete human experience; (2) Hiltner’s
approach is provisional and encourages the identification of a problematic
within the ministry situation as the conceptual basis for pastoral
theological reflection; and (3) Hiltner’s approach is interdisciplinary and
employs cognate resources.47

It needs to be emphasized that pastoral theology is not simply a method or process of

handling data; it also has a theological output. These three dimensions summarized by

45
Carroll Watkins Ali, In the Name of Survival and Liberation: A Preface to Pastoral
Theology in the African-American Context (St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 1999).
46
Graham, Care of Persons.
47
Carroll A. Watkins Ali, “A Womanist Search for Sources,” in Feminist & Womanist
Pastoral Theology, eds. Bonnie J Miller-McLemore and Brita L. Gill-Austern (Nashville,
TN: Abingdon Press, 1999), 61.
42
Watkins Ali inform the process of developing more adequate theological understandings

of and responses to the pastoral problem at hand and the corresponding theological issues

present. In other words, this method of doing theology pastorally generates pastoral

theological advances.

The theological problem that is at the heart of this dissertation, arising from the pastoral

practice that will be described and documented, is how to address theologically two strands in

the Church’s tradition regarding being a moral Catholic. One strand suggests that the moral

response is to obey, whereas the other strand suggests that the moral response is to follow your

conscience. These two strands reflect an ambiguity and create conflict, inasmuch as the Church

seems to offer contradictory advice as Catholics are faced with moral decision-making. How

does a lay person, priest, or pastoral theologian address this theological conflict responsibly and

faithfully? This dissertation examines and advances that theological question by developing

the underdeveloped doctrine of the primacy of conscience through the theological creativity

of pastoral theology.

A Protestant Pastoral Theological Method for Catholicism?

Certainly and sadly Christian history is rife with manifestations of how Catholics and

Protestants have been anything but civil, let alone Christian, to one another. Theology has been

no exception. The documents of the Council of Trent overflow with examples: “And if

anyone should read or possess books by heretics or writings by any author condemned

and prohibited by reason of heresy or suspicion of false teaching, he incurs immediately

the sentence of excommunication.”48 In short, if someone possessed a book by Martin

48
H. J. Schroeder, trans., Council of Trent, Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent:
1545-1563, (Rockford, IL: Tan Books & Publisher, 1978), 278.
43
Luther they were considered damned to hell, given the understanding of the

consequences of excommunication at the time.

With the pall of that historical backdrop, this research would be remiss to not address at

the outset the compatibility and appropriateness of applying Hiltner’s pastoral theological

method to Catholicism. The most critical concept to underscore is the distinction between

method (the process) and content (the product). Hiltner’s method addresses how pastoral

theology is done, not what its outcome will necessarily be.49 The simplest and strongest

precedent that parallels this contemporary theological application is Thomas Aquinas’

integration of Aristotelian philosophy with his theological investigations. In this work, the

Church’s theology integrated a philosophical method from the Greek culture without potential

concerns regarding content prohibiting the integration. Similarly, a pastoral theological method

developed by a person of Protestant faith can be engaged without detriment to Catholic pastoral

theological inquiry and its outcomes.

Not only does Hiltner’s method intersect denominational lines, but it also crosses

disciplinary ones as it requires a pastoral theological interaction with the sciences or other

cognate resources. Employment of cross-disciplinary methodologies is a long standing practice

within Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular with Aquinas as its model.

Specifically within pastoral theology, Clebsch and Jaekle’s research demonstrates that “in

every historical epoch, pastoring has utilized—and by utilizing has helped to advance and

49
For an example of Hiltner’s own application across denominational lines, see Seward
Hiltner, “Counseling the Catholic: Modern Techniques and Emotional Conflicts,”
Religion in Life 30, (1961): 159-160.

44
transform—the psychology or psychologies current in that epoch.”50 Similarly, in the spirit of

Aquinas’ integrative theological endeavor, the Second Vatican Council, as quoted in Chapter 1,

calls for this type of interaction with secular sciences (e.g., psychology, sociology,

anthropology) in the document “Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern

World.”51 Consequently, the sciences or other cognate resources, like SCT, as conversation

partners with pastoral theology are not only compatible with Catholicism, but also actually part

of its historical and current tradition.

Finally, and very much to the point at hand, John McDonough Cassem’s dissertation

at Catholic University of America addresses this question in detail from the perspective

of the renowned contemporary Catholic theologian Bernard Lonergan and affirms the

feasibility of this integration and application.52 His research reflects an ecumenical age

that strives to overcome an adversarial history by responding to the Second Vatican

Council call: “In fidelity to conscience, Christians are joined with others in the search for

truth and for the genuine solution to the numerous problems which arise in the life of

individuals and from social relationships.”53 Not only are Christians (i.e., Catholics and

Protestants) identified under a common moniker by Catholics, they are also called to

collaborate with “others in search for truth and genuine solution[s].” In sum, peoples of

50
Clebsch and Jaekle, 68.
51
“Pastoral Constitution,” Vatican Council II, 966-967.
52
John McDonough Cassem, An Analysis of Seward Hiltner’s Systematic Pastoral
Theology and its Value and Application to Contemporary American Pastoral Theology,
Ph.D. Dissertation (Catholic University of America, 1979).
53
“Pastoral Constitution,” Vatican Council II, 926.
45
other faiths as well as the sciences are valued as conversation partners and resources for

theological reflection.

A Pastoral Theological Illustration of Primacy of Conscience

Watkins Ali’s articulation of the three salient dimensions of pastoral theology can

be illustrated in a pastoral vignette. The vignette will illustrate how theological questions not

previously seen can arise and even shape new theological understandings. It will be helpful to

now provide a cursory sketch of how this process will be manifest in this research on

primacy of conscience, but full development will obviously only occur as the dissertation

proceeds. Primacy of conscience can be more fully understood through attending to these

three critical elements that have been overlooked or minimized: the actual experiences

and resolutions of dedicated and faithful Catholics, neglected yet pertinent resources in

the tradition, and a critical appropriation of cognate secular materials. That is, this

illustration of pastoral practice is not merely reflecting theologically on an experience, but also

engaging questions with the possibility of different and advanced theological perspectives.

The first dimension Watkins Ali identifies is bringing theological reflection to

bear on concrete human experience. To that end and consistent with the pastoral

methodology itself, a brief pastoral vignette will be introduced here in order to locate the

type of human experience that this research is theologically reflecting upon. Sue came

into my office with a story not terribly uncommon, yet often terribly troubling in the

tension, confusion and disempowerment it reveals.54 Her problem was that she was

taking “the pill,” fully knowing the Roman Catholic Church forbids this and other

54
This vignette reflects a composite of various actual pastoral experiences, from casual
conversations and discussions to counseling sessions and confession.
46
artificial means of contraception. Yet along with her acknowledgement of this

“officially” forbidden behavior, she also struggled to explain and justify her choice as one

that made sense to her given all her circumstances. From her perspective, they already

had more children than she and her husband could adequately provide for given the fact

they lived below the poverty line and there were already likely signs of their children

being stunted from the family’s impoverishment. Further, she was fearful of the short

and long-term consequences of her husband’s violent and abusive behavior, especially

when he was intoxicated, for her present children. Resisting his sexual advances carried

its own threat and the thought of divorce further complicated the inadequacies of

providing for the children and was equally or more looked down upon by the Church.

Therefore, the use of artificial contraception seemed to her to be the best possible choice

in her world that was far less than an ideal one. Nevertheless, given her Roman

Catholicism, she knew the Church’s teaching and wanted to do the right thing, even if

that simply meant talking it over with a priest and getting his perspective. Sue considered

herself a “good” Catholic and had always been taught to follow her conscience and was

not sure if that was, in fact, what she was now doing by taking the pill.

First, in terms of the concrete human experience that will focus this theological

reflection, it is indisputable that some Catholics like Sue experience dissonance when

attempting to integrate certain Church teachings with the leading of their conscience

when they make moral decisions. What becomes immediately apparent in the human

experience is that not all Catholics accept and practice all established moral answers

provided by the Church. This human experience sits squarely within the exercise of

conscience and the corresponding question of and tradition regarding its primacy.

47
Benedict Ashley appeals to an array of data to illustrate the difference between normative

Catholic teaching and some Catholics’ actual behavior as well as their perception of the impact,

or lack thereof, of these choices on their standing as a Catholic:55

…Between 1963 and 1990, the percentage of Catholics attending Church

at least once a week fell from 71 percent to 40.5 percent. In 1972, 21
percent of Catholics saw nothing wrong with premarital sex; by 1990, the
number had risen to 44 percent. In 1987, 70 percent of Catholics surveyed
said “yes” in answer to the question, “Can one be a good Catholic without
going to Church every Sunday?” Sixty-eight percent said “yes” to the
question, “Can one be a good Catholic without obeying the Church’s
teaching on birth control?” Thirty-nine percent responded “yes” to the
same question about abortion.56

These topics (i.e., Church non-attendance, premarital sex, birth control, and abortion) and

others like them have been and remain problematic and areas of dissension. They are

indicative of a potential tension and problem that surfaces, inasmuch as non-compliance

with normative Church teaching on these topics may be considered sinful, as interpreted

from a limited magisterial perspective—a “good” Catholic neither believes nor does these

things, at least not without erring or sinning!

Although the data from these surveys was not explicitly attempting to explore the

presence and/or function of primacy of conscience, they clearly relate to the concrete

human experience being examined. What is of particular interest with this data is that

some degree of deviance from official Church teaching does not necessarily result in

55
In this dissertation, the term “normative” when applied to Church teaching relates to it
being common or prevalent. This may, and often does, translate into it having a
dominant quality as well. Similarly, the term “normative” when applied to Church
teaching does not relate to it being right or moral.
56
Benedict Ashley, O. P., “The Loss of Theological Unity,” in Being Right: Conservative
Catholics in America, eds. Mary Jo Weaver and R. Scott Appleby (Bloomington, IN:
Indiana University Press, 1995), 80.
48
these persons experiencing themselves as sinful, rather they continue to identify

themselves as “good” Catholics.57 Further, these numbers do not merely reflect outliers

or anomalies that may either be too difficult and/or without sufficient merit to interpret.

Rather, they identify a dynamic that is fairly substantial. In fact, entire organizations

with tens of thousands of members exist that reflect groups that consider themselves

“good” Catholics, although differing with certain magisterial positions of the Church.58

How is this to be accounted for and what key, if any, might primacy of conscience hold

in its understanding?

Therefore in reflecting upon the concrete human experience just identified, the

theological resources that I will principally use are historical Catholic documents (e.g.,

Second Vatican Council and other magisterial texts) and Catholic moral theology,

especially from the personalist school as reflected in the work of Charles Curran and

Richard McCormick.59 These theological resources will be used to set both the historical

and contemporary context of the debate on primacy of conscience in general as well as

focus upon current perspectives of the meaning and function of primacy in particular.

These resources, without doubt, clearly support the legitimacy and complexity of Sue’s

question and uncertainty as well as other Catholics in similar situations. For example, the

“Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World” states:

57
Nonetheless, these Catholics are often judged negatively by other lay Catholics who
disagree with them. This reflects another distinct pastoral problem that is not the focus of
this study. However, this problem might potentially be ameliorated as well if the group
judging negatively integrates the doctrine of primacy of conscience.
58
For examples, see www.womensordination.org., www.cta-usa.org, and
www.corpus.org,
59
The personalist and legalistic schools reflect the dominant positions operative in the
debate on conscience and both will be addressed in detail in the next chapter.
49
 Lay people should also know that it is generally the function of their well-
formed Christian conscience to see that the divine law is inscribed in the
life of the earthly city….Let the lay people not imagine that their pastors
are always such experts that to every problem which arises, however
complicated, they can readily give a concrete solution, or even that such is
their mission. Rather, enlightened by Christian wisdom and giving close
attention to the teaching authority of the Church, let lay people take on
their own distinctive role.60

The second dimension of the pastoral theological method Watkins Ali presents is “the

identification of a problematic within the ministry situation as the conceptual basis for

pastoral theological reflection.” As pastoral practice demonstrates, managing the

differences between the Church teaching and one’s conscience can be very complicated. As a

priest, I have witnessed these complications revealed in the affective and cognitive as

well as the behavioral and organizational. This complication manifest in pastoral practice

is confirmed by a number of research studies, especially within the arena of the Church’s

teaching on contraception and the actual beliefs and practices of many Catholics.61

In those instances when a Catholic’s moral decision-making differs from the

Church’s normative teaching, a serious pastoral problem often emerges. Independent of

the specific moral issue being addressed and the array of complications that may be

involved in the situation, the serious foundational question is whether or not Catholics

can simultaneously be loyal to the Church’s teaching while occasionally differing from it

60
“Pastoral Constitution,” Vatican Council II, 944.
61
See Andrew Greeley, The Catholic Revolution: New Wine, Old Wineskins, and the
Second Vatican Council (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004); Andrew
Greeley, The Catholic Myth: The Behavior and Beliefs of American Catholics (New
York: Scribner, 1990); George Gallup, Jr. and Jim Castelli, The American Catholic
People: Their Beliefs, Practices, and Values (New York: Doubleday & Co. Inc. 1987);
and John Deedy, American Catholicism: And Now Where? (New York: Plenum Press,
1987).
50
because of the leading of their conscience as related to a given moral issue. Is a

Catholic’s status within the Church necessarily compromised if following one’s

conscience in a particular instance leads to differing from normative Church teaching?

Generally there are two interpretations of this problem. One interpretation of the

discrepancy between Church teaching and many Catholics’ actual beliefs and practices is

that it reflects deterioration caused by influences external to the Church. Therefore, some

Catholics “…are alarmed by what they see as a collapse of Christian moral standards in

the Church and a disastrous compromise with liberal Protestantism and still worse with

secularism.”62 From this perspective, “…the core of Catholic identity has been lost.

These people who dissent, who have adopted other sources of authority as their guide for

moral life and liturgical consciousness, have thrown away the crowning glory of

Catholicism.”63 Although this negative interpretation attempts to explain sources of

influence contributing to this dissonance or gap, it does not seem to address how and/or

why these Catholics continue to identify themselves as “good” Catholics, and not simply

converts to liberal Protestantism or secularism.64

A second interpretation—the one which forms the basis of this study—is that

these types of data, both from pastoral care experiences and sociological studies, reflect

the functioning of the long standing traditional, albeit increasingly submerged and

62
Ashley, 79.
63
Mary Jo Weaver, “Introduction: Who are the Conservative Catholics?” in Being Right:
Conservative Catholics in America, eds. Mary Jo Weaver and R. Scott Appleby
(Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1995), 4.
64
Although multiple-regression analyses are not currently available to interpret this
problem, it is the assumption of the author and suggested by other studies that there are a
number of relevant factors operative in the current situation and not just one sole factor.
51
underdeveloped, Catholic doctrine of primacy of conscience. At first glance in these

experiences of dissonance, the principal concern often seems to be the topical one, be it

contraception, terminating artificial life support, or any specific moral issue. Yet in the Church

moral decision-making itself has an inherent, and largely unrecognized, ambiguity and tension

in its position on obedience to the authority of Church teaching and the obligation to follow

one’s conscience, even if conscience leads in a different direction than the Church normatively

teaches.65

In short, the pastoral problem identified reflects both individual and institutional

complications regarding primacy of conscience. From this second interpretation which situates

primacy of conscience as operative and central in its interpretation, one could certainly wonder,

if not make the argument that Sue is merely and essentially applying Paul VI’s directive to

parents in the Encyclical “The Development of Peoples (Popularum Progressio)”:

It is finally the right of the parents having completely examined the case to
make a decision about the number of their children; a responsibility they take
upon themselves keeping in sight their duty to God, themselves, the children
already born, and the community to which they belong, following the dictates
of their conscience instructed about the divine law authentically interpreted and
strengthened by confidence in God.66

The third dimension of this pastoral theological method that Watkins Ali identifies is its

interdisciplinary character, especially its employment of cognate resources. The critical

appropriation of cognate secular materials informing this research is from the field of

psychology. Specifically, I have chosen Bandura’s work as my principal resource from the

discipline of social psychology in order to expand and explicate the agential dimensions

65
Hogan, 2.
66
Claudia Carlen, ed. The Papal Enclyclicals vol. 5 (Ann arbor, MI: The Pierian Press,
1990), 190.
52
involved in an act of claiming primacy of conscience. Conscience is not an explicit term

employed by Bandura nor is it synonymous with behavior, cognition, or a combination of the

two. Nevertheless, conscience is inextricably related to both cognition and behavior inasmuch

as the exercise of conscience necessarily involves both judgment and action, which are central

concepts in Bandura’s thought as well as in Catholic moral reflection. As defined by Catholic

moral theologian Charles Curran, “conscience is generally understood as the judgment about

the morality of an act to be done or omitted or already done or omitted by the person.”67

Bandura’s SCT, as one among a number of social cognitive theories, is

particularly relevant for this research for three reasons.68 For starters, he enjoys both

prominence and longevity within his field, especially in terms of research on agency and

its dimensionality.69 Additionally, his conceptualization of agency facilitates a more

sophisticated interpretation of the dynamic interplay between the agency of the individual

67
Charles Curran, “Conscience in the Light of the Catholic Moral Tradition,” in
Conscience, ed. Charles Curran (New York: Paulist Press, 2004), 3.
68
The identification of and distinction between Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory
(SCT) within the array of social cognitive theories will be addressed in detail in
Chapter 4.
69
“Since Bandura first introduced the construct of self-efficacy in 1977, researchers have
been very successful in demonstrating that individuals’ self-efficacy beliefs powerfully
influence their attainment in diverse fields (see Stajkovic and Luthans 1998, for meta-
analysis of research on the relationship between self-efficacy beliefs and achievement
outcomes)…. Bandura also further situated self-efficacy within a social cognitive theory
of personal and collective agency that operates in concert with other sociocognitive
factors in regulating human well-being and attainment. He also addressed the major
facets of agency—the nature and structure of self-efficacy beliefs, their origins and
effects, the processes through which such self-beliefs operate, and the modes by which
they can be created and strengthened…. A search for the term ‘self-efficacy’ in most
academic databases reveals that, by the year 2000, over 2500 articles had been written on
this important psychological construct.” Frank Parajes, “Overview of Social Cognitive
Theory and Self-Efficacy,” Retrieved 11/12/2002 from
http://www.emory.edu/EDUCATION/mfp/eff.html, (2002), 8.
53
and the Church operative in the exercise of primacy of conscience (i.e., agency operates

within a reciprocal individual and communal interaction). Finally, his research examines

cognitive and behavioral dimensions of agency (i.e., the role of self-reflectiveness,70

perceived self-efficacy,71 and social persuasion72) that have implications for unexplored

dimensions of the function of primacy of conscience.73

Finally, in broadly locating primacy of conscience within this pastoral theological

method, an additional comment is in order lest the reader be confused regarding the focus of

this research. Almost any discussion of conscience inevitably calls forth illustrations, that

is, how might understanding primacy of conscience manifest itself in the context of any

real or hypothetical moral situation? Certainly the contextuality of this pastoral

theological method necessitates engaging concrete human experience and refrains from

purely abstract analysis. Therefore, although specific moral examples that are vital to

human agency (e.g., Sue’s question regarding contraception or others within the arena of

sexuality) will be occasionally used in this dissertation in order to both inform and

illustrate the principal concept being addressed (i.e., primacy of conscience) and the

70
Bandura, “Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective,” 10-11.
71
Bandura, “Self-efficacy,” in Encyclopedia of Human Behavior vol. 4, ed. V. S.
Ramachaudran (New York: Academic Press, 1994), 71-81.
72
Bandura, “Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective,” 3.
73
Although Bandura’s work is being drawn upon for the stated reasons, it is worth noting
that his own research and application of his theory has often engaged the content of the
moral arena. For example see, Albert Bandura, “Social Cognitive Theory of Moral
Thought and Action,” in Handbook of Moral Behavior and Development, vol. 1, eds. W.
M. Kurtines and J. L. Gewirtz (Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1991), 45-103; and Albert
Bandura, “Moral Disengagement in the Perpetuation of Inhumanities,” in Personality and
Social Psychology Review, vol. 3 (1999): 193-209.
54
concrete situation from which it emerges, it is important to recognize that this research is

not attempting to further a particular analysis of any given moral issue or topic.

Enhancing the theological and pastoral resources available to Catholics, be they lay or

cleric, regarding the challenge of negotiating certain official Church teachings and

following their conscience is the exclusive interest of this research. The diverse topics or

issues actually operative as the content occasionally engaged by primacy of conscience

ultimately remain for individuals and ministers to determine as is relevant for their lives,

community, and world.

Exploring the “Lost”

For many Catholics like Sue, often there surfaces a sense of something being

“lost” or absent. Most Catholics will readily claim to being called to follow their

conscience, yet this is not necessarily synonymous with having sufficient clarity or

direction as to what that actually means in principle and practice. Although many

Catholics join with common secular and religious parlance in readily appealing to the

concept of "following one's conscience," often this may be as generic and diffuse as

"following a gut feeling" and, therefore, not truly reflective of the Church's tradition of

conscience nor adequate for its fully functional exercise. A superficial, if not biased,

interpretation of this dynamic would place the dominant, if not sole, responsibility for

this lacking upon the individual. It might sound something like, “If you would have

simply taken the time to inform yourself, you would not find yourself in this quandary.”

Yet upon deeper examination, it is irrefutable that this alone is not the sole factor

operative in this conundrum.

55
 Fine tuning the second dimension Watkins Ali has identified regarding “a

problematic within the ministry situation as the conceptual basis for pastoral theological

reflection,” Lapsley and Patton have articulated how recovering and discovering a

dimension of theology that has been “lost” can be both illuminating and vital. Patton

claims that "…a characteristic element in pastoral theology [is] recovering a dimension of

an important human problem that has been lost or insufficiently emphasized in

contemporary theology.”74 From one perspective, for something to be lost simply means

that its current whereabouts are unknown or unclear, but it still exists and potentially can

be recovered and found. Thus the method functions constructively by retrieving and

recovering as well as emphasizing and elaborating insufficiently engaged or developed

theological concerns. Graham articulates the constructive and nuanced character of this

pastoral theological process:

For pastoral theology contends that unaddressed theological issues often

arise from the particularity of human experience, including the actual
practice of ministry, and that further interpretation of what actually takes
place in concrete experience has the potential for constructing new
theological understandings or clarifying unresolved matters in the
tradition.75

Basically, exploring what was “lost” serves not only as an entry point to the

“unaddressed theological issues” (e.g., confusion about and/or loss of agency in the

exercise of conscience), but it also can potentially construct enhanced theological insights

and resolve contemporary problematic or complicated questions in the tradition.

74
John Patton, “Forgiveness, Lost Contracts, and Pastoral Theology,” in The Treasure of
Earthen Vessels: Explorations in Theological Anthropology, eds. Brian Childs and David
Waanders (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994), 194.
75
Graham, Discovering Images of God 2.
56
“Unaddressed theological issues [that] often arise from the particularity of human

experience” generate problems like the one some Catholics experience when trying to

integrate certain Church teachings, whether they are unresolved or misunderstood matters

in the tradition (i.e., primacy of conscience). Examining the pastoral data (i.e., the setting

and acts of ministry and the personhood of the one carrying out the act of ministry) in

light of theology and cognate secular knowledge is precisely how the tradition is

experienced as living. In a sense, what is “found” is seldom, if ever, in the identical state

in which it was lost and therein lies the constructive process. Highlighting this

methodological dimension of something being “lost” is particularly apropos for this

project inasmuch as critical theological dimensions of conscience have been

demonstratively lost or insufficiently emphasized, at least in terms of their accessibility

and prevalence within contemporary laity and clergy alike.

A salient example of Catholic pastoral theology recovering what has been lost is

clear in the Second Vatican Council as it addresses nothing less than the topic at hand—

primacy of conscience. First, it is important to note that early in the Second Vatican

Council’s proceedings John XXIII recognized that “the deposit of faith or revealed truths

are one thing; the manner in which they are formulated without violence to their meaning

and significance is another.”76 In short, John XXIII was identifying the possibility, if not

the actuality, that the resources of the faith tradition are not always fully accessible to the

faithful, be they lay or cleric, due to potential complications and/or detriments in their

transmission. Or harkening back to Patton’s words, “a characteristic element in pastoral

76
Vatican Council II, 268-269.
57
theology [is] recovering a dimension of an important human problem that has been lost or

insufficiently emphasized in contemporary theology.”

Therefore, in order to ameliorate how the interpretation and subsequent

presentation of the faith tradition has been or can be compromised, the Second Vatican

Council was charged with making its work “predominantly pastoral in character.”77 The

Second Vatican Council was principally doing pastoral theological work as the Church

was “bringing herself up to date where required,”78 part of which was recovering what

was lost or compromised in the historical transmission of the tradition. Even an

extremely brief review of the tradition related to primacy of conscience will readily

demonstrate this point.

When the Second Vatican Council examined the tradition regarding primacy of

conscience, it did not confront theological subtlety and nuance, but rather a blatant

example of the tradition being formulated in a manner that was far from being “without

violence to its meaning and significance.” Primacy of conscience was present as early as

the third century, as reflected in Lactantius’ relatively obscure statement that “unless the

act is done freely and from the heart it is an accursed abomination.”79 Aquinas’ oft

quoted, enduring, and topically relevant “Anyone upon whom the ecclesiastical

authorities, in ignorance of the true facts, impose a demand against his clear conscience

77
Ibid., 715.
78
Ibid., 712.
79
“Divinarum Institutionum,” vol. 19, in Migne Patrologia Latina, VI, 614-616.

58
should perish in excommunication rather than violate his conscience,”80 continues to

reveal how primacy of conscience has long enjoyed its place within the Catholic tradition

and moral teaching.

That being said, it is difficult, if not flatly impossible, to reconcile the relatively

recent Church statement by Pius IX in 1864 when he promulgated “Condemning Current

Errors (Quanta Cura)” in response, or maybe better said, in reaction to the rise of

modernism. “Condemning Current Errors” condemned:

…that erroneous opinion which is especially injurious to the Catholic

Church and the salvation of souls, called by our predecessor Gregory XVI
insane raving, namely, that freedom of conscience and of worship is the
proper right of each man, and that this should be proclaimed and asserted
in every rightly constituted society.81

Primacy of conscience was being lost in the tradition, or at least insufficiently

emphasized, and the Second Vatican Council from its pastoral approach and concern was

attempting to recover it.

Hardly more than a century following Pius IX’s tenure, the Second Vatican

Council begins a broad recovery of the doctrine of primacy of conscience, as its original

“meaning and significance” truly colors an array of magisterial documents from “The

Dogmatic Constitution of the Church (Lumen Gentium)”82 and “The Pastoral Constitution

on the Church in the Modern World”83 to the “Declaration on Religious Freedom

80
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, IV, 38, 4 (New York: Benziger Brothers, Inc.
1947).
81
Carlen, The Papal Enclyclicals vol. 2, 381.
82
“Dogmatic Constitution,” Vatican Council II, 350-440.
83
“Pastoral Constitution,” Vatican Council II, 903-1014.
59
(Dignitiatis Humanae).”84 The degree of this recovery and, by extension, how lost it had

become is certainly manifest in the “Declaration on Religious Freedom” which states:

The human person sees and recognizes the demands of the divine law
through conscience. All are bound to follow their conscience faithfully in
every sphere of activity….Therefore, the individual must not be forced to
act against conscience nor be prevented from acting according to
conscience, especially in religious matters.85

This dissertation, in the spirit and trajectory of the Second Vatican Council and through

the pastoral theological methodology identified, will continue and further the recovery of

dimensions of the tradition of primacy of conscience that have been lost as well as

explore dimensions that were never adequately or fully developed. One particularly

relevant resource for understanding this dynamic of “losing or recovering,” let alone

developing, dimensions of tradition is historicism. This will be addressed in the next

chapter as a lens to understand and work with the ambiguity within the tradition that

complicates this pastoral situation and theological question.

Contemporary Advances in Pastoral Theology

Given the provided distillation of Hiltner’s principal pastoral theological insight, a

variety of contemporary definitions of pastoral theology that appeal to this theoretical

mooring are possible.86 Graham states that pastoral theology’s

84
“Religious Liberty,” Vatican Council II, 799-812.
85
Ibid., 801.
86
In addition to the definitions provided at the beginning of this chapter, also see Nancy
Ramsay “A Time of Ferment and Redefinition,” in Pastoral Care and Counseling:
Redefining the Paradigms (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2004), 4-6; and Andrew
Lester, The Angry Christian: A Theology for Care and Counseling (Louisville, KY:
Westminster John Knox Press, 2003), 9-11.
60
 task is to develop theory and practice for the ministry of care. It draws the
resources for its creative work from the setting and acts of ministry, the
living tradition, cognate secular knowledge, and the personhood of the one
carrying out the act of ministry. Methodologically, these resources are
ordered by praxis…. Pastoral theology, like practical theology, contributes
not only to the formulation of theory and practice relevant to the ministry
of care, but also recovers, corrects, and expands viewpoints in other
branches of theology and ministry.87

In Graham’s Care of Persons, Care of Worlds, from which this definition is taken, he

provides a particular advance of a substantial limitation within Hiltner’s original

formulation which happens to be extremely relevant for this research—the paradigmatic

shift from an individualistic to a systemic perspective. A systemic perspective, as

defined by Graham, is “a manner of interpreting reality which emphasizes togetherness,

ongoing processes and interactions, and cooperation and reciprocal influence rather than

autonomy and separateness.”88

Even though Hiltner was uniquely insightful, he was still a man of his times and

this is manifest in the individualistic approach operative in his pastoral theology.89 Not

only were Hiltner and the psychological culture in which he was embedded still deeply

invested in psychodynamic theories of the self,90 but also the religious culture

surrounding him predominantly, if not exclusively, associated ministry with the acts of

87
Graham, Care of Persons 23-24, emphasis added.
88
Graham, Care of Persons 263. This theoretical construct will be further developed as
Graham’s and Bandura’s writings are addressed later in this chapter as well as Chapter 4.
89
Watkins Ali, In The Name of Survival 74-76.
90
Elaine L. Graham, Transforming Practice: Pastoral Theology in an Age of Uncertainty
(New York: Mowbray, 1996), 72.
61
the pastor or formally recognized minister—an individual, if you will.91 Both of these

influences reinforced an individualistic quality to his pastoral theology, not surprisingly

given this zeitgeist. This individualistic slant is symbolically revealed in Hiltner’s

employment of Anton Boisen’s term “living human documents” as a dominant pastoral

theological metaphor.92

Hiltner was not alone in this limitation, as it captivated the imagination of the

pastoral theological field at the time.93 This individualistic orientation ultimately

consolidated into the field’s dominant paradigm of the era—the clinical pastoral

perspective. The weight of this paradigm was reflected and reinforced by the discipline’s

principal reference text The Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling. Nancy Ramsay

identifies both its prevalence and features:

The clinical pastoral perspective that predominates in the Dictionary is

more clinically focused on relationally conceived selves in the immediacy
of their lived experience with their social context often in the background.
It values an existential focus on being over doing that recognizes moral
issues but does not take up their political and social consequences.94

Whether we examine prominent influences like Rogers, Freud, and Fromm prior to the

publication of Preface,95 or subsequent contributors following a similar trajectory, the

91
Watkins Ali, In The Name of Survival 74-75.
92
Hiltner, Preface 51.
93
Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, “The Living Human Web: Pastoral Theology at the Turn
of the Century,” in Images of Pastoral Care: Classic Readings, ed. Robert C. Dykstra (St.
Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2005), 16.
94
Ramsay, 9, emphasis in original.
95
See E. Brooks Holifield, A History of Pastoral Care in America: From Salvation to
Self-Realization (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1983).
62
clinical pastoral perspective emerging from it largely mirrors the dominant individualistic

model of care in much of the United States culture at the time within these disciplines.96

Not surprisingly other disciplines as well labored under the limitations of an

individualistic orientation, not the least of which is the arena of moral theology where the

debate regarding primacy of conscience has predominantly been located.

It is vital to stress that identifying a theory or even a paradigm’s limits does not

necessarily undermine any and all value it might enjoy, whether in the past or present.

For decades the clinical pastoral perspective contributed to great gains in pastoral

theology, care and counseling and many persons continue to be its beneficiaries.97

Nevertheless, the clinical pastoral perspective only goes so far in what it is capable of

accomplishing. In other words, the limitation was less about what it did accomplish than

the recognition of what it neither did nor could adequately address. As noted earlier,

“there are occasions when the use of valuable data is hindered because basic theory is

inadequate”98—this was one of those occasions inasmuch as the psychology employed

was highly individualistic. The basic theory with its corresponding individualistic bias

was incapable of adequately examining and integrating “valuable data” from the social

context and arena, be it the impact of race, culture, gender, power, or class.99

96
Graham, Care of Persons 32-38; also see Don S. Browning, Religious Ethics and
Pastoral Care (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1983); and Don S. Browning, The Moral
Context of Pastoral Care (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1976).
97
Ramsay, 9.
98
Hiltner, Preface 7.
99
Patton, “Introduction to Modern Pastoral Theology,” 55.
63
 As previously noted though, Hiltner left the door of theological development and

advancement wide open predominantly by virtue of the method itself as well as

identifying his work as a preface rather than a final word on the subject. The field of

pastoral theology, informed by systemic perspectives and developments emerging in

psychology and other social sciences, began to recognize the individualistic character of

its focus and the commensurate limitations. Further, inasmuch as the theory incorporates

reflection upon and examination of the pastoral data (i.e., the setting and acts of ministry

and the personhood of the one carrying out the act of ministry), it also became apparent

from this perspective that amelioration and/or resolution of pastoral problematics were

often hobbled due to the lack of sufficient attention to and integration of the social

context with all its influencing factors, be they constructively or destructively oriented.

A number of pastoral theologians started knocking on this door of theological

development and advance by exploring alternative metaphors that were systemically

rather than individualistically oriented.100 New systemic metaphors like the “living

human web” came to the fore.101 One of the principal emerging paradigms eclipsing the

clinical pastoral paradigm was the communal contextual paradigm that Ramsay describes

succinctly:

The communal contextual paradigm draws on the ecological metaphor of a

web to describe tensively held dual foci. The first is on ecclesial contexts
that sustain and strengthen community practices of care. The second is on
100
For example see, Archie Smith, Jr., The Relational Self: Ethics & Therapy for a Black
Church Perspective (Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1982); and Bonnie Miller-McLemore,
“The Human Web: Reflections on the State of Pastoral Theology,” in Christian Century
(April, 1993): 366-369.
101
Bonnie Miller-McLemore, “Feminist Transformations in Pastoral Theology,” in
Religion and Psychology: Mapping the Terrain, ed. Diane Jonte-Pace (New York:
Routledge, 2001), 194.
64
 the widened horizons of the field that conceive of care as including public,
structural, and political dimensions of individual and relational
experience.102

Nevertheless, even with the theoretical progress and promise inherent in a systemic

perspective, the unique challenge remained as to how to not simply trade one problem for

another. In other words, how can providing a corrective for the limitations of an

individualistic perspective by integrating a systemic perspective not unintentionally result

in a systemic perspective that similarly loses sufficient sight of and appreciation for the

individual?

Psychosystemic Pastoral Theology and Agency

This was the theoretical and practical conundrum facing pastoral theologians

during this time of development and transition. It was a task of integration that needed to

incorporate what was of value in both individualistic and systemic perspectives, all the

while minimizing, if not striving to eliminate, the complications that occur when either

perspective is taken to the extreme at the exclusion of the other. Obviously this broad

sweeping theoretical challenge for pastoral theology’s paradigm has implications for

whatever pastoral issue or need may arise, but it has particular import for this discussion

of primacy of conscience inasmuch as a vital dimension of the problem itself is how to

best understand the relationship between the individual and the Church in terms of

agency.

Sensitive to and uncomfortable with the unnecessary polarization between either

the individual or the social being the dominant or exclusive focal point for care, Graham

unsuccessfully sought an extant coherent theory that could “…synthesize individual

102
Ramsay, 1.
65
healing with a fuller engagement with the world.”103 In time, both the very absence of

and need for such an integrated theory for pastoral theology gave rise to Graham

outlining a new theoretical framework which he subsequently labeled,

“psychosystemic.”104

This neologism draws upon an understanding of and the interaction between both

the words “psyche” and “systemic.” According to this theory,

the term, ‘psychosystemic,’ refers to the reciprocal interplay between the

psyche of individuals and the social, cultural, and natural orders. This
interplay is not neutral or static; it is value-laden and teeming with
possibilities. The character of persons and their worlds come into being
by the mutual influences of each upon the other.105

The key to addressing this theoretical and practical conundrum was neither approaching it

as an “either-or” proposition thereby losing sight of the individual or the context, nor

even as a “both-and” proposition by merely standing the individual and context both side

by side without any real interaction, let alone integration. The psyche and the system are

part of one another such that “…psyches create systems and systems create psyches.”106

To speak comprehensively of one without the other is not only contrived, it is inadequate

and inaccurate. One cannot and does not exist without the other and understanding their

relationship is potentially a source of great pastoral theological insight, especially in

terms of agency.

103
Graham, Care of Persons 12-13.
104
Ibid.
105
Ibid.
106
Ibid., 41.
66
 Although Graham identifies four dimensions of systemic thinking that inform the

psychosystemic perspective,107 the dimension that is particularly vital to the pastoral

problematic at hand is the “…affirmation that all elements of the universe are

interconnected, standing in an ongoing reciprocal relationship to one another.”108 The

advances of psychology, particularly family systems theory, and process theology inform

this systemic perspective and its commensurate reciprocal interconnectedness and

relationality.109 These contemporary influences nuance and elaborate what, nevertheless,

has been a seminal and enduring theological perspective of and metaphor for relationality

within Christianity—namely Paul’s analogy of the Church as the body of Christ

(1 Corinthians 12).110

This interconnectedness and relationality bears a variety of qualities that have a

bearing upon the dynamic and interactive process of a person living in the world,

including contextual organization, creativity, bi-polar power, contending values and

reciprocal transactions. Graham’s summary states:

The universe consists of an interacting systemic whole, organized from

smallest to largest units, or components. These components are actual
occasions of experience, persons, families, societies, culture, and nature.
They are linked by five interrelated connecting elements. Contextual
organization refers to the identity and continuity of a component or entity.
Contextual creativity points to the capacity for intentionality and change.
Bi-polar power describes the inherent capacity for an entity to be

107
Ibid., 39-40.
108
Ibid., 39.
109
Ibid., 21-23.
110
Of course this understanding of relationality was not unique to Paul and Christianity,
as Aristotle’s reflections on “the one and the many” certainly precede Paul’s and
undoubtedly influence Paul as his mission moved into the Greco-Roman world.
67
 influenced by and to influence others. Contending values delineated the
qualitative dimension of an entity’s becoming and influence upon others.
Reciprocal transactions account for the mutual exchanges of power,
creativity, and values in and between organized and changing entities.111

Certainly insight into the question of primacy of conscience can be gained by focusing

the exploration through any of these given lenses, but understanding the concept of bi-

polar power is uniquely illuminating as it interprets agency.

Given the prevalence of an array of psychological diagnoses incorporating the

word “bi-polar,” from the outset it is important to clearly state that the term is not being

employed in accord with DSM-VI nomenclature for any given clinical psychological

diagnostic category.112 Rather, “bi-polar power refers to the capacity of each element

within the system and the system as a whole to receive and to provide influence.”113 The

bi-polar character of power is precisely in the combination and interaction of both agency

and receptivity.114 As such, no given party, be it the individual or the Church, is solely a

source of influence or, conversely, the recipient of influence. Every entity, whether an

individual or social one, is caught up in an inextricable web of agential and receptive

interactions through the exercise of both agential and receptive power.

Graham, revealing his mooring in process theology, describes agential power as

“the energy by which creativity reaches its goals, and which complements the capacity of

111
Graham, Care of Persons 68-69. For further elaboration on these five psychosystemic
connectors, see Care of Persons 49-69, esp. 62-65.
112
American Psychiatric Association, Desk Reference to the Diagnostic Criteria from
DSM-IV-TR (Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 2000).
113
Graham, Care of Persons 63.
114
Ibid.
68
organized structures to be receptive.”115 Creation comes into being by virtue of agential

power which, in turn, presumes receptive power. Ultimately, and most broadly

understood, power is “…the capacity to influence and to be influenced by the

environment”116 and, more specifically, power is a manifestation and expression of the

relationality of agency, both by way of initiation and reception.

Psychosystemic Pastoral Theology and Social Cognitive Theory

Although Graham clearly made advances upon the limitations identified in

Hiltner’s original work, certainly other pastoral theologians have as well. Nevertheless,

Graham’s particular accomplishment and its now well established position within the

field of pastoral theology is uniquely suited for this research regarding agency precisely

because of both its systemic perspective and its appreciation for agency. Recalling the

thesis of this dissertation, a constructive pastoral theological appropriation and interpretation

of the personalist view of primacy of conscience in the Catholic tradition, when primacy is

amplified with the implications drawn from a SCT view of agency, is a critical resource for

helping contemporary U.S. Catholics and their spiritual guides to make moral decisions that are

informed but not controlled by the established tradition of the Church. Few, if any, pastoral

theologies are better suited to interpret and integrate SCT’s view of agency than

psychosystemic pastoral theology. A cursory overview will quickly demonstrate the resonance

of the distinct, yet similar, systemic theories that interpret agency in a manner that provides a

corrective for the limitations of an individualistic perspective by integrating a systemic

perspective without losing sight of and appreciation for the individual. In short, both

115
Ibid.
116
Ibid., 262.
69
Graham’s and Bandura’s theories affirm, reinforce and expand the necessary agential

foundation of a personalist view of primacy of conscience.

Although not without nuance and difference, agential power as defined within the

psychosystemic perspective fundamentally resonates with Bandura’s definition of

agency. For Bandura, agency means the capacity “…to intentionally make things happen by

one’s actions.”117 At a minimum, “making things happen by one’s actions” presumes both

agential power as a source of influence and receptive power which reflects the structured

context being affected or influenced.118

The psychosystemic perspective is both supported and elaborated by Bandura’s SCT

and research. Similar to Graham’s theoretical framing, SCT posits that human functioning

results from a dynamic interplay of personal, behavioral, and environmental influences.119 This

dynamic interplay functions such that “…internal personal factors in the form of cognitive,

affective, and biological events, behavioral patterns, and environmental influences all operate

as interacting determinants that influence one another bidirectionally.”120 This bi-directionality

essentially corresponds to Graham’s bi-polar power and view of reciprocal transactions,

consequently according to Bandura, agency functions interactively for the individual and the

social system:

Although the self is socially constituted, by exercising self-influence human

agents operate generatively and proactively, not just reactively, to shape the
character of their social systems. In these agentic transactions, people are

117
Bandura, “Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective,” 2.
118
Graham, Care of Persons 63-64.
119
Bandura, Social Foundations of Thought and Action.
120
Bandura, “Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective,” 14-15.
70
 producers as well as products of social systems. Personal agency and social
structure operate interdependently.121

Therefore at the core, and most critically, SCT examines the reciprocal and

interactive agential framework within which personal and social dynamics emerge and

are operative such that one cannot be fully understood in isolation from the other. Like

the psychosystemic perspective, this framing of agency facilitates understanding and

integrating individual and communal agential dynamics. Both must be present if the

Catholic view of primacy of conscience is to assist parishioners and priests, and become

more fully intelligible to the tradition itself. Defining and explicating dimensions of

agency are beneficial, if not essential, for interpreting the meaning and function of

primacy of conscience, especially from a personalist Catholic viewpoint. The

psychosystemic perspective and SCT present agency in a way that supports the

personalist interpretation of primacy of conscience and its prioritization of the personal

autonomy and responsibility of individuals in moral matters while not losing sight of the

importance of the communal agency of the Church tradition.

In exploring a personalist Catholic viewpoint, Chapter 3 will situate agency

within the debate between the legalistic and personalist schools regarding primacy of

conscience. The principal thrust of this examination of primacy of conscience will be

that agency is a critical element in understanding the meaning and function of primacy of

conscience within the relationship between the Church as a social group and the

individual as a member—a primacy whose structure implicitly places the concept of

agency at the center as interdependent of and at times in conflict with the social group,

121
Ibid., 15.
71
the Church. Further, Chapter 4 will enhance this discussion with both a broad

examination of individual and communal agential dynamics from a SCT systemic

perspective as well as specific dimensions and factors operative in the exercise of agency

itself. Yet to come full circle within the present chapter, a brief examination and

application of bi-polar agency from a systemic perspective to our previous vignette is in

order.122

Vignette from a Systemic Perspective of Agency

We can readily concretize this conversation regarding agency from a systemic

perspective that identifies a bi-polar power consisting of agential and receptive dimensions by

revisiting the brief pastoral vignette of Sue. It will serve as an application of the pastoral

theological method which opens a venue for understanding this concrete human experience and

relational dynamic. Given the bi-polar character of power, it is necessary to examine this

question from both the position of Sue and the Church as they interact. The first examination

will be from the perspective of the Church exercising agential power and Sue manifesting

receptive power and the second examination will be the reverse. One irrefutable explicit intent

of the Church’s teaching is that it makes a difference or has influence in how Catholics

understand and attempt or strive to live their lives. It is intended, if not expected, to be

influential and formative in a Catholic’s life. Sue certainly acknowledges this in her

recognition of and respect for engaging the Church’s teaching. She is neither ignorant nor

simplistic in her engagement of her tradition. Over the course of Sue’s life through a variety of

122
Clearly Bandura’s counterpart term bi-directionality could be applied here as well, but
for both sake of ease and given the more extensive review of Graham’s term bi-polar, the
use of Bandura’s term will be withheld until Chapter 4 when his theory is addressed in
detail. Most importantly, the outcome of the illustration will be unaffected, as the
concept behind the terms is essentially the same.
72
sources, from parents and family members to priests and religious education teachers, the

Church has exercised agential power and influence in the formation of her worldview just as

she has expressed receptive power by incorporating it into herself.

At first blush, it seems relatively straightforward that agential power or influence

exercised by the Church is manifest in the teachings of the tradition, yet that alone does

not help fully understand or explain her complicated situation. Upon further

examination, what becomes immediately apparent is that Sue’s ambiguity in this situation

is not simply of her own making. Even if the Church’s teaching on reproduction,

especially contraception, were absolutely homogenous, definitive and clear (which, by

the way, it is not), Sue’s problem would remain, given that the more foundational source

of the problem lies elsewhere. As stated earlier, the Catholic Church’s teaching on moral

decision-making itself has an inherent, and largely unrecognized, ambiguity and tension

in its position on obedience to the authority of Church teaching and on the obligation to

follow one’s conscience.

Historically when the doctrine of primacy of conscience was originally

formulated there were views of natural law that argued a rightly informed conscience

would be in line with the moral teachings of the Church since there could really be no

alternative available. That is, there was a presumed natural affinity between human

conscience, natural moral law, and the teaching of the Church. Both the problem and

possibility of today is that the assumption of this coherence as well as views of natural

law, let alone the Church’s capacity to know it, have been and are being reinterpreted in

light of any number of modern advances. Chapter 3 will examine this development in

more detail.

73
 Sue’s complication, uncertainty and ambiguity are not simply about the specific

topic of contraception. She is also confused about the teachings regarding primacy of

conscience or, at the heart of the matter, the relationship of her agency with the Church’s.

Just as the Church has influenced her perspective on reproduction, especially in terms of

contraception, it has similarly contributed to the formation of her perspective regarding agency

and decision-making as reflected in the doctrine of primacy of conscience. In short, Sue’s

situation and corresponding struggle regarding moral decision-making, in part, is the by-

product of the Church’s influence and agential power in its teaching related to agency.

This is the inherently complicated tradition that has been “handed down” to her. Because

the Church has both “lost or insufficiently emphasized in contemporary theology”

primacy of conscience and the role of agency in addressing important human problems,

the individual alone does not shoulder the responsibility for the pastoral problematic at

hand. Sue’s receptive power is partly the embodiment of the Church’s agential power

and influence as it has communicated theological ambiguity related to primacy of

conscience and, therefore, agency.

In reversing the roles, Sue also is in the position of agential power while the Church is

positioned in the receptive role. As a faithful and informed Catholic, she is cognizant of the

Church’s position on artificial contraception while at the same time being well aware of the

Church’s teaching of primacy of conscience, even if somewhat uncertain or unclear of its

application. Being positioned within the sacramental vocation of marriage, she has a vantage

point of understanding and responsibility both as wife and mother. In light of years of

experience in these roles, her conscience, as she understands it, is leading her to take

contraceptive measures in order to accomplish what she perceives as the greatest overall good.

74
On the one hand this direction seems to directly contradict the Church’s specific moral teaching

regarding artificial contraception, yet on the other hand it also seems to conjure up and resonate

with the Church’s teaching regarding following her conscience—a potentially more profound

and deeply rooted teaching. Sue’s agency includes her influence in naming the problem, if not

one source of its cause (i.e., confusion and ambiguity in the Church’s doctrine of primacy

of conscience).

The Church, in this instance, now stands in the receptive role as it relates to the

quandary being presented by Sue. How the Church receives her agential power and influence

is less important, at least in the immediate point being made in this research, than the direction

itself. That is, whether the Church receives Sue’s power with condemnation and rejection or

affirmation and acceptance, the key point is that the Church is acting with receptive power as

revealed in a response, whatever that might be. Nevertheless, if the Church receives it by

excommunicating her, it is also, in turn, acting agentially. This is an expression of the

reciprocal nature of agency identified by Bandura and Graham. This brief analysis illuminates

the bi-polar quality of power, even if in very simple and less than comprehensive terms.

One might argue that this is purely theoretical and without consequence, as Sue hardly

has power on par with the Church and therefore, in fact, really does not nor cannot truly

exercise agential power that really corresponds to the Church being in the position of receptive

power. Whether or not that may or may not the case, as one could readily appeal to any

number of individuals whose agential power, even if exceptional, has in fact consolidated

change in institutions and organizations, it is sufficient in this research to recall that we are not

actually dealing with an individual as such or alone, but rather the demographic of individuals,

75
be they lay or cleric, who constitute and express the agential power being symbolized in this

vignette through the person of Sue.

Before moving on to the next chapter, which will engage theological resources

regarding primacy of conscience, a pastoral theological claim that is implicitly operative in this

research needs to be made explicit. The concept of agency is a theoretical means of framing

not only human interaction, but the human person as well and, as such, is an inherently

anthropological concept. Similarly, be it specifically the legalistic or the personalist approach

to the doctrine of primacy of conscience or the general framework of the Traditionalist or the

Revisionist toward the Catholic tradition, clearly a significant, if not primary anthropological

claim is at hand. Unless and until the anthropological issue regarding the presence and function

of agency within the doctrine of primacy of conscience is recognized and appreciated, it is

unlikely that the breadth and depth of the pastoral problematic being presented can be either

truly understood and/or ameliorated. The important role of anthropology merits further

attention, even if only at this point to underline its vital role.

Theological Anthropology at the Crux of Pastoral Theology

Whether or not the most pressing deficiency in pastoral care was or still is the

lack of an adequate theological anthropology as claimed by Lapsley, clearly how we

understand the human person, theologically or otherwise, factors enormously into how

we experience ourselves and the worlds we create.123 From the pastoral theological

perspective, ultimately the question of primacy of conscience, let alone the more

foundational consideration of human agency, is grounded in the question of and necessity

123
Liston Mills, The Treasure of Earthen Vessels: Explorations in Theological
Anthropology in Honor of James N. Lapsley, eds. Brian Childs and David Waanders
(Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994), viii.
76
for a theological anthropology. How do we theologically understand the human person’s

existence and experience within the human community? The conversation is clearly not

exhausted by appealing merely to the spectrum of sciences and their informative and

divergent claims, as they generally and intentionally lack the theological perspective.

Nevertheless, they are a critical conversation partner in the question and serve well as a

significant starting place.

Pastoral theology necessarily incorporates theological anthropology, whether or

not it is explicitly identified, and the sciences make a vital contribution to the

conversation. Wolfhart Pannenberg claims that theological anthropology’s starting point

should not be dogmatic presuppositions about humanity, but rather should “…turn its

attention directly to the phenomena of human existence as investigated in human biology,

psychology, cultural anthropology, or sociology and examine the findings of these

disciplines with an eye to implications that may be relevant to religion and theology.”124

Within Catholic theology this perspective is well established from Aquinas to Karl

Rahner, at least in implicitly and in principle, given the theological axiom of grace

building upon nature.125 As will be evident in the next chapter, these resources have been

overlooked and/or minimized in the process of understanding primacy of conscience as

an expression of interactive human agency.

124
Wolfhart Pannenberg, Anthropology in Theological Perspective, trans. Matthew J.
O’Connell (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1985), 11.
125
This is not an endorsement of the inherent dualism reflected in this traditional
theological construct that continues to remain in force within significant Catholic
theological conversations, but merely its recognition.
77
 Inasmuch as conscience assumes an individual interacting within a context of an

array of relationships, the question of a psychological theory of personality naturally

emerges as a potential candidate to orient a theological anthropology. Casting a vote for

a particular candidate has great bearing on the direction of this research and its

subsequent under-girding theological anthropology, since “…each personality theory is

an attempt to give some insight into the complex process of identity formation, meaning

making, and interaction with others and the society.126 Though a number of personality

theories and, therefore anthropologies are possible, this research will limit itself to the

anthropological mooring of SCT for the following reasons.

First and foremost, as has been already noted, SCT explicitly and extensively

explores and explains the interactive dynamic of human agency that is particularly

relevant for research on primacy of conscience. Secondly, without overthrowing or

losing the insights rooted in psychological theories that highlight the individual,127 SCT’s

foundation within social psychology and its systemic perspective invite a new voice into

the pastoral theological conversation that has, until relatively recently, been

predominantly listening to the more individualistically oriented psychological theories.128

126
Christie Neuger, Counseling Women: A Narrative Pastoral Approach (Minneapolis,
MN: Augsburg Fortress, 2001), 41.
127
It is important to note that how a psychological theory predominantly presents itself
does not necessarily encompass the breadth of its theoretical perspective. For example,
psychoanalytic theory at surface in its practice may appear highly individualistic, but
Freud in his theory, and presumably his practice, clearly took into account social context,
be it as limited as the parental and familial or as broad as the societal.
128
Social psychology and therefore SCT have been and are the beneficiaries of
conversation and interaction with psychological theories that highlight the individual.
These disciplines are highly permeable.
78
Therefore the anthropological claim of SCT theory and, therefore, a principal one that

informs the theological anthropology of this research is that the human experience

inherently and necessarily incorporates agency. Or in Bandura’s words, “the capacity to

exercise control over the nature and quality of one’s life is the essence of humanness.”129

In the quest to “exercise control over the nature and quality of one’s life,”

individuals depend upon and are formed by a variety of voices and resources in their

worlds, not the least of which are those that are considered reflections of the sacred or

divine. The Church’s tradition is one such voice and resource in the world, however

beneficial or detrimental it may in fact be. Sue and Catholics like her, as they try to live

their lives productively, responsibly, and faithfully, are truly affected by the Church’s

agency as reflected in its teachings. The next chapter will examine the Church’s teaching

and tradition regarding primacy of conscience and, consequently, agency.

129
Bandura, “Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective,” 1.
79
 CHAPTER THREE

THE PROBLEMATIC TRADITION OF CONSCIENCE

“The truth is that many of the key theological texts on conscience, including very recent

ones, can be used either to promote or to curtail personal autonomy. The texts pull in

both directions.”130

As the preceding chapter noted, a theological problem regarding primacy of

conscience has arisen from pastoral practice: the role and understanding of agency

between the individual and the Church’s teaching or tradition. Although any number of

factors may contribute to the struggle many Catholics experience with both following

their consciences and being obedient to the authority of the Church, the inevitability of

agency in the face of ambiguity within the tradition will be the focus of this research.131

This chapter will explore the Catholic tradition regarding primacy of conscience through

the disciplines of historical and moral theology. Nevertheless, this dissertation is a

pastoral theology and, as such, even though it draws upon other disciplines to inform

itself, it is not to be confused with the type of work and corresponding methodologies of

those other disciplines. In other words, this chapter is intended to inform the pastoral

theological process of this dissertation, but is neither historical nor moral theology.

130
Hogan, 5.
131
For example, developmental issues related to authority, cultural, ethnic, or gender
variables that may also factor into and necessarily affect the relationship between the
individual and the Church.
80
Therefore, the historical and moral theology employed in this chapter present the current

context in which this pastoral theology is located, but this research does not attempt to

directly refute or reinforce any position from a historical or moral theological

methodology.

An overview will be helpful prior to addressing the tradition of conscience. This

chapter will engage the Catholic tradition in order to explore what resources the Church

has to offer in order to understand and address questions regarding primacy of

conscience. Historical and moral theology will be the principal resources employed.

After establishing a working theological framework of primacy of conscience, a historical

review will broadly track the doctrine of primacy of conscience from Aquinas to and

through the Second Vatican Council and the subsequent consolidation of the legalistic

and personalist perspectives regarding the doctrine. These two perspectives reflect the

Traditionalist and Revisionist schools respectively and will be illuminated through a

review of the Basic Goods Theory and the Proportionate Reason Theory. This summary

examination will demonstrate the incontestable ambiguity in the tradition and thereby

argue for the necessity of both understanding and exercising agency when considering

primacy of conscience. As stated earlier, if the tradition has not adequately addressed the

question at hand or even has contributed to its complication and lack of clarity, pastoral

theology attempts to refine and refocus the question for contemporary exploration. The

pastoral theological method utilized in this dissertation functions constructively by

retrieving and recovering, as well as by emphasizing and elaborating, insufficiently

engaged or developed theological concerns.

81
 Catholic historical and moral theology, each in their own way, surface two points

directly related to this research—the presence of ambiguity and the necessity of agency.

First, both theologies present a tradition that has diversity and, therefore, corresponding

ambiguity. Hogan’s historical work surfaces diversity and ambiguity directly and

explicitly, whereas the moral theology of Grisez, McCormick and Curran manifest it

indirectly and implicitly by virtue of representing differing schools of thought (i.e.,

legalistic and personalist). Second, this shared conclusion of a diverse tradition that

inherently faces ambiguity necessitates understanding agency more fully when examining

primacy of conscience. Further, although both theological methods point to the question

of agency and address it within the limits of their disciplines, neither provide a

constructive pastoral theological appropriation and interpretation of the personalist view of

primacy of conscience, when primacy is amplified with the implications drawn from a SCT

view of agency, though they do implicitly make the case for it.

As stated in Chapter 1, the technical term Magisterium will be keep to a minimum

when referring to the Church’s teaching role, as the functional terms “normative Church

teaching” and/or “tradition” are more immediate, if not clearer, in meaning. Some of the

most salient theological questions that have surfaced in pastoral practice regarding the

question of primacy of conscience have been illustrated in the vignette about Sue.

Distilled down, those theological questions are encapsulated in how a Catholic, whether

lay person or cleric, responsibly and morally navigates the ambiguity inherent in the two

differing approaches within the Church’s tradition regarding moral decision-making. The

choice often is framed as “simply and always obey the normative teaching of the

82
Church,” or “follow one’s conscience that is informed, but not bound, by that very

teaching.”

The Church's teachings on conscience and its primacy seem to assume an approach

within which an individual potentially can make informed moral and religious decisions

effectively.132 Nevertheless, as briefly noted in the preceding chapter’s example of the Second

Vatican Council’s own recovery and development of the concept of conscience, historically the

Church’s teachings regarding conscience, let alone its primacy, have neither been consistent

nor readily available. In short, the Catholic doctrine of primacy of conscience has been

diversely understood and employed as the tradition’s way to understand the challenge of

managing religious and moral questions while remaining faithful to the Church. The ambiguity

of this complicated reality and history has, in turn, contributed to the pastoral problem at hand.

Currently, an understanding of the doctrine of primacy of conscience remains

unresolved not only within the academic arena, but also within the day-to-day existence of

Catholics where its presence is requisite in order “to do good and avoid evil”133 and its absence

is problematic. Inevitably any number of factors contributes to this lack of clarity, yet there is a

structural ambiguity in the tradition that gives rise to the difficulty some Catholics experience

132
Although the term “individual” will be employed, this research recognizes that an
individual inherently and necessarily exists within a community and society. Use of this
term is not reflective of an underlying individualistic anthropology. The anthropology
inherent in Graham’s and Bandura’s theories reflect the socially situated context of an
individual—an individual is necessarily a social individual.
133
United States Catholic Conference, Inc.—Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Catechism of the
Catholic Church (St. Louis, MO: Liguori Publications, 1994), 438. Even though this
catechism is academic in character and substance, in this instance this text is intentionally
and principally being used given its authoritative status for the intended audience of lay
and clerical Catholics.
83
when attempting to integrate following conscience and being obedient to the authority of the

Church that merits particular focus. As Hogan aptly notes:

The Catholic approach to conscience is deeply ambiguous. On the one

hand conscience is regarded as the most fundamental and directly personal
way that the individual apprehends moral goodness and truth. The
Church’s constant but little publicized teaching is that conscience must
always be obeyed. However, there is also an expectation that the
judgments of conscience will be in agreement with Church teaching. As a
result there is an immediate and inevitable tension between conscience and
the other moral authorities in Catholicism.134

Hogan argues “…that the current disagreements about the authority of conscience vis-

à-vis Church teachings are an inevitable consequence of the Church’s failure to confront the

ambiguities in its own understanding of conscience.”135 As this chapter moves to “clarify

unresolved matters in the tradition” through a brief historical review of conscience and its

primacy, a principal outcome will be confronting the illusion of theological homogeneity

within the tradition. Not only will this review illuminate some of the origins of the conundrum

of the pastoral problem identified, but more importantly it will serve to demonstrate the

inescapability of exercising agency when making moral decisions and/or exercising primacy of

conscience given the ambiguity operative in the tradition. The presence of theological

heterogeneity necessitates reflection and choice which, in short, demands exercising agency

which must, therefore, be adequately understood and nuanced in order to do so responsibly.

An “informed conscience”—the classical Catholic term in moral theology—presumes being

informed about agency and not simply theological topics. An informed conscience is a term

that identifies that the individual is engaged with and therefore informed by relevant

134
Hogan, 2.
135
Ibid.
84
resources regarding the moral question at hand. The Church teaching is considered a

principal, if not the principal, relevant resource to engage.

The problem is not that Catholicism has a fundamentally and irreversibly flawed

tradition of conscience, but rather that the understanding and application of the role of

conscience, particularly its primacy, has been lost and/or underdeveloped in the course of

time. During different historical periods various aspects of the doctrine were considered

for a variety of reasons, creating holes or even contradictions that resulted, on closer

examination, in an ambiguous status for the teaching. This ambiguity is particularly

pronounced in the relationship between the individual’s agency and the authority or

agency of the Church’s teaching. How can agency within the context of the relationship

between an individual and the Church be better understood and shared? This project

addresses that question precisely at the point of an individual’s agency as interpreted

through the doctrine of primacy of conscience. Therefore, conscience is not the question,

but rather its relationship to Church teaching and tradition by way of its agency and

primacy!

The principal thrust of this examination of primacy of conscience is that agency is

a critical element in understanding the meaning and function of primacy of conscience

within the relationship between the social group (as reflected in the terms tradition and

authority) and the individual (as reflected in the term primacy of conscience). Primacy of

conscience offers a structure of decision-making that inherently places the concept of

agency at the center as interdependent with the tradition and at times in conflict with it.

85
 Primacy of Conscience Examined

Before engaging the historical review of the tradition, it will be helpful to establish first

a basic understanding of primacy of conscience and the limits that will be operative in this

research regarding conscience. As defined by Catholic theologian Charles Curran and widely

agreed upon across both the legalistic and personalist perspectives, “conscience is generally

understood as the judgment about the morality of an act to be done or omitted or already done

or omitted by the person.”136 Although the concept of conscience emerges even in biblical

literature,137 this study’s point of departure addresses the idea of conscience (conscientia) and

its primacy beginning with the work of Thomas Aquinas, because of both its clarity of

articulation and enduring influence. Aquinas’s principal discussion of the topic of

conscience appears in the Summa Theologica.138 His early forays into the conversation

regarding conscience occurred in Commentary on the Sentences (a text comparable to a

dissertation) and Quaestiones Disputatae de Veritate (questions 16 & 17) while he was at

the University of Paris from 1257 until 1259.139

Aquinas engages what was at that time the critical debate140 regarding the difference

between the judgment of conscience by which some particular thing or action is judged good or

136
Curran, 3.
137
See C. A. Pierce, Conscience in the New Testament (London: SCM, 1955).
138
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Blackfriars Edition (London: Blackfriars,
1963).
139
Hogan, 75.
140
For the development of this teaching in the scholastic period, see Odon Lottin,
Psychologie et Morale aux XIIe et XIIIe siècles, vol. 2 (Louvain, Belgium: Abbaye du
Mont César, 1948), 103-350.
86
evil (syneidesis) and the “…habit of practical reason by which one knows the first principles of

the natural law—do good and avoid evil, act according to right reason” (synderesis).141 In sum,

Aquinas understood conscience as the application of the known first principles of natural law

(synderesis) to the particularities of one’s conduct (syneidesis).142 Further, it is within this

tension between the particularity of syneidesis and the generality of synderesis that Aquinas

articulates the role of the primacy of conscience.143 My research will focus upon primacy of

conscience within the arena of syneidesis, or the appropriateness of individual conduct, and is

not a full analysis of all factors in any given moral decision.

A key factor in the discussion of conscience is the long-standing doctrine of primacy of

conscience. Primacy of conscience, briefly stated, is the obligation to follow one’s informed

conscience, even if it differs from Church teaching.144 It presumes knowledge of and

engagement with the Church’s tradition and teachings, yet it orders the relationship in a way

that retains limited freedom, responsibility, and ultimately, personal agency; that is, following

one’s conscience cannot be mere conformity, as choice and responsibility are inescapable

dimensions of human existence and supported by Church teaching. At the same time, neither is

141
Curran, 7.
142
Hogan, 60.
143
After having addressed the nature of conscience in the “Pars Prima” of the Summa
Theologica (question 79 article, 13), Aquinas proceeds to deal with the authority of
conscience in the “Prima Secundae” of the Summa Theologica (question 19, article 5).
The latter text is particularly relevant to his discussion of primacy of conscience.
144
Germain Grisez, “The Duty and Right to Follow One’s Judgment of Conscience,” in
The Historical Development of Fundamental Moral Theology in the United States, eds.
Charles Curran and Richard McCormick (New York: Paulist Press, 1999), 267-272.
87
it simply a matter of substituting one’s own predilections for Church authority, since

conscience is always informed by and engaged with the moral tradition of the Church.

Primacy of conscience, dating back to Aquinas,145 states “every conscience, true or

false, is binding in the sense that to act against conscience is always wrong.”146 The Catholic

tradition states that “every one of us is bound to obey [our own] conscience”147 as informed by

“a law inscribed by God”—a tradition reinforced in the promulgation of the new 1983 Code of

Canon Law.148 How primacy functions in relationship to conscience might be most succinctly

expressed in the following decree:

Women and men have the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as
personally to make moral decisions. They must not be forced to act
contrary to their conscience. Nor must they be prevented from acting
according to their conscience, especially in religious matters.149

For example, if the Church did not consider slavery a sin, but the person’s conscience

considered it such, it would be immoral for that person to practice slavery regardless of the

Church’s permissive stance. To conform to a teaching one does not believe is tantamount to

going against conscience, or in other words, not recognizing and exercising its primacy.

145
Aquinas, Summa Theologica, I-II, 19, 5.
146
Eric D’Arcy, Conscience and Its Right to Freedom (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1961),
92.
147
“Declaration on Religious Freedom,” Vatican Council II, 801.
148
James A. Coriden, Thomas J. Green, and Donald E. Heintschel, eds. The Code of
Canon Law: A Text and Commentary (New York: Paulist Press, 1985), 547-548. It
should be noted that within Catholicism the code of canon law is both scholarly and
authoritative, not unlike the official catechism.
149
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 439.
88
Finally, it should be noted that the obligation to follow conscience is not the assurance of error-

free judgment.150

This position continues to be reinforced in the doctrine of the Church, even if relatively

submerged or misunderstood. The ultimate point of choice and responsibility resides in the

individual who resides in the Church. Conscience, inasmuch as it is human, cannot be

adequately understood, let alone exercised, in a theoretical or practical vacuum devoid of

operative constructs for an individual’s agency. The doctrine of primacy of conscience

implicitly speaks of such agency, yet these dimensions have been “lost” in the doctrine’s

understanding and/or are not yet fully understood and articulated.

The very word “primacy” implies a hierarchy of power that bears implications

for the understanding and exercise of conscience. Yet whether one attends to the limited

space afforded conscience and its primacy in the texts intended for the everyday Catholic,

or one examines the current debates among Catholic moral theologians, the tradition of

conscience does not currently command adequate attention, especially in terms of the

nuance of agency and power. The Vatican’s current Catechism of the Catholic Church, a

hefty 803 page text, has only five pages dedicated to the discussion of conscience in

general and primacy of conscience merits little more than a mention. The section of

conscience is placed within Part 3 of the text (Life in Christ) which comprises 190 pages,

including 113 pages discussing the Ten Commandments and normative moral

teachings.151

150
Ibid., 441.
151
Ibid., 421-612.
89
 This dissertation will exclusively address moral decisions where primacy of conscience

and agency are determinative in outcomes opposed to the Church’s normative teaching.

Primacy of conscience emerges as a possibility only if and when a conflict or difference with

the tradition exists. This research is focused upon and limited to those exceptional moments

when conscience differs from dominant strands of tradition and authority precisely because that

is the only context in which the possibility of primacy of conscience might be exercised.

Further, it is predominantly within that arena of tension and difference that complications and

pastoral needs emerge regarding the exercise of conscience. It is certainly both recognized and

emphasized that conscience is often in accord with and affirming of tradition and authority, but

those moments and dynamics seldom introduce complications as well as pastoral needs and

therefore do not merit the same degree of attention nor include the possibility of primacy of

conscience being operative.

Finally, the distinction between authoritative and infallible teaching will be maintained

as well in order to remain within the boundaries of syneidesis (i.e., the particularities of one’s

conduct). Authoritative teaching from the Church bears varying degrees of weight or leverage,

yet at the end of the day remains non-infallible teaching.152 This teaching, in fact, constitutes

the vast majority of Church teaching and certainly is what most commonly presents itself in

pastoral settings and questions of conscience. Infallible teachings in the Catholic Church,

regardless of how one understands them and whether or not they are accepted, remain at an

extreme minimum. Presently the Church has only two doctrines that have been proclaimed as

infallible teaching—papal infallibility and the immaculate conception of Mary. Neither are

152
Richard McCormick, S.J., “From Heresy to Dissent,” in Rome Has Spoken: A Guide
to Forgotten Papal Statements and How They Have Changed Through the Centuries, eds.
Maureen Fiedler and Linda Rabben (New York: Crossroad, 1998), 109.
90
direct moral teachings from the Church on a specific issue and, as such, are engaged in

different theological arenas and are not relevant for this research.153 Therefore, the Church’s

authoritative or non-infallible teaching regarding any particular moral topic chosen for the

purpose of demonstration or illumination in this dissertation fall within that realm. Granted

“…‘non-infallible’ is a convoluted way of saying ‘capable of being wrong,”154 and my

personal preference would be to simply use the term “fallible,” nevertheless the term “non-

infallible” is the dominant nomenclature within these Catholic theological conversations and

will consequently be used when necessary.

Historical Review

The long and varied history of conscience in the Catholic tradition will be

reviewed in summary fashion vis-à-vis several critical historical moments—the

Reformation and subsequent Council of Trent (1545-1563), the rise of modernism and

the subsequent “Syllabus of Errors” (1907), the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and

the subsequent consolidation of two principal schools of Catholic moral theology (i.e.,

153
The doctrine of papal infallibility was proclaimed by Pope Pius IX at the First Vatican
Council in 1870. The First Vatican Council’s document “Pastor Aeternus” states that
“the Roman Pontiff, head of the college of bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his
office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of the faithful—who confirms his brethren in
the faith (c.f. Lk. 22:32)—he proclaims in an absolute decision a doctrine pertaining to
faith and morals.” This quote is taken from “Pastor Aeternus” and reiterated by the
Second Vatican Council in “The Dogmatic Constitution of the Church” in Vatican
Council II, 380. Both this statement regarding papal infallibility and the immaculate
conception of Mary pertain to faith and not morals. Pius IX is the only Pope that has
formally and historically made this type of proclamation. This is attested to in Hienrich
Denzinger’s Enchiridion Symbolorum: Definitionum et Declarationum de Rebus Fidei et
Morum (Bologna: Edizioni Dehoniane Bologna, 1995), a text that serves as a dominant, if
not the principal, source and collection of important Church documents.
154
Anne E. Patrick, Liberating Conscience: Feminist Explorations in Catholic Moral
Theology (New York: Continuum, 1997), 25.
91
the Traditionalist and the Revisionist) as well as two corresponding distinct perspectives

regarding conscience (i.e., the legalistic and the personalist). Key influential figures from

those periods that will be engaged are Martin Luther, John Henry Newman, Germain

Grisez, Richard McCormick, and Charles Curran. The first two figures will be discussed

in summary fashion addressing the broader historical background. The latter three will

be explored in some detail inasmuch as they represent contemporary voices of the larger

debate of Christian morality and ethics from the Traditionalist and Revisionist schools as

well as the legalistic and personalist perspectives.

Seminal concepts and expressions of conscience pre-dated the work of Aquinas

by thousands of years. In terms of philosophical influences, in the Greek tradition,

reaching as far back as the fifth century B.C.E., Democritus of Abdera is credited with

what is possibly the first written use of the term syneidesis in reflecting upon

conscience.155 In the Latin tradition, dating back as far as 100 B.C.E., both Cicero (106-

46 B.C.E.) and Seneca (3 B.C.E. - 65 C.E.) employ and consider the term conscientia,

which is roughly the Latin counterpart to the Greek word syneidesis.156 In terms of

Jewish and Christian religious influences, scripture scholars have aptly noted its presence

in the Hebrew bible,157 the Talmud and Jewish casuistry,158 let alone New Testament

155
Hermann Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker (Berlin: Weidmannsche, 1951), 297.
156
Davies mentions that Cicero uses the term 75 times. See W. D. Davies, “Conscience,”
in Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, vol. 1, ed. George A. Buttrick (Nashville, TN:
Abingdon Press, 1981), 672.
157
Ibid., 671-676.
158
The Oxford English Dictionary defines casuistry as “that part of ethics which resolves
cases of conscience, applying the general rules of religion and morality to particular
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studies, particularly the Pauline corpus.159 These sources and the array of subsequent

works that attempt to further enhance an understanding of conscience, from Roman

casuistry and Patristics160 to the Penitential tradition161 and resources from the early

Middle Ages,162 were the murky theological waters into which Aquinas waded. For as of

yet, clarity and systematic articulations of conscience were still a distant horizon. Hogan

summarizes the location into which Aquinas enters as follows:

Prior to Aquinas, thinking on the subject [i.e., conscience] is random and

disconnected. Although some significant features of both the nature and tasks
of conscience had been established, there was no coherent account of the role
of conscience in Christian life….Aquinas was both a great synthesizer and an
original thinker. One can see this in his work on conscience, which became a
benchmark for all subsequent work on this topic.163

Although far from resolving all the questions before him, not to mention that Aquinas’

conclusions, even if enjoying favor, were not uncontested,164 his work significantly clarified

and enhanced the debate of his day and largely remains currently in force in its most general

instances in which circumstances alter cases or in which there appears to be a conflict of

duties.”
159
Pierce, Conscience in the New Testament.
160
Scholarship on conscience in this period can be found in Philippe Delhaye, The
Christian Conscience (New York: Desclee, 1968).
161
Scholarship on conscience in this period can be found in Albert Jonsen and Stephen
Toulmin, The Abuse of Casuistry: A History of Moral Reasoning (Berkeley: University
of California Press, 1988).
162
Scholarship on conscience in this period can be found in Timothy Potts,
“Conscience,” in Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy: From the Recovery
of Aristotle to the Disintegration of Scholasticism 1100-1600, eds. Norman Kretzmann,
Anthony Kenny and Jan Pinborg (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1982).
163
Hogan, 85.
164
Ibid.
93
terms. Yet what is of particular importance here, as noted earlier, is that Aquinas identified the

tension between the particularity of syneidesis and the generality of synderesis as the location

of the role of the primacy of conscience. Aquinas framed primacy of conscience as moral

possibility and responsibility in the application of the known first principles of natural law

(synderesis) to the particularities of one’s conduct (syneidesis). In that framing he advanced the

debate which explicitly examined the question of authority, both of the Church teaching and the

individual as one created in the image and likeness of God. In essence, Aquinas was exploring

the question of agency between the individual and the Church in their relationship with God.

The debate regarding where authority and agency reside within the doctrine of conscience,

although far from settled then or even now, was not seen as particularly problematic for several

hundred years, even if ultimately very important. Then on October 31, 1517, its importance

became extremely clear, as an Augustinian priest put the issue of primacy of conscience front

and center in the Church’s life in the form of 95 theses nailed to a Wittenberg door.

Reformation and Trent

Martin Luther basically drew upon Aquinas’ doctrine of primacy of conscience as he

exercised it in his own life and context, both as he drove the original nail into the door to post

his beliefs and throughout the remainder of his life as he steadfastly hammered home his

position.165 In words that resound to this day, as Luther was pressed to retract his writings, he

faithfully and adamantly claimed at the Diet of Worms in 1521:

165
For furthering examination of Luther on the topic of conscience, see Karl Adam, The
Roots of the Reformation (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1957); Ronald Bainton, The
Reformation of the Sixteenth Century (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1953); and Elmore
Harbison, The Age of the Reformation (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1955).

94
 Unless I am convinced by the testimony of Scriptures or by clear
reason (for I do not trust either in the Pope or in councils alone, since it
is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves),
I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is
captive to the word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything,
since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. I cannot do
otherwise, here I stand, may God help me. Amen166

“Neither safe nor right to go against conscience” is nothing short of a doctrinal distillation of

primacy of conscience.

Religious freedom and conscience were indisputably placed at the forefront of the

Reformation. Ernest Zedeen goes so far as to claim that with Luther “…a new era in the

history of freedom, that of religious freedom of the individual conscience”167 was inaugurated

that was bound by the Word of God present in the scriptures—not Popes or councils. The

Church’s response to Luther, from strict doctrinal positions articulated during the Council of

Trent to disciplinary actions to the extreme point of violence, testifies to the hierarchy’s

recognition that a vital and volatile issue was at play.168 Clearly the Church was conscious of

the specific challenges Luther presented in the 95 theses themselves and their potential fallout.

But probably more importantly, the Church realized the under-girding power and potential

threat the exercise of primacy of conscience could and, in this instance did, present. The

assumption that the two moral theological strands in the tradition—one strand suggesting that

the moral response is to obey the Church’s teaching rooted in natural law and the other strand

166
Martin Luthers Werke, Kritische Gesammtausgabe (Weimar, 1883), 7, 833, 4-9. The
translation is Michael Baylor’s in Action and Person, Conscience in Late Scholasticism
and the Young Luther (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1977), 1.
167
Earnst Zedeen, The Legacy of Luther (London: Hollis and Carter, 1954), 79.
168
Ole Peter Grell and Bob Scribner, Tolerance and Intolerance in the European
Reformation (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996).
95
suggesting that the moral response is to follow your conscience as it interprets and applies that

teaching—would conveniently and coincidently coincide was shattered as Luther exercised

primacy of conscience. Below the surface of the 95 thesis, therefore, was the question, if not

challenge, of agency.

In response to the explicit and implicit challenges born of Luther exercising primacy of

conscience, not only as a Catholic but also as a priest, the Church’s hierarchy, vis-à-vis the

decisions and declarations of the Council of Trent, systematically initiated a comprehensive

attempt to stabilize Catholic doctrinal definitions and corresponding boundaries with

commensurate disciplinary actions. In short, the Council of Trent created the equivalent of

litmus tests to determine Catholic, or conversely, Protestant identity and, as such, exercised

enormous agency. The purpose of this research is not the specific doctrinal or ecclesial

statements themselves, but rather how through these various proclamations the Church was

simultaneously heightening its agency and suppressing primacy of conscience. Therefore,

examining one canon from the Council of Trent will serve to illuminate the degree of agency

being exercised, as disagreeing with Church teaching was cast in the gravest of terms—comply

or be cast out.

Although the content of the Council of Trent was broad and diverse, the fundamental

structure of it was simple, uniform, and unequivocal. Canons were formulaic in their structure;

that is, if a person holds a given doctrinal tenet that has been identified as incorrect, they are

considered anathema and summarily excommunicated.169 For example, Canon 14 states:

If any one saith, that man is truly absolved from his sins and justified,
because that he assuredly believed himself absolved and justified; or, that

169
L. F. Bungener and John McClintock, History of the Council of Trent (Whitefish, MT:
Kessinger Publishing, 2006), 1-20.
96
 no one is truly justified but he who believes himself justified; and that, by
this faith alone, absolution and justification are effected; let him be
anathema.170

At the time, certainly Lutherans, not to mention other reformers, are in the crosshairs of

this canon and the recipients of its anathema. Anathema essentially means a curse from

God (see Galatians 1: 8-9) and, by extension, those who are anathema are also

excommunicated from the Church. Excommunication, by definition, means not being in

communion with the Church. Further, being in communion with the Church was

understood, at that time, as the only means of salvation. In short, the array of canons

from the Council of Trent, like Canon 14, became the measuring stick by which salvation

was assessed, or from the alternative perspective, damnation was identified.

At the surface justification is the explicit theological issue at hand in this canon,

yet again it needs to be emphasized that the point being demonstrated here is the extreme

degree of agency that under girds the theological statement itself and the consequences it

has if a person exercises primacy of conscience. Claiming that disagreement with Church

teaching, or basically the exercise of primacy of conscience, results in excommunication

(i.e., damnation) is nothing short of the Church’s most extreme expression of agency with

dire consequences for the doctrine.

The overall result of the Council of Trent was that primacy of conscience and with it a

certain understanding of agency quickly found itself being submerged or worse within the

tradition. Clearly it was not lost by happenstance, but rather was consciously and intentionally

reinterpreted and/or avoided precisely because of the perceived and/or real threat it presented

170
Council of Trent, Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent: 1545-1563, trans. H. J.
Schroeder (Rockford, IL: Tan Books & Publisher, 1978).
97
regarding the hierarchy’s agency. A plethora of issues were inevitably at play within the

Church during the Reformation and beyond, yet for the purposes of this research the

relationship between the agency of the Church and the individual is the focus. In short, the

Church had a tradition of accepting conscience and its primacy, though it was not very well

developed and not very central, even in Aquinas’ works, but under the press of the

Reformation’s emphasis upon individual choice and conscience, the Church shifted and lost or

subordinated the doctrine altogether.

Understandably the Church and its hierarchy historically made claims to authority

and consequently agency, all the while without denying that individuals exercised agency

as well. After all, what is the long standing doctrine of free will other than, among other

things, a fundamental and profound expression of individual human agency within the

context of the social group?171 Nevertheless, there was never a clear articulation as to the

relationship between the agency of the Church and that of the individual. It is the

question of Graham’s bi-polar power or Bandura’s bi-directionality in which agency

functions interactively for the individual and the social system that still lacked a

sufficient articulation. This lack of clarity regarding how authority and agency are shared

was manifest in the earlier debates regarding primacy of conscience. Yet after the

Council of Trent, at least from the hierarchy’s perspective, the confusion had come to an

end as it basically became not a question of how, but if agency was shared. Agency was

171
Without addressing the psychology and anthropology operative at the time the concept
of free will was articulated, suffice it to say that free will is understood as that which
allows humans the capacity and necessity of choice (i.e., agency), even to the extent of
potentially differing from what is considered to be God’s will.
98
at the fore, and the hierarchy had received, not surprisingly at their own hand, the lion’s

share or more.

Certainly there were any number of pre-Trent and Augustinian teachings that the

Council of Trent explicitly tried to defend and stabilize, yet the principal point in this

historical review is to recognize two outcomes distinct from the theological and/or

ecclesiological specifics addressed. First, the doctrine of primacy of conscience became

submerged or lost after, what might be considered, one of its most public expressions in

the person of Luther. Second, the Council of Trent ushered in what was to become the

foundational paradigm of agency for the Church’s teaching for roughly the next four

hundred years, with the scale radically tipping to the Church’s side. McCormick

summarizes this paradigm of teaching and agency that had it roots in the Council of

Trent’s reaction to the Reformation and became enhanced across time until the Second

Vatican Council. Principally there were the following three characteristics:

… (1) an undue distinction between the teaching and learning function in

the Church, with a consequent unique emphasis on the right to teach—and
relatively little on the duty to learn and the sources of learning in the
Church; (2) an undue identification of the teaching function with a single
group in the Church, the hierarchy; (3) an undue isolation of a single
aspect of teaching, the judgmental, the decisive, the ‘final word.’ Thus it
was taken for granted by many that on any moral problem, however
complex, Roma locuta causa finita. The term ‘Magisterium’ came to
mean the hierarchical issuance of authoritative decrees.172

This modus operandi of the Church regarding teaching was highly juridical,

whether pertaining to issues of faith or morality, and resulted in consolidating an

imbalance in agency between the individual and the Church precisely in terms of the

172
Richard McCormick, The Critical Calling: Reflections on Moral Dilemmas since
Vatican II (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1989), 19.
99
dynamics Graham and Bandura identify as initiation and reception. Recall from Chapter

2 that most broadly understood, power is “…the capacity to influence and to be

influenced by the environment”173 and, more specifically, power is a manifestation and

expression of the relationality of agency, both by way of initiation and reception. More

often than not rather than speak of power as such, Catholic theology generally uses the

term “authority” which implicitly incorporates the concept of power as it relates to the

Magisterium.174 Basically, the Church had become the dominant initiator and the

individual the submissive receiver. Although the individual theoretically retained the

possibility of differing from Church teaching given the doctrine of primacy of conscience

was still in the record of the tradition, its exercise came at quite a cost, as such difference

was judged as sinful and wrong with the consequence being identified in eternal terms.

Although the concept of social persuasion was not operative at the time, it does not mean

the dynamic itself was not functioning. Chapter 4 will address the dynamic of social

persuasion, both in terms of its positive and negative affects.

The pastoral theological question of whether or not something has been “lost” in

the tradition is particularly apropos for this project, as this historical review already

reveals that critical theological dimensions of conscience have been demonstrably lost or

insufficiently emphasized, at least in terms of their accessibility and prevalence within

173
Graham, Care of Persons 262.
174
A pastoral theological and social psychological framing of human agency and power
is used throughout this dissertation given its specific focus. Nevertheless, these terms do
not contradict a Catholic understanding of authority as it relates to the human person and
community. Any consideration of the divine origins of authority are not within the
purview of this research, yet for a summary discussion of the topic see G. J. McMorrow,
“Authority,” in The New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2d ed. vol. 1 (New York: Thomson &
Gale, 2003), 918-921; and S. E. Donlon, “Ecclesiastical Authority,” in The New Catholic
Encyclopedia, 2d ed. vol. 1 (New York: Thomson & Gale, 2003), 922-923.
100
the thought of laity and clergy alike. Further, and very much to the point of this research,

this historical dynamic arising from pastoral practice, writ large in the Council of Trent’s

response to the Reformation, surfaced and heightened the theological problem regarding

primacy of conscience—the role and understanding of agency between the individual and

the Church’s teaching or tradition.

Modernism

The 19th and early 20th centuries also serve as an illuminating, even a powerfully

reinforcing period, regarding the submergence or even rejection of the doctrine of primacy of

conscience and its implicit connection to agency between the Church and individual. For over

three hundred years the Council of Trent’s definitions and boundaries continued to be tested by

way of the differing theological and religious perspectives emerging from the variety of

Reformation Churches (e.g., Lutheran, Presbyterian, Calvinist, Anabaptist), yet this was far

from the Church’s only challenge to its authority and agency as related to individuals as well as

social groups. The Church’s claim to be the sole, or at least primary, voice of knowledge and

truth was also called into question by philosophers and intellectuals. In a sense, Descartes’

philosophical “cogito ergo sum” paralleled Luther’s religious “Here I stand, I can do no other,”

as yet another profound anthropological expression of the individual and agency.

Without attempting to review the array of philosophies over that period of time or

trying to pinpoint what might be considered the beginning of modernism, suffice it say that the

collective impact of the burgeoning philosophical and intellectual investigations into the

questions of epistemology, human experience, reality, and God radically challenged the

Church. Unlike bygone eras, at this moment in history the teaching of the Church was often

seen as anything but the source of privileged authority and insight. Rather than being sought to

101
shed light upon the matters at hand, the Church was regularly identified by many of these

philosophers and intellectuals as casting a shadow that was stifling or even strangling human

development and progress.

For the purposes of this historical review, the 19th century will be the point of

entry for modernism and the Church’s subsequent response to it, including one of its

most recent explicit and forceful attempts to suppress primacy of conscience. 175 Whether

or not 19th century progressive thinkers like Darwin, Freud, Marx, Hegel and Nietzsche

as well as the implications of their theories served as “the straw that broke the camel’s

back,” modernism clearly was perceived as a threat by the Church to its authority and

agency, not unlike the Reformation. As an expression of the perceived collective

possibilities for human progress, modernism focused on the capacity of individuals and

societies to create and advance their environments and experience, especially by

employing reason and its by-products of the sciences and technology. From biology and

psychology to economics and philosophy, modernism thrived upon a critical analysis of

175
Some scholars would consider Descartes as “early modern” and his philosophy as the
harbinger of modernism. Certainly the Church’s theology, from the point of Descartes’
cogito ergo sum and throughout the Enlightenment and the Kantian revolution, was
critiqued and challenged by the emergence of what has come to be known as modernism.
This critique and challenge is symbolized, but not exhausted, by the philosophical
exploration of epistemology, objectivity, subjectivity, and interpretation. Modernism is a
relatively elastic designation and, as such, the 19th century as an entry point is not a claim
about this being particular historical marker for philosophy. Rather, the 19th century
principally is employed in this research for two reasons. First, it marks when the Church
began formally using the term “modernism” in its proclamations. Second, the 19th
century marks a profound consolidation of the Church’s response to the philosophical and
intellectual initiatives that began with Descartes, particularly in terms of the
understanding of conscience. For a summary discussion of the Catholic perspective on
modernism and the modernist movement, see J. J. Hean, “Modernism,” in The New
Catholic Encyclopedia, 2d ed. vol. 9 (New York: Thomson & Gale, 2003), 752-757.
102
the human experience through a variety of lenses with the goal of furthering human

progress and weeding out whatever seemed to hobble its achievement.

Not surprisingly, the Church was seen as responsible for impeding progress in a

variety of ways, yet the claim to divine revelation and its inherent natural-supernatural

dualism probably stands head and shoulders over the rest. Modernism considered the

Church’s teaching to be simply human products that, as such, may change over time in

light of new and more sophisticated understandings. The concept of an objective

unchanging truth that the Church was exclusively, or at least particularly, privy to know

and teach authoritatively was ironically, if you will, anathema to the modernists.176 The

Church, for its part, responded not unlike it did with the Reformation. As in the review

of the Council of Trent, the reason for examining the Church’s response to modernism is not

the specific doctrinal or ecclesial statements themselves, but rather to show how through these

various proclamations the Church was simultaneously heightening its agency (specifically

initiation) and suppressing primacy of conscience. Therefore, exploring three related principal

documents from this period will serve to demonstrate the Church’s on-going, if not explicitly

enhancing, suppression and/or rejection of the doctrine of primacy of conscience.

176
The encyclical and decree The Syllabus of Errors: Condemning the Errors of the
Modernists (Lamentabili Sane) by Pope Pius IX used the term “modernists” in response
to the teachings of Jesuit priest Father George Tyrrell as well as the work of Father
Alfred Loisy, as reflected in his text The Gospel and the Church (London: Isbister &
Co.,1903). Seldom was this label self applied, nor were these intellectuals even inclined
to self identity as a coherent group. For scholarly discussion on these individuals and
their era, see John Ratté, Three Modernists: Alfred Loisy, George Tyrrell, William L.
Sullivan (London: Sheed & Ward, 1968).
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 In 1864 Pope Pius IX issued the encyclical “Condemning Certain Errors” that

addressed the issue of modernism by, as its title notes, “condemning certain errors.”177

Attached to this encyclical was the decree “The Syllabus of Errors: Condemning the

Errors of the Modernists.” This encyclical and decree were Pius IX’s attempt to retain

dominant authority and agency in teaching not only within the Church itself, but also in

relationship to all individuals and society at large. He denounces modernism’s

challenging tenets:

… they chiefly tend to this, that that salutary influence be impeded and
(even) removed, which the Catholic Church, according to the institution
and command of her Divine Author, should freely exercise even to the end
of the world -- not only over private individuals, but over nations, peoples,
and their sovereign princes; and (tend also) to take away that mutual
fellowship and concord of counsels between Church and State which has
ever proved itself propitious and salutary, both for religious and civil
interests.178

Exercising influence “not only over [emphasis added] private individuals, but over

nations, peoples, and their sovereign princes” is inherently a claim to agency (i.e.,

initiation) that is dominant, if not grandiose. “Over” implies, if not demands, a

hierarchical order such that all opinions and perspectives are not afforded equal weight or

agency.

In “The Syllabus of Errors,” Pius IX enumerated 65 specific errors of modernism

that were officially condemned and, therefore, carried with them penalties comparable to

the canons of the Council of Trent. For example, as it most specifically relates to the

doctrine of primacy of conscience, error number 7 states: “In proscribing errors, the
177
Although modernism encompasses an array of what was deemed erroneous by the
Church, it actually had subsets and, in this instance, it was naturalism that was
specifically being condemned.
178
Carlen, The Papal Encyclicals, vol. 1, 382.
104
Church cannot demand any internal assent from the faithful by which the judgments she

issues are to be embraced.”179 Or in other words, the Church’s teaching can and, by

virtue of authoritative documents such as “The Syllabus of Errors,” does demand internal

assent from the faithful regarding what the Church judges as erroneous. Given the

inherently confusing structure of the document itself, that is, the double-negative quality

of the text, it is worth making a point of clarification. Lest it be misunderstood due to the

style of writing in the document, anything said in the text is an error as it falls under the

overall umbrella of “The Syllabus of Errors.” So the above example is ultimately

proclaiming that in proscribing errors, the Church can demand any internal assent from

the faithful by which the judgments she issues are to be embraced. It parallels the

confusion of using the words like non-infallible, yet it was the medium of expression of

that day within the Church.

In addition to Pius IX’s assertion of the Church’s right to exercise influence over

social groups and their leaders, “Condemning Certain Errors” in 1864 quotes, and thereby

reasserts, Gregory XVI’s extreme rejection of the notion of liberty of conscience

specifically as related to the individual. In 1832 Gregory XVI condemned liberty of

conscience and stated that it was “insanity” to suggest that:

…liberty of conscience and worship is each man’s personal right, which

ought to be legally proclaimed and asserted in every rightly constituted
society; and that a right resides in the citizens to an absolute liberty, which
should be restrained by no authority whether ecclesiastical or civil,
whereby they may be able openly and publicly to manifest and declare any
of their ideas whatever, either by word of mouth, by the press, or in any
other way.180

179
Ibid., vol. 3, 89.
180
Ibid., vol. 1, 237.
105
Again, although the statement at large seems to support conscience, it is a radical

repudiation of it inasmuch as such thinking is considered insanity by Gregory XVI.

Following the French Revolution in particular, but inclusive of the American

Revolution as well, democracy was interpreted as in opposition to the Church in both its

emphasis of individual liberty and distinction between Church and State. At present in

the United States, the separation between Church and State is, by and large, a given that

is uncontested, even if differently interpreted. Roughly a century ago though,

Americanism was identified and condemned as a form of modernism with separation of

Church and state as one particular manifestation. As R. Scott Appleby notes, “Both

Americanism and modernism were condemned in broad strokes….The two heresies were

seen by their opponents as inextricably linked, with Americanism being the cultural,

political, and ecclesio-political expression of modernism’s theological and philosophical

project.”181

The Church’s battle against modernism came to a head in 1907 with Pius X

issuing the encyclical “Doctrine of the Modernists (Pascendi Dominici Gregis).” In this

document Pius X went as far as to declare that modernism is “the synthesis of all

heresies”182 inasmuch as it denies the existence of unchanging truth and consequently the

Church’s role and right to authoritatively teach it. In short, it was heresy to reject the

Church’s claim to privileged objective and eternal knowledge through revelation and, to

181
R. Scott Appleby, “The Triumph of Americanism: Common Ground for U.S.
Catholics in the Twentieth Century,” in Being Right: Conservative Catholics in America,
eds. Mary Jo Weaver and R. Scott Appleby (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press,
1995), 44-45.
182
Carlen, The Papal Encyclicals, vol. 3, 89.
106
the point of this research, the corresponding agency inherent in claiming to teach with

this level of authority to all levels of society.

The intellectuals and philosophers exploring the insights of modernism were not

simply external threats the Church had to hold at bay, but were also within the ranks of

the Church itself, including the clergy. These were individuals who believed the Church

needed to respond to the challenges and opportunities presented by modernity.

Consequently, the encyclical “Doctrine of the Modernists” culminates with Pius X

obliging Bishops to exercise regular and vigilant internal scrutiny for any signs of

modernism within the clergy.

Lest what We have laid down thus far should pass into oblivion, We will
and ordain that the Bishops of all dioceses, a year after the publication of
these letters and every three years thenceforward, furnish the Holy See
with a diligent and sworn report on the things which have been decreed in
this Our Letter, and on the doctrines that find currency among the clergy,
and especially in the seminaries and other Catholic institutions, those not
excepted which are not subject to the Ordinary, and We impose the like
obligation on the Generals of religious orders with regard to those who are
under them.183

A number of clergy were identified and disciplined during this period, but

possibly most prominent of them all was John Henry Newman.184 Newman was a

renowned Anglican priest and professor at Oriel College in Oxford University as well as

the founder of the Oxford Movement directed toward the reform of the Anglican Church.

Among other things, the Oxford Movement visioned a “High Church” that integrated

ancient Christian doctrine and practice in contrast to what was the prevalent "Low

183
Ibid.
184
For more on the life of John Henry Newman, see Ian Ker, John Henry Newman: A
Biography (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988).
107
Church" Protestantism of the day. After spending the first half of his life as an Anglican,

in 1845 Newman converted to Catholicism and became, among others things, the voice

for the recovery and appreciation of the doctrine of primacy of conscience.

Although welcomed into the Roman communion with favor for a variety of

reasons, not the least of which was his giftedness as an intellectual and theologian, that

very talent ultimately complicated his life, as Pius IX proclaimed the doctrine of papal

infallibility in 1870. Newman opposed the formal definition of papal infallibility and, as

would be expected, quickly found himself the object of the hierarchy’s disdain. As

interesting as his rationale was regarding the doctrine of papal infallibility, the issue of

relevance here is how he justified this dissenting opinion. As noted earlier, the Oxford

movement attempted to recover earlier Christian doctrines and practices. Therefore,

Newman’s theological method regarding the understanding of tradition afforded him

access to Aquinas’ articulation of primacy of conscience. Similar to Luther with the 95

theses, at least in terms of process although not by way of scale, Newman exercised his

primacy of conscience as he differed with the hierarchy of the Church over the doctrine

of papal infallibility.

Without examining Newman’s theological nuance regarding conscience as he

develops it through his exploration of Scripture and the Catholic tradition in order to

make his case before the hierarchy of the Church, a summary expression of primacy of

conscience is present as he addresses a Catholic’s relationship and responsibility to both

conscience and the Pope. Although Newman clearly had his own understanding and

expression of primacy of conscience, it differed more in subtlety rather than substance

108
from that of Aquinas. Newman employed a historical method that both moored his work

in the tradition and limited his vulnerability to accusation.

In his letter to the Duke of Norfolk in the fifth section addressing the issue of

conscience, Newman writes:

It seems, then, that there are extreme cases in which Conscience may
come into collision with the word of a Pope, and is to be followed in spite
of that word. Now I wish to place this proposition on a broader basis,
acknowledged by all Catholics, and, in order to do this satisfactorily, as I
began with the prophecies of Scripture and the primitive Church, when I
spoke of the Pope's prerogatives, so now I must begin with the Creator and
His creature, when I would draw out the prerogatives and the supreme
authority of Conscience.185

In contrast to the domineering agency expressed by Pius IX which heavily

weighted the Church’s teaching over both individuals and societies, Newman argues for a

much greater degree of agency within the person as an expression of primacy of

conscience. Newman closes out his famous letter to the Duke of Norfolk, somewhat

tongue in cheek and colloquially, stating:

Certainly, if I am obliged to bring religion into after-dinner toasts, (which

indeed does not seem quite the thing) I shall drink—to the Pope, if you
please—still, to Conscience first, and to the Pope afterwards.186

At the time Newman’s work reflected anything but the position of the hierarchy in its

rejection of primacy of conscience, yet like many prescient thinkers who did not receive

support in their lifetimes, it was only a matter of time until his insights regarding primacy

185
John Henry Cardinal Newman, Certain Difficulties Felt by Anglicans in Catholic
Teaching Considered (New York: Longmans, Green & Co. 1900); Newman’s other
principal work on conscience is his “Sermon 17: The Testimony of Conscience.”
186
John T. Ford, “‘Dancing on the Tight Rope’: Newman’s View of Theology,” CTSA
Proceedings 40, (1985): 133.
109
of conscience and religious liberty would be recognized. The Second Vatican Council,

which opened on October 11, 1962, was just that time.

The Second Vatican Council

This section of Chapter 3 will go into more detail than the two brief historical reviews

of the Reformation and modernism, given it holds a contemporary status that sets the current

stage and understanding of the debate on primacy of conscience. After almost four hundred

years of the Church suppressing and/or rejecting the doctrine of primacy of conscience, the

Second Vatican Council marks the Church’s first hierarchical and official movement toward

recovering its tradition regarding conscience. In examining this recovery, three broad points

will be reviewed. First, the need for reclaiming conscience within the tradition will be

established through the call of the Second Vatican Council to update moral theology. This

process will be examined specifically through the manualist tradition which had come to

symbolize the Church’s control over moral theology and, consequently, the teachings it obliged

its membership to follow, whether lay or cleric. Second, as the updating of moral theology

emerges from the Council’s call and diverse moral theological perspectives contribute to the

conversation of updating moral theology, and specifically an understanding of conscience, two

contemporary schools of Catholic moral theology emerge—the Traditionalist and the

Revisionist. The similarities and differences of these schools will be reviewed, including how

they are presently represented in the legalistic and personalist perspectives regarding

conscience. Finally, a summary of Hogan’s historical theological understanding of ambiguity

within the Catholic tradition of conscience will be reviewed, given the two current schools of

Traditionalist and Revisionist with their corresponding legalistic and personalist perspectives

do, in fact, differ and stand in tension , thus embodying the very ambiguity being identified.

110
 As John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council with his address in St. Peter’s

Basilica, he identified the task at hand for the Church as that of bringing herself up to date

where required. The breadth of this overall process was extensive and remains in process to

this day, yet for the purposes of this research the focus will be limited to the arena of moral

theology. Further, within the domain of moral theology, the doctrine of primacy of conscience

and role of agency are the place of examination. Given what previously has been reviewed

historically and attitudinally regarding the Church’s response to the Reformation and

modernism and the corresponding suppression and/or rejection of primacy of conscience, this

“updating” of moral theology would require more than simply a veneer, especially in the arena

of understanding the relationship of agency between the Church and the individual.

The Second Vatican Council simply and blatantly stated that, “…special attention

needs to be given to the development of moral theology.”187 That “special attention,” as

McCormick interprets it, was specifically addressing the limitations of the manual tradition—a

tradition steeped in an imbalance of agency.188 The manual tradition of the nineteenth and

twentieth centuries within moral theology is a predictable by-product of a Church that since the

Reformation had been attempting to stabilize Catholic doctrinal definitions and corresponding

boundaries by unilateral decrees that deprived individuals, including priests and theologians, of

agency when it came to understanding moral decision-making. In a sense, the manual tradition

was a micro expression of the Church’s macro trajectory as related to the understanding of the

187
“The Decree on the Training of Priests (Presbyterorum Ordinis),” Vatican Council II,
720.
188
McCormick, The Critical Calling 5.
111
relationship of agency between the Church and individuals, both lay and cleric. Hogan

summarizes the manuals themselves thus:

Most of the manuals of this period exhibited identical philosophical and

theological presuppositions. They also followed a common structure and
discussed moral problems in a uniform manner. They each began with a
section on “general moral theology,” involving a consideration of human
acts, the nature of morality, conscience, law and sin. The second section
of each manual involved an exposition of particular sins, identifying the
nature, species and seriousness of particular sins. They focused on the
acts themselves rather than on any other features of the situation….The
third and final section of the manuals presented the canon law of the
sacraments, thus framing morality entirely in a penitential context.189

The manual tradition was principally applied within the pastoral context, in

particular, in order to control the priests’ responses in the confessional. Recall that even

priests were suspected and accused of being Modernists. The manuals themselves,

developed by a closed group of theologians, were focused on practical application rather

than methodological consideration or theoretical reflection. In short, the manuals set the

terms of morally acceptable behavior as defined by the Church’s canons and was

communicated through its representatives, more often than not, in the sacramental forum

of confession. What is of particular note here in terms of agency is that even priests and

many theologians were not afforded a role in discerning Catholic moral decision-making.

Given that priests literally had the manuals in hand with moral answers anticipating

certain circumstances, the exercise of primacy of conscience was simply out of the

equation. Basically, priests were instructed to apply moral answers without even

necessarily knowing the moral theological method and assumptions that gave rise to the

very moral directives they applied.

189
Hogan, 97.
112
 The manual tradition was symbolic of how Catholic moral theology, especially its

closed and controlling character, required an updating—an updating that would

necessarily explore the assumptions and positions that gave rise to the very manuals

themselves. From the vantage point of twenty-five years after the Second Vatican

Council, McCormick’s hindsight identifies seven areas in moral theology that have

undergone major reexamination: the rejection of legalism, the depth of moral life, the

social character of moral life, the centrality of the person in moral thought, the

tentativeness of moral formulations, the nature of the moral Magisterium, and the

rejection of paternalism in moral pedagogy for a pedagogy of personal responsibility.190

Ultimately, whether it be these seven areas articulated by McCormick or others that

might be highlighted by different moral theologians, the updating of Catholic moral

theology broadly required the development of precisely what the manual tradition lacked

and symbolized—an explicit normative method accessible to individuals other than only

the authors of the manuals (e.g., theologians, clergy in parish ministry, and parishioners).

This is not to suggest that the manual tradition was devoid of a normative method

for moral theology in the development of the manuals themselves, as their very

uniformity attested to a high level of normative method being at play. Whether it was

remnants of Thomism or dominant strains of Neo-Scholasticism, the manuals relied

heavily upon normative method in their construction. Thomism is the theological

framework developed by Aquinas in the thirteenth century and predominantly articulated

in the Summa Theologica. During the latter part of the nineteenth century, Neo-

Scholasticism is the attempt to recover and develop the Scholasticism of the Middle Ages

190
McCormick, The Critical Calling 9-23.
113
which was largely founded upon the work of Aquinas. Although there is a clear and

strong intersection between Thomism and Neo-Scholasticism, the systems are clearly

distinct and differ in a variety of ways, yet those nuances are not necessary for the current

discussion.

Nevertheless, the principal point at hand is that the normative method for moral

theology operative was implicit and not incorporated explicitly in the manuals

themselves. The application of the normative method for moral theology remained

exclusively with the ecclesiastical authors of the manuals, thus hobbling, if not

eliminating others from doing and applying moral theology. Manuals essentially gave

the moral conclusions to most theologians, priests and laity, but neither the normative

method for moral theology by which these conclusions were determined nor, therefore,

the purview to engage that normative method was afforded to anyone other than the

select authors themselves. Ultimately the manualist tradition is undergirded with an

understanding of agency inasmuch as few were afforded access to the normative method

for moral theology and most were simply expected to accept the conclusions it produced.

Basically, the Second Vatican Council’s updating of moral theology called for a

normative method to be made explicit, that is, more broadly shared and understood, thus

overturning the narrow and controlled status it had previously labored under. This

direction clearly had implications for understanding the relationship of agency between

the Church and its members when addressing the Catholic moral decision-making.

Although the scope of the development of an explicit normative method in

Catholic moral theology with respect to issues of moral guidance and matters of

conscience is enormous, rife with nuance, and beyond the scope of this research, it is

114
accurate to claim that this moral theological project launched at the Second Vatican

Council has predominantly consolidated into two principal schools after the inclusion of a

variety of theological voices that had previously been excluded—the Traditionalist and

the Revisionist. These two schools will be respectively represented by Grisez’s work

with Basic Goods Theory as well as by McCormick and Curran’s work with

Proportionate Reason Theory. Further, Basic Goods Theory represents the legalistic

perspective while Proportionate Reason Theory represents the personalist perspective in

terms of understanding primacy of conscience. As Todd Salzman notes:

Much of the focus in the renewal movement has been to formulate a

coherent normative method and draw out its logical implications for
Christian ethics. [The Traditionalists and Revisionists]…are the two main
schools undertaking this methodological reconstruction. Method,
especially with regard to the foundation and formulation of norms, is
frequently considered the area of renewal in Catholic moral theology;
however, method itself is rarely defined.191

Traditionalist and Revisionist Schools

Given the dynamics already reviewed in the historical backdrop preceding the

Second Vatican Council, it is not surprising that the theological latitude present in the

updating of moral theology that followed the Council’s directive in “The Decree on the

Training of Priests” was still fairly circumscribed.192 Consequently, any updated Catholic

moral theology and method, be it from the Traditionalist or Revisionist school, inevitably

addresses natural law theory due to both its prominent historical and continuing

contemporary role. Therefore, a summary theoretical background for understanding the

191
Todd Salzman, What are they saying About Catholic Ethical Method (New York:
Paulist Press, 2003), 6, emphasis in original.
192
“The Decree on the Training of Priests (Presbyterorum Ordinis),” Vatican Council II,
720.
115
foundation that both the Traditionalist and Revisionist schools incorporate will be

helpful. Both are built upon the theory of natural law which, in turn, is related to and

located within the broader arena of contemporary moral and ethical discourse (i.e., moral

judgments, normative ethics, and meta-ethics). Finally, it should be recalled, this is

simply a review of the moral theological context within and by which this pastoral

theology is located and informed, but is not an attempt to engage or further this

discussion along the philosophical lines of moral theology. The advance and contribution

of this research will emerge within Chapters 4 and 5.

Consistent with what many philosophical ethicists distinguish as three levels of

ethical discourse, natural law theory also addresses moral judgments, normative ethics,

and meta-ethics. The three dimensions of ethical discourse identified here are very broad

theoretical categories that are understood in very diverse manners. This general

framework is sufficient to understand the general framing of natural law theory as well as

its continuing theoretical mooring.193 Rooted in the human capacity to reason and

choose, moral judgments are made as attempts to accomplish what is considered right,

obligatory, or good. Moral decision-making is the fare of this arena and is basically what

Aquinas called syneidesis or the judgment of conscience by which some particular thing or

action is judged good or evil. Moral judgments ultimately influence or determine the

particularities of one’s conduct and are the focus of this research inasmuch as they are an

expression of agency and potentially an exercise of primacy of conscience.

193
For further examination of these terms, see Henry J. McCloskey, Meta-ethics and
Normative Ethics (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1969), 7; and John Arras, Bonnie
Steinbock, and Alex John London, “Moral Reasoning in the Medical Context,” in Ethical
Issues in Modern Medicine, eds. John Arras and Bonnie Steinbeck (London: Mayfield
Publishing Co. 1999), 1-40.
116
 Within the realm of moral judgments, an array of philosophical distinctions are

present depending upon the given theorist, but their review is not essential for the topic at

hand.194 Yet given this research focuses upon primacy of conscience within the arena of

syneidesis, it is vital to address what both philosophical ethicists and natural law theory

distinguish as “possible” and “actual” moral judgments. The portion of Curran’s definition of

conscience that speaks of “an act to be done or already done” reveals the presence of both

possible and actual moral judgments. Curran notes that conscience relates to “…the

judgment about the morality of an act to be done or omitted or already done or omitted by the

person.” 195 The moral judgments in this definition are possible and actual respectively.

Although both inherently fall under the umbrella of agency in that they ultimately relate to

action or deliberation about it, they function differently both in terms of their relationship

to normative and meta-ethics as well as primacy of conscience.

From the perspective of philosophical ethicists and natural law theory, moral judgments

relate to normative and meta-ethics. Possible rather than actual moral judgments provide the

grist for developing the norms and/or generalizations that correspond to normative and meta-

ethics. Actual moral judgments, although informing normative and meta-ethics, have a degree

of uniqueness and particularity that, given the diversity of individuals and contexts, is ill suited

for the type of reflection required for the development and articulation of normative and meta-

ethics. In contrast, possible moral judgments serve this task well, given they “…suspend the

194
As McCormick rightly notes, for a comprehensive treatment of the topic of normative
ethics, one must consider the philosophical discussions of cognitivism, noncognitivism,
emotivism and so on as well as the distinctions between deontologists and teleologists.
See McCormick, The Critical Calling 49.
195
Curran, 3, emphasis added.
117
particularity of actual moral judgments and seek to formulate norms that can extrapolate

common aspects of human experience in the form of generalizations.”196 As summarized by

Salzman:

The synopsis and synthesis of possible moral judgments into such a theory
is the area of normative ethics and meta-ethics. Normative ethics attempts
to answer questions about what is good, right, or obligatory and to
formulate laws, rules, norms, or guidelines for the attainment of values
designated within that definition. Normative ethics proposes norms that
prohibit or prescribe: (1) actions (e.g., “do not kill”); (2) dispositions,
motivations, or types of character (e.g., “respect life”); and (3) actions that
entail descriptions of both the act and the motive (e.g., “do not
murder”).197

Basically meta-ethics, as it relates to normative ethics, is yet another level of

reflection and analysis that addresses both the understanding of the ethical terms

themselves (e.g., “right,” or “good”) and how claims to moral knowledge may actually be

known. The former is essentially a question of semantics, that is, what does this word

mean and how is the term used, whereas the latter is an epistemic question, that is, how

can we claim to know this to be so. Both normative and meta-ethics are considered and

questioned from a variety of perspectives, not the least of which is insights gained from

postmodernism. As William Frankena describes meta-ethics, it focuses its deliberation

toward the meaning of ethical terms as well as how ethical and value judgments are

justified.198

Although some would question whether or not differentiating meta-ethics from

normative ethics is even a meaningful or fruitful distinction, it is worth identifying given

196
Salzman, 7-8.
197
Ibid., 8.
198
William K. Frankena, Ethics (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1973), 96.
118
the role of natural law theory within Catholic moral theology, from either the

Traditionalist or Revisionist school. These kinds of thought about ethics (e.g., meta-

ethics and normative ethics) have essentially been operative and a matter of debate since

the time of Aquinas and remain even to this day. As stated earlier, Aquinas identified the

difference between the judgment of conscience by which some particular thing or action is

judged good or evil (syneidesis) and the “…habit of practical reason by which one knows the

first principles of the natural law—do good and avoid evil, act according to right reason”

(synderesis).199 Synderesis is basically a natural law theory term that attempts to address the

epistemic dimension of meta-ethics. In short, we can apply these general ethical constructs of

moral judgments, normative and meta-ethics to natural law theory and see a long-standing

parallel dating back to Aquinas and beyond. Recall that Aquinas understood conscience as the

application of the known first principles of natural law (synderesis) or normative and meta-

ethics to the particularities of one’s conduct (syneidesis) or moral judgments. Further, it is

within this tension between the particularity of syneidesis and the generality of synderesis that

Aquinas articulates the role of the primacy of conscience.

In order to be clear regarding the focus of this research within the broad context

of Catholic moral theology in particular and ethics in general, a summary is in order at

this point. It is from the basic mooring of ethical method just reviewed, including its

relationship to a natural law framework, that the updating of Catholic moral theology as

called for by the Second Vatican Council has proceeded. Further, the principal sticking

point or difference between the Traditionalist and Revisionist schools lies in the arena of

normative and meta-ethics—specifically how objective truth is understood. Clearly this

199
Curran, 7.
119
has implication for moral judgments, but the principal difference is not located there.

Although normative and meta-ethics are clearly a part of the overall development of

moral theology, this dissertation relates specifically to the arena of moral judgments. It is

within this context that primacy of conscience and its inherent agency is being examined.

Nevertheless, a general understanding of the Traditionalist and Revisionist schools is in

order, especially in order to identify the principal difference that has profound

implications for how the relationship of agency between the Church and an individual is

framed.

The conversation of normative and meta-ethics which, in the Catholic context

includes the theory of natural law, is predominantly philosophical and, as such, extremely

theoretical and abstract. In addition to the broad ethical framework of moral judgments,

normative ethics, and meta-ethics that both the Traditionalist and Revisionist schools

share, further commonalities deserve attention Although far from exhausting the

common moral theological ground, let alone the philosophical, shared by the

Traditionalist and Revisionist schools, four prominent and vital similarities are clearly

present. Consistent with the Catholic moral theological tradition, both approaches:

1) accept an objectivist meta-ethical theory (i.e., natural law theory), even if

nuanced differently
2) define good or right as that which facilitates authentic personhood as
understood through a natural law lens
3) recognize reason, experience, scripture and Tradition as significant sources of
moral knowledge in the development of normative method
4) respond to the Second Vatican Council’s call for a renewal of moral theology,
especially the limits manifest in the manualist tradition.

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Each of these similarities merits further development to better appreciate how their

common ground is understood and shared.

First, each position supports natural law for humans as an expression of an

objectivist meta-ethical theory such that they acknowledge the existence of a universal

moral truth that can be justified through both reason and revelation. Reason and faith are

both required and are not seen in opposition to one another in the process of articulating

normative claims for what contributes to the realization of authentic personhood. Jacques

Maritain succinctly distills this ontological foundation of natural law for the human

person.

There is by the virtue of human nature, an order or a disposition which

human reason can discover and according to which the human will must
act in order to attune itself to the essential ends of the human being. The
unwritten law, or natural law, is nothing more than that.200

Second, flowing from the preceding objectivist anthropological assumption, both

positions broadly define right or good as that which contributes to the accomplishment of

authentic personhood, or corollary terms like “integral human fulfillment” and “human

flourishing.”201 The first principle of practical reason is employed in order to realize the

“essential ends of the human being” toward which humans are naturally inclined or

oriented. In other words, to the extent that the first principal of natural law, which states

that “good is to be done and pursued and evil is to be avoided,” is followed, authentic

200
Jacques Maritain, “Natural Law in Aquinas,” in Readings in Moral Theology, no. 7,
Natural Law and Theology, eds. Charles Curran and Richard McCormick (New York:
Paulist Press, 1993), 116.
201
Salzman, 18.
121
personhood is realized. This first principle is the basis of every other precept of the

natural law and is foundational in the theoretical framing of conscience.202

Third, whether one be a Traditionalist or a Revisionist, four sources of moral

knowledge are recognized—reason, experience, scripture and tradition. The

identification and application of these sources in the development of normative method is

consistent with Catholic moral theology. Nevertheless, how these sources are interpreted

as well as how they are weighed and leveraged definitely differs between the two

approaches, especially in terms of understanding objective moral absolutes. This will be

explored in more detail as the legalistic and personalist perspectives are broadly reviewed

and illustrated through the examples of Basic Goods Theory and Proportionate Reason

Theory.

Fourth, even with this substantial common mooring in natural law theory, both

positions recognize certain pitfalls and limitations within Catholic natural law theory,

especially as articulated by the manualist tradition. Consequently both seek its

remediation, albeit in differing manners. It must be remembered that the critique of the

manualist tradition did not begin with the Traditionalist and Revisionist schools, but

rather emerged at the Second Vatican Council and its charge to address this problem. In

short, both positions are responses to that unique call of the Second Vatican Council for

renewal within moral theology. Specifically, the principal shortcoming was the lack of

an explicit normative methodology which excluded broader participation in the

development and/or application of moral theology.

202
Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Ia-IIae, 94, 2.
122
 The Legalistic and Personalist Perspectives

As previously noted, within the two broader moral theological schools (i.e.,

Traditionalist and Revisionist), the legalistic and personalist monikers have emerged as

specific expressions and applications of these two schools’ foundational thought.

Further, within the Catholic debate regarding conscience, Basic Goods Theory is one

particular, if not the principal, expression of the Traditionalist school, whereas

Proportionate Reason Theory is one particular, if not the principal, expression of the

Revisionist school. Having touched upon the common ground of the Traditionalist and

Revisionist schools, these two specific theories (i.e., Basic Goods Theory and

Proportionate Reason Theory) will be reviewed in order to illuminate how they ultimately

differ in their framing of agency and, therefore, primacy of conscience. Common

parlance might simply and somewhat accurately label the legalistic and personalist

perspectives as the conservative and liberal views respectively. Yet there is a bit more

nuance that is worth noting in order to understand the principal difference between them

that ultimately has implications for agency and primacy of conscience.

The current Catholic discourse following the Second Vatican Council regarding

conscience, its primacy, and any ensuing problems and tension is predominantly within moral

theology and is framed philosophically as expressed in the normative ethical method previously

reviewed and its positioning within natural law theory. Contemporary Catholic moral

theological debate on conscience reflects the Traditionalist and Revisionist schools that,

as noted, broadly coalesce into these two divergent perspectives (i.e., the legalistic and

the personalist). Nonetheless, both perspectives address the question regarding moral

123
responsibility and authority, which inherently incorporates both individual and communal

agency.203

The legalistic perspective places an emphasis on Church teaching as the primary or

central means for knowing the objective dimensions of morality. Consequently it considers the

Magisterium i.e., Church teaching) as the principal vehicle for moral truth. Additionally, this

moral truth is considered to have absolute and universal moral principles that Church teaching

is able to uniquely and authoritatively articulate. In contrast, the personalist perspective

ultimately prioritizes the personal autonomy and responsibility of individuals in moral matters.

Nevertheless, this prioritization presumes a relationship with Church teaching such that moral

matters are necessarily informed, but not controlled and predetermined by it. An informed

conscience is the mediator and final arbiter of the divine moral law taught by the Church.

Consequently, it rejects any account of morality that relies on absolutist principles.204

The legalistic and personalist perspectives function differently. The legalistic

position implicitly reinforces a perspective that suggests that individuals are, in fact,

inadequate or incompetent to make or facilitate responsible moral decisions that differ

from the Church teaching. From this approach, the dissonance is ultimately suppressed

by conformity to the truth as communicated through the Church teaching. Primacy of

conscience is conflated to a wholesale acceptance of the Church’s interpretation of

“absolute and universal moral principles,” often articulated as natural laws.205 Although

203
Hogan, 2.
204
Hogan, 28-29.
205
Mark Graham, Josef Fuchs on Natural Law (Washington, DC: Georgetown University
Press, 2002), 10-11.
124
differing from the manualist tradition in a variety of ways, not the least of which is an

explicit normative method, the legalistic perspective remains similar since there are

occasions where the final outcome is a given (e.g., intentional contraception is never

morally justified).

In contrast, the personalist position affirms a Catholic’s capacity to be competent

and responsible in making or facilitating moral decisions that differ from the Church

teaching without denying natural law. Using this approach, the dissonance is finally

suppressed by faithfully following the doctrine of primacy of conscience that “prioritizes

the personal autonomy and responsibility of individuals in moral matters” and recognizes

the legitimacy of occasional differing from Church teaching. From the personalist

perspective, primacy of conscience becomes the manifestation of loyalty to conscience in

the search for truth and right solutions. For example, although the normative Church

teaching regarding intentional contraception is considered, an individual may knowingly

and responsibly differ from this teaching by exercising primacy of conscience. Such an

act does not refute the potential or inherent value of the normative teaching, but rather

denies its universal and absolute application. Natural law remains a normative basis to

inform moral decision-making, but also affords the possibility of difference in the arena

of specific moral judgments through primacy of conscience

To further an understanding of how these two perspectives are currently manifest

and operative in Catholic moral theology, I will review Basic Goods Theory and

Proportionate Reason Theory. Both theories are the most prominent representations of

the legalistic and personalist perspectives and, therefore, the Traditionalist and

Revisionist schools respectively. Clearly quite a number of theologians fall within these

125
categories of the legalistic and personalist perspectives as well and are party to these

conversations. Nevertheless, for the purposes present in this research the major

trajectories are sufficiently illuminated through the three principal theorists I have

identified. What is of particular importance here is that these theories clearly

acknowledge the question of individual and communal agency, albeit with differing

configurations and conclusions as to how this relationship of agency is understood and

distributed. By virtue of that very difference being present and current, the reality of

ambiguity in the tradition is identified as a challenge, if not an obstacle, that needs to be

addressed.

Germain Grisez, along with John Finnis and Joseph Boyle, from the Traditionalist

school manifest the legalistic perspective inherent within the Basic Goods Theory for

moral decision-making. The claim that “the good is to be done and evil is to be avoided,”

articulated by Aquinas and referred to previously, was, for him, the first principle of

practical reasoning or synderesis. Practical reason first identifies what might be done,

prior to indicating what should be done. As such and in both capacities, it serves as a

foundation for human choice and behavior. Similarly, according to Grisez and Basic

Goods Theory, the first principle of practical reason, “…articulates the intrinsic,

necessary relationship between human goods and appropriate actions bearing upon

them.”206 In short, the first principle of practical reason does not direct what is to be done

(i.e., a given specific act), but rather simply identifies what is to be incorporated in doing

206
Germain Grisez and Russell Shaw, Fulfillment in Christ: A Summary of Christian
Moral Principles (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1991), 180.
126
any permissible act (i.e., doing good and avoiding evil). It addresses the values operative

in the process, but not the content to which it applies.

This principle is considered self-evident and does not, according to the theory,

emerge from engagement with the natural world nor one’s awareness of human nature.207

As such, it is very consistent with the natural-supernatural dualism of Thomism and

reflects an objectivist meta-ethical theory. It essentially appeals to and retains revelation

as one component in the process of knowing. Curiously, if not ironically, one of natural

law theory’s foundational assumptions is the existence of the supernatural as well as the

ability to know it.208 Clearly this claim and those like it stand under the critique of

modern philosophy as briefly reviewed, and yet its accuracy is, in this instance, beside

the point inasmuch as it remains a claim, rightly or wrongly, still being asserted.209

Therefore, Catholics, at least those attending to the Church’s teaching, must take it into

consideration.

In order to engage the content to which the first principal of practical reason

applies, Basic Goods Theory introduces the concept of basic goods. Basic goods are

207
John Finnis, Natural Law and Natural Rights (New York: Oxford University Press,
1980), 33-42.
208
For a summary discussion of the Catholic understanding of revelation, see Avery
Dulles, “Theology of Revelation,” in The New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2d ed. vol. 12
(New York: Thomson & Gale, 2003), 193-198; and Avery Dulles, “Fonts of Revelation,”
in The New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2d ed. vol. 12 (New York: Thomson & Gale, 2003),
190-193.
209
For example, Kantian and/or analytical philosophers might argue that Basic Goods Theory
appeals to a specific meaning of the words “good” and “evil.” For a summary discussion, see
Mark LeBar, “Kant,” in Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2d ed. vol. 5, general editor Donald
Borchert (New York: Thomson & Gale, 2005), 36-38; and Scott Soames, “Philosophical
Analysis,” in Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2d ed. vol.1, general editor Donald Borchert (New
York: Thomson & Gale, 2005), 144-157.
127
“aspects of our personhood, elements of the blueprint which tells us what human persons

are capable of being, whether as individuals or joined together in community.”210 There

are eight basic goods, which are divided into two categories. The first category is “non-

reflexive” goods—human life, knowledge and aesthetic appreciation, and skilled

performances of all kinds. The second category is “reflexive” goods—self-integration,

authenticity, justice and friendship, religion or holiness, and marriage.211 In broad terms,

the distinction between non-reflexive and reflexive goods is that the former are reasons

for choosing undefined by the choice itself while the latter are both reasons for choosing

and partially defined by the choice itself.212

The first principle of practical reason and the basic goods identified are not

sufficient in and of themselves. With only these two components, there is no structure in

place to make moral choices when a multiplicity of goods is in play or, even in conflict.

Basic goods provide a reason for choosing to act, but do not facilitate prioritization

among the basic goods themselves. In order to fill this void, Basic Goods Theory

introduces the first principle of morality which states: “In voluntarily acting for human

goods and avoiding what is opposed to them, one ought to choose and otherwise will

210
Grisez and Shaw, 54.
211
Ibid., 205-216.
212
Although Basic Goods Theory does not exclude a variety of influences (e.g.,
emotions) in the moral decision-making process, clearly its dominant lens is a cognitive
one as it prioritizes reason and logic. For an overview of the role of emotion in the
development of moral and immoral behavioral patterns, see David M. Cimbora and
Daniel N. McIntosh, “Understanding the Link between Moral Emotions and Behavior,”
in Psychology of Moods, ed. F. Columbus (Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers,
2005), 1-27.
128
those and only those possibilities whose willing is compatible with a will toward integral

human fulfillment.”213

Finally, the generality of the first principle of morality is countered or balanced by

the provision of intermediate principles which are located in eight modes of responsibility

(e.g., “one should not be moved by a stronger desire for one instance of an intelligible

good to act for it by choosing to destroy, damage, or impede some other instance of an

intelligible good….”).214 These intermediate principles are not prescriptive or prohibitive

regarding specific acts (e.g., theft), but are intended to facilitate recognizing choices that

may or may not violate the first moral principal. It is from these eight modes of

responsibility that specific norms for behavior are derived and identified as good, wrong,

obligatory, or permissible.215

Although even this summary presentation of Basic Goods Theory begs the

question as to its practicality and viability for most Catholics, given the fairly

complicated structure for moral decision-making it offers, that is neither the purpose of

this review nor this dissertation. What is relevant to this research and important to note is

one critical end result or conclusion of the theory, as it determines an understanding of

agency between Church teaching and an individual. Beginning with the first principal of

practical reason and ending with specific norms derived from the eight modes of

responsibilities, Basic Goods Theory concludes, in part, with the establishment of

absolute negative norms. Absolute norms relate to those acts in which the willingness

213
Grisez and Shaw, 80.
214
Ibid., 212.
215
Ibid., 254.
129
itself to perform them comprises a will that is inherently incompatible with an open

disposition to integral human fulfillment.216 These norms are negative in determining

inherent incompatibility and absolute in their definitive status allowing no exception. In

short, Basic Goods Theory states that some acts are never morally justified, or in the

classical terminology of Church teaching, are always intrinsically evil.

At first blush this may seem not only reasonable, but also possibly necessary.

Few, if any, would want to argue that genocide is not intrinsically evil. Yet by

establishing the theoretical construct of absolute negative norms, Basic Goods Theory

opens the door for any, or at least many, particular examples to be presented as potential

candidates. Not surprisingly, an array of Church teaching regarding intrinsically evil acts

is immediately presented for review. The specific example of Sue is a case in point.

Deliberate contraception is defined by Church teaching as intrinsically evil and,

therefore, never morally justified, either by the Church itself or by theologians applying

Basic Goods Theory. Nothing more need be said.

There are ample dimensions of Basic Goods Theory that have the possibility of

diverse conclusions or outcomes, especially as competing basic goods are assessed

through the first principal of morality. Nevertheless, the legalistic quality emerges at this

point of absolute negative norms inasmuch as there is little or no place for discussion or

initiating agency if something is absolutely defined by Church teaching. It is clear in the

establishment of absolute negative norms that Basic Goods Theory represents:

…the legalistic model [that] is characterized by an emphasis on Church

teaching as the central way by which the objective dimensions of morality are
known. It regards the Magisterium as the primary vehicle of moral truth.

216
Ibid., 256-259.
130
 Furthermore, it argues for the existence of absolute and universal moral
principles…217

It is worth noting that when Basic Goods Theory is applied to the Church’s teaching of

intrinsically evil acts, those teachings are affirmed.

Given the focus on agency in this research, what is particularly important to

recognize is how this understanding and distribution of agency is extremely skewed in

the direction of Church teaching being the initiator and the individual being the receiver.

Given that “experience” and “reason” represent two of the four primary sources of moral

knowledge, it is curious at best and radically distorted at worst, that lay persons who have

received the vocation of marriage and potentially the privilege and responsibility of child

rearing are not afforded more agency in this arena, especially in terms of being

significant initiators rather than exclusively receivers. This final product of absolute

negative norms is, in fact, the most profound rub between Basic Goods Theory and

Proportionate Reason Theory, including how it distorts the understanding of agency.

Given the common mooring of Proportionate Reason Theory with Basic Goods

Theory in natural law theory, it is not surprising that the two theories resonate in a variety

of domains. Proportionate Reason Theory “…has never denied the validity of any norm

in se taught by the Magisterium and the premoral values that those norms seek to

promote and protect.”218 Therefore, Proportionate Reason Theory does not disagree with

Basic Goods Theory’s general reiteration of those terms flowing from natural law theory.

Both Proportionate Reason Theory and Basic Goods Theory agree with and work from

217
Hogan, 28-29.
218
Salzman, 31.
131
long standing foundational values and norms that are very general and operative in

natural law theory. This is not to suggest that the specific Basic Goods Theory’s

articulation of eight basic goods, eight modes of responsibility as intermediate principles,

et cetera is also present within Proportionate Reason Theory. Both theories’ general

constructs of principles, values, and norms are basically compatible and, by and large,

express what is predominantly a similar method flowing from natural law theory. That

being the case, the review of Proportionate Reason Theory focuses on the difference

between the theories.

Proportionate Reason Theory arrives at a differing conclusion regarding the

possibility of absolute negative norms and this is the crux of the difference between the

two theories. Proportionate reason “is the moral principle used …to determine concretely

and objectively the rightness or wrongness of acts and the various exceptions to

behavioral norms.”219 The term reason is technically understood as “a premoral value,

i.e., a conditioned, and thus not absolute, value which is at stake in a total act.”220

Therefore the term reason is neither to be misinterpreted as an individual having a

“serious reason” nor a “good intention.” Reason, as understood in Proportionate Reason

Theory, is related to “ratio in the act…the premoral [value] the agent seeks to

promote.”221

219
James J. Walter, “The Foundation and Formulation of Norms,” in Moral Theology:
Challenges for the Future, ed. Charles Curran (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1990), 129,
emphasis added.
220
Salzman, 33.
221
Walter, 132, emphasis in original.
132
 The term “proportionate” can readily conjure the image of weighing in or adding

up the values and disvalues present in any given moral consideration. This is a

misinterpretation of the term, inasmuch as that approach basically results in

consequentialism’s understanding of “total net good.” Proportionate, in this theory, is to

be understood as predominantly relational rather than mathematical. As Walter states:

‘Proportionate’ refers to a proper relation (debita proportio) that must

exist between the premoral disvalue(s) contained in or caused by the
means and the end (ratio) or between the end and the premoral disvalue(s)
contained in the further ends (consequences) of the act taken as a whole.222

This is not to suggest that weighing consequences does not come into play in

considering whether or not a proportionate reason exists. It is simply to say that

consequences are only one aspect of the entire act to be considered and must be done in

relationship to premoral values and disvalues. In summary, proportionate reason

basically can be understood as the proper relation between premoral values/disvalues of

the means and the end or consequences.

Proportionate reason parallels the function of Basic Goods Theory’s first principle

of morality, as it too considers the competing values and disvalues of any given act

and/or norm. Not unlike how Basic Goods Theory’s eight modes of responsibility serve

as intermediate principles to nuance the generic or abstract character of the first principle

of morality, Proportionate Reason Theory has criteria that accomplish essentially the

same end with the generic or abstract character of proportionate reason. Those criteria

themselves need not be specifically reviewed in this context, yet suffice it to say that they

222
Ibid.
133
function so as to assess whether or not proportionate reason or proper relation exists in

any given moral consideration.223

What is distinct is how proportionate reason methodologically frames assessing

the morality as related to the whole act through examining how premoral values/disvalues

stand in relationship to the end or consequences. Although Basic Goods Theory does this

as well in many or most instances, in certain cases Basic Goods Theory establishes

absolute negative norms that stand independently, regardless of whatever relationship

might be operative with various ends or consequences. The outcome or consequence

never enters the consideration in those instances because intrinsically evil acts can never

be morally engaged. Proportionate reason does not methodologically or structurally

afford norms an independent status, therefore all acts are considered as a whole (i.e.,

inclusive of means and end).

Similar to the summary presentation of Basic Goods Theory, Proportionate

Reason Theory also begs the question as to its practicality and viability for most

Catholics, given the fairly complicated structure for moral decision-making it also offers,

yet again that is not the question at hand. What is pertinent to this project and important

to note is how agency is framed in this theory. The personalist quality emerges at the

point of denying the establishment of absolute negative norms inasmuch as there is

always a place for discussion and decision as an individual engages proportionate reason.

It is obvious in the rejection of absolute negative norms that Proportionate Reason

Theory represents:

223
For a review of the criterion, see Bernard Hoose, Proportionalism: The American
Debate and its European Roots (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1987),
81-91.
134
 [The personalist model that] prioritizes the personal autonomy and
responsibility of individuals in moral matters. It also focuses on conscience as
the mediator of the divine moral law. Furthermore, it rejects any account of
ethics that relies on absolutist principles.224

It is worth noting that when Proportionate Reason Theory is applied to the

Church’s teaching of intrinsically evil acts, many of those teachings are affirmed, even if

the conclusion is arrived at through a differing process (i.e., proportionate reason) than

that of Basic Goods Theory. The example of contraception being intrinsically evil, and

therefore never morally justified, is not among them though.

Seen through the lens of agency, Proportionate Reason Theory affords the

possibility of ameliorating the imbalance in the distribution of agency that occurs with

Basic Goods Theory when engaging absolute negative norms. Instead of being extremely

skewed in the direction of Church teaching as the initiator and the individual as the

receiver, the individual also may function as the initiator and the Church teaching is the

receiver. Without overthrowing the Church’s teaching role in initiating agency, the

individual informed by Church teaching is supported by the possibility of exercising

agency in the form of initiation as well. In fact, this is precisely the point where primacy

of conscience potentially comes into play when difficult and important moral decisions

are made in the face of ambiguous traditions.

Ultimately the fundamental difference regarding absolute negative norms is a

critical and key difference at the normative and meta-ethic level for the Traditionalist and

Revisionists schools. Consequently, any particular systems of moral theology that flow

from these schools (i.e., the legalistic perspective with Basic Goods Theory and the

224
Hogan, 28-29.
135
personalist perspective with Proportionate Reason Theory) are necessarily limited to and

stymied by this sticking point when it comes to achieving a consensual position for the

Church at large. Ambiguity in the tradition regarding primacy of conscience remains

largely due to the inherently elusive and indefinite dimension of the normative and meta-

ethics conversation. This is the perennial question that has plagued these discussions

since the Enlightenment and the rise of modernism. It is the question of synderesis (i.e.,

the first principles of natural law) that has yet to be resolved and, therefore, continues to

complicate the question of syneidesis (i.e., the particularities of one’s conduct). Our focus

is moral judgments and agency as understood and manifest in primacy of conscience.

Catholic moral theology and its inherently philosophical methodology have

responded to the Second Vatican Council’s call for updating, especially in terms of

overcoming certain limitations inherent in the manualist tradition. Nevertheless, the

debate regarding primacy of conscience remains far from resolved and is unlikely to find

consensual ground soon given the nature of the conversation regarding the understanding of

absolute negative norms. However, consensus between the Traditionalist and Revisionist

schools as well as the legalistic and personalist perspectives is present in terms of identifying

the question of agency as central in the doctrine of primacy of conscience.

After more than four decades, the personalist perspective has sound, even if

contested, footing within the Catholic tradition. Hogan provides a succinct summary of

the personalist perspective which serves as the basis for her historical theological

contribution.

[The personalist perspective]…operates on the basis that ethical values

derive their authority, not from some static and abstract notion of human
nature but from their promotion of the good of the person ‘integrally and

136
 adequately considered.’ This is the ethical model proposed in both
“Gaudium et Spes” and in “Dignitatis Humanae”…[It includes] (1) a
greater recognition of the role of history and change in ethics; (2) a focus
on the moral significance of intentions and circumstances in addition to
the act itself; (3) a greater degree of sophistication in categorizing the
different kinds of moral norms and the kinds of claims they make; and (4)
a rethinking of the relationship between the individual and Magisterium on
the basis of the relocation of moral authority.225

One may wonder whether or not moral theology may have reached the point of

diminishing returns as it attempts to address the question regarding moral responsibility and

authority, which inherently incorporates the question of agency, both individual and

communal. Neither school contests whether or not this question includes primacy of

conscience, yet it is questionable as to whether or not one more philosophical slant will resolve

the fundamental difference between them. Conscious of this limit, Hogan’s research engages

the very same question of primacy of conscience from a historical theological vantage point in

order to bolster the personalist perspective.

Understanding Ambiguity within the Tradition

At the opening of this chapter, ambiguity in the tradition over time was identified

as contributing to the theological problem regarding primacy of conscience that has

arisen from pastoral practice. The role and understanding of agency between the

individual and the Church’s teaching or tradition presents itself as one possible path for

ameliorating the pastoral problem of how to theologically address the two strands in the

Church’s tradition regarding being a moral Catholic. As the Church seems to offer

contradictory advice regarding moral decision-making, ambiguity becomes apparent and

agency becomes requisite. In order to affirm and bolster the personalist perspective, it is

225
Hogan, 127.
137
helpful to examine Hogan’s historical theological study on conscience in the Catholic

tradition as it presents the ambiguity and commensurate difficulty flowing from the

Church’s tradition.

Not only does Hogan’s research deepen the dimensionality of the history and

debate regarding primacy of conscience, but also more importantly, it profoundly reveals

the ambiguity that significantly contributes to the pastoral problem being addressed.

Further, her historical examination of conscience implicitly calls forth the need for an

enhanced understanding of agency, as is evident from her research that Catholics cannot

simply apply an answer that is so apparent and given. Often the expression of having an

informed conscience is misinterpreted as knowing “the answer,” rather than being in

authentic engagement with the tradition. Theological or moral “forks in the road” require

choices that necessitate agency and Hogan has found a drawerful. By amply presenting

the ambiguity within the doctrine’s various trajectories, the call for and necessity of better

understanding agency is blatant and paramount, given the practice of morality presumes

both judgment and behavior.

In a sense, the detail of the material covered by Hogan is less significant in and of

itself than what she accomplishes by reviewing it at large. Her goal—one she aptly

achieves—is to argue “…that any reading that glosses over the inherent contradictions in

the theology and politics of conscience is inadequate.”226 This is not to suggest that she

disregards the material because of the contradictions, rather it is to highlight her recovery

of critical theological dimensions of conscience that have been lost or insufficiently

emphasized—the diversity and plurality (i.e., contradictions) that has always existed has

226
Ibid., 3.
138
been found. This recovery is key to relieving the complications caused by the

misconception of theological uniformity.

The method employed by Hogan is basically a hermeneutics of suspicion, used

for constructive purposes in historical theology. Contrary to presuming consensus, and

sensitive to many Catholics’ misperception that such a consensus actually exists, her

method consciously and effectively explores the breadth of the tradition. In writing of

her methodology, Hogan claims:

A central purpose of this study is to problematize the history of conscience

and to suggest that a hermeneutics of suspicion is necessary when looking
at the story of conscience as implied in current theological debates.
Therefore, in examining the history of conscience in the Catholic tradition
I intend to confront rather than to neglect the many confusions and
contradictions.227

Without reviewing the array of material in her historical research, Hogan confronts a

multitude of “confusions and contradictions.”

Given the historical review within this chapter and other examples throughout the

dissertation that partially reflect or parallel Hogan’s historical work, one example will be

explored. This example of her method will be limited to a single contemporary

authoritative text from the Second Vatican Council that in and of itself captures our

discussion of the legalistic and personalist tradition and discloses an inherent ambiguity

in the tradition. In her words, “the truth is that many of the key theological texts on

conscience, including very recent ones, can be used either to promote or to curtail

personal autonomy. The texts pull in both directions.”228 This manifestation of

ambiguity is somewhat distinct from that which is revealed through a comparative

227
Ibid., 5.
228
Ibid.
139
historical analysis that highlights differing claims over time. A passage from the Second

Vatican Council that seldom, if ever, achieves a consensual understanding serves to

illustrate her method and point:

Deep within their consciences men and women discover a law which they
have not laid upon themselves and which they must obey. Its voice ever
calling them to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, tells them
inwardly at the right moment: do this, shun that. For they have in their
hearts a law inscribed by God. Their dignity rests on observing this law,
and by it they will be judged. Their conscience is people’s most secret
core, and their sanctuary. There they are alone with God, whose voice
echoes in their depths…. Through loyalty to conscience, Christians are
joined to others in the search for truth and for the right solution to so many
moral problems….229

Hogan analyzes the ambiguity of this Vatican II excerpt as follows:

In the early part of the passage the work of conscience is described simply
as obedience to the objective moral law. The task of conscience is to
obey. Yet, in the later sentences the idiom changes substantially. The
paradigm of law is abandoned. Instead, it is the voice of God echoing in
one’s depths that orients the person to seek the good in each situation.230

Although she does not explicitly appeal to the legalistic and personalist schools in

this portion of her analysis, essentially ambiguity within the text lies, in part, in its

incorporation of both voices, with the former being the legalistic and the latter being the

personalist.231 This intentional dynamic, as these theological texts are the product of

extended conversations, or maybe better said negotiations, begs the question as to how a

229
“Pastoral Constitution,” Vatican Council II, 916.
230
Hogan, 111.
231
Additionally, many including this author, would argue that dimensions of the
ambiguity are rooted in linguistics, subjectivity, and the variety of critical lenses that
reflect postmodernism.
140
Catholic is to understand tradition as reflected in Church teachings, especially in the face

of ambiguity.

When Sue and many Catholics like herself, who know the Church’s teaching, or

at least something of it, and want to do the right thing, seek to talk it over with a priest

and get counsel, ambiguity plays a key role in the conversation, both on the part of the

layperson and the priest. Some individuals seeking guidance may have the hope, or even

expectation, that the experience of ambiguity exclusively resides within themselves and

that by being better informed of the tradition by “one who knows,” they will achieve

resolution. Alternatively, other individuals may be well aware of the ambiguity within

Church teaching that exists outside of themselves and are actually desiring counsel as to

how to manage it—a potential invitation to explore primacy of conscience. From the

priest’s perspective, the ambiguity within the tradition may be anything from

complication that is avoided or denied to a resource that is employed in a variety of ways,

not the least of which is engaging primacy of conscience. In short, the pastoral setting

and those occupying it are truly and significantly affected by the presence of ambiguity

within the tradition and, therefore, it necessitates attention and understanding.

Returning to the Second Vatican Council text analyzed by Hogan as an example

of her method, it is critical to recognize that even though this ambiguity in the tradition of

conscience is unresolved, it is anything but unconscious. Commenting upon this

theological text that, as previously stated, is at least a product of extended conversations

if not negotiations, Cardinal Ratzinger claimed, “the fathers of Vatican II were anxious

not to allow an ethics of conscience to be transformed into the domination of

subjectivism, and they were not willing to canonize a limitless situation ethics under the

141
guise of conscience.”232 This negotiated compromise of a “text that pulls in both

directions” reflects the Church consciously developing its doctrine in the midst of tension

between differing theological perspectives, yet it does not resolve the type of ambiguity it

produces nor the consequences that flow from it for Catholics like Sue. In fact, it

contributes to it, especially in any attempt to avoid or deny the ambiguity’s existence.

In addressing the presence of ambiguity within the Church’s teaching, Hogan’s

identification of her task as “clarifying unresolved matters in the tradition” holds a

nuance worth profiling. Her claim is to clarify unresolved matters— clarity is the goal,

not resolution.233 Confronting the illusion of theological homogeneity within the

Catholic tradition is a primary objective in accomplishing her goal. In this instance,

clarification enhances ambiguity, given it highlights confusion and contradiction and, as

such, may exacerbate the lack of resolution, or at least one restricted by singularity of

thought, belief, and practice.

Some Catholics assess themselves and others on the basis of conformity with an

assumed homogenous Catholic tradition. From this perspective, Catholic tradition is

considered monolithic and fixed; therefore, the only real question is whether or not one’s

beliefs and practices rightly conform. The tradition is considered devoid of any

multiplicity that would lead to contradictions or confusion. In short, any real

interpretation of tradition is unnecessary because of an assumed theological harmony and

232
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, quoted in Michael Allsopp, “Conscience, the Church and
Moral Truth: John Henry Newman, Vatican II, Today,” Irish Theological Quarterly 58,
(1992): 197.
233
One could argue that Hogan may, in fact, seek resolution, but this would not be the
resolution of theological homogeneity, but rather the understanding and acceptance of the
management of theological diversity.
142
unity. Hogan’s clarification (i.e., deconstruction) of this theological worldview of

uniformity within the arena of conscience is, in fact, representative of a broader

theological methodology (i.e., historicism) that extends well beyond the topic of

conscience and even Catholicism itself, but merits a summary inclusion given its role and

relevance.

Rooted in the advances of postmodernism, the historical dimension of human

experience has come to the fore as a vital, if not central, component in any critical study.

The historicist perspective actually undergirds Hogan’s work and operates out of the

“assumptions of human situatedness, particularity, and plurality that have come to

characterize Western thought.”234 The analysis of conscience provided by Hogan clearly

reveals that

…our current context is the product of the vagaries of complex and varied
historical processes that have preceded our era and of our own
contemporary responses to and transformations of these processes.235

This historicist understanding of and appreciation for the complexity and development of

context is better elaborated and astutely articulated in Sheila Davaney’s pragmatic

historicism, George Lindbeck’s post-liberalism, and David Tracy’s revisionist

theology.236

234
J. Wentzel van Huyssteen, Backcover quote from Sheila Greeve Davaney, Pragmatic
Historicism: A Theology for the Twenty-First Century (New York: State University of
New York Press, 2000).
235
Sheila Greeve Davaney, Pragmatic Historicism: A Theology for the Twenty-First
Century (New York: State University of New York Press, 2000), 1.
236
See Sheila Greeve Davaney, Pragmatic Historicism: A Theology for the Twenty-First
Century (New York: State University of New York Press, 2000); George Lindbeck, The
143
 Operating from a historicist perspective, the concept of a homogenous tradition is

rejected, as the diversity, plurality, and permeability of contexts exist across both time

and topic. This historicist theological methodology understands tradition as follows:

Traditions of meaning, value, and practice are, thus, always specific and
concrete, developing in localized, not general or abstract ways, intertwined
with other social and cultural factors. They are, therefore, internally
pluralistic. Every tradition is in reality many traditions, conglomerations
of distinctive and even heterogeneous interpretations, sets of meanings and
practices that cannot be assimilated to or reduced to any universally
present factor.237

Ultimately Hogan’s work demonstrates this type of plurality within the Catholic tradition

regarding conscience and reflects a historicist sensibility and analysis, even if not

overt.238

Lest these theological sources be undercut or underappreciated as viable and vital

contributors to the discussion because they are not directly situated within Catholicism,

the work of Catholic theologian Terrance Tilley merits attention. Not only does Tilley

engage Lindbeck and Tracy as theological conversation partners, he competently

demonstrates within the Catholic tradition the type of plurality identified by historicism.

In his Inventing Catholic Tradition, Tilley juxtaposes Pius IX’s famous papal “Syllabus

of Errors” (1864) with the Second Vatican Council’s “Declaration on Religious

Freedom” (1965). The former stated that it was an error to believe that “every person is

Nature of Doctrine (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984); and David Tracy, Plurality and
Ambiguity: Hermeneutics, Religion, Hope (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987).
237
Davaney, 112.
238
For an explicit topical analysis that operates from a historicist perspective, see
Jonathan Z. Smith, “Fences and Neighbors: Some Contours in Early Judaism,” in
Imagining Religion: From Babylon to Jonestown (Chicago: The University of Chicago
Press, 1982), 1-18.
144
free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided by the light of reason, that person

shall consider true.”239 Whereas the latter authoritatively proclaimed that “the human

person has a right to religious freedom…. In matters religious no one is to be forced to

act in a manner contrary to one’s own beliefs. Nor is anyone to be restrained from acting

in accordance with one’s own beliefs, whether privately or publicly.”240 The

contradiction is obvious and the subsequent confusion predictable.241

Tilley not only concretely manifests the internally pluralistic character of the

Catholic tradition, but also presses the matter by questioning the Catholic understanding

of the development of doctrine that posits continuity as an essential element in its

operation. Confronted with the blatant contradiction of these two documents, in his

introduction to the “Declaration on Religious Freedom,” eminent Catholic theologian

John Courtney Murray, S.J. stated:

The notion of development, not the notion of religious freedom, was the
real sticking point for those who opposed the Declaration even to the end.
The course of development between the “Syllabus of Errors” (1864) and
“Dignitatis Humanae” (1965) still remains to be explained by
theologians.242

By dislodging this one fundamental assumption of continuity regarding the

development of doctrine and tradition, Tilley demonstrates the validity and importance of

239
Carlen, The Papal Encyclicals, vol. 3, 90.
240
“Declaration on Religious Freedom,” Vatican Council II, 801.
241
Although less extreme, similarly relevant examples of the internal plurality of
tradition can be found throughout Catholicism. For example, see Rome Has Spoken: A
Guide to Forgotten Papal Statements and How They Have Changed Through the
Centuries, eds. Maureen Fiedler and Linda Rabben (New York: Crossroad, 1998); and
William A. Christian Sr., Oppositions of Religious Doctrines (NY: Herder, 1969).
242
“Declaration on Religious Freedom,” Vatican Council II, 799.
145
the historicist perspective. He claims that “nearly thirty-five years later, no convincing

theory of development has accounted for the ‘course of development’ that allows a clear

contradiction in 1965 of what the highest magisterial authority in the Church taught in

1864.”243 Further, by locating this challenge within the Church’s highest-level

discussions regarding the development of doctrine, Tilley implicitly lays claim to a

similar analysis of the entire spectrum of doctrines. The development of doctrine is more

complexly understood than simply the question of continuity, yet deconstructing this one

dimension radically reframes its understanding.244

Regardless of the final outcome, or more likely even if there is one, in the debate

over the Catholic theological construct of continuity within the development of doctrine

and tradition, the very fact that Tilley and others245 can make this an arguable case is, in

and of itself, extremely relevant to the pastoral problem at hand that is caught up in the

tradition’s ambiguity, all the while necessitating real and practical judgment and action.

In the face of undeniable diversity and multiplicity within the Catholic tradition, however

interpreted and managed barring outright denial, agency must be operative, from the

generation and transmission of the teaching to its reception and application.

Summary

It is neither the intent nor the capacity of this research to resolve the tension and

ambiguity in the tradition between the Traditionalist and Revisionist schools and their
243
Terrence W. Tilley, Inventing Catholic Tradition (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books,
2000), 117.
244
For a classic presentation on the questions and understanding of the development of
doctrine, see John Henry Newman, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine,
2d ed. (London: James Toovey, 1846).
245
For example, John Henry Cardinal Newman and John Courtney Murray, S.J.
146
corresponding expressions, inasmuch as to do so would be the equivalent of achieving

theological homogeneity. The debate between the legalistic and personalist perspectives

will continue well beyond this work as “the texts pull in both directions” and the two

corresponding perspectives prioritize differing values and configurations. Just as

Hogan’s work bolsters the personalist perspective without resolving the debate or

difference, similarly my goal is not to clear the balance of the debate, but just to further

tip the scale in the direction of the personalist perspective.

Given the absence of a pastoral theological perspective and the relevance of

Bandura’s insights and empirical research in these debates, I believe an important

contribution is possible in the ongoing engagement of this pastoral theological

conundrum. I intentionally locate the problem as pastoral theological rather than moral,

ethical, or philosophical in order to broaden the base of the conversation. Further, it is

my contention that the debate’s impasse will not achieve significant progress by the

simple turn of yet another screw (i.e., just one more text interpreted in just the right light

after the fashion that so many other texts have already been considered). In other words,

the current direction of the conversation tends to be yielding diminishing returns. Rather,

approaching the issue from another legitimate theological discipline that has not found a

voice in the conversation may truly contribute to loosening the logjam. This is an

example of how “pastoral theology, like practical theology, contributes not only to the

formulation of theory and practice relevant to the ministry of care, but also recovers,

corrects, and expands viewpoints in other branches of theology and ministry.”246 As a

pastoral theologian, I press the discussion for theoretical coherence and practical

246
Graham, Care of Persons 23-24, emphasis added.
147
applicability. In this respect, the pastoral theological task, informed by the priestly work

of providing moral guidance to conscience-driven parishioners, tilts toward the

personalist interpretation. When so tilted, not only is ambiguity in the tradition more

fully recognized, but so also do matters of personal agency come into prominence.

The principal thrust of this dissertation’s examination of primacy of conscience is

that agency is a critical element in understanding the meaning and function of primacy of

conscience within the relationship between the social group (as reflected in the terms

tradition and authority) and the individual (as reflected in the term primacy of

conscience)—an agency that is interdependent and at times in conflict. One of the

unstated assumptions and/or insufficiently developed concepts within the primacy of

conscience debate between obedience to tradition and following individual conscience is the

status of agency as it relates to primacy. This turn to agency brings several questions about

primacy of conscience into the foreground. Does the concept of “primacy” within the

tradition of conscience hint at or even push toward a certain interpretation of agency?

How is agency predominantly understood within the current debate regarding conscience

and what other ways might be understood? Is there something beneficial within the

concept of primacy of conscience that has either been “lost” or not yet discovered within

the tradition? How can we further understand primacy in light of Bandura contemporary

insights regarding agency?

The next chapter will explore these questions regarding agency. Clearly the

personalist view of primacy of conscience has been well articulated by moral and

historical scholars like McCormick, Curran, and Hogan, yet a constructive pastoral

theological appropriation and interpretation of the personalist view of primacy of

148
conscience in the Catholic tradition, when primacy is amplified with the implications

drawn from a SCT view of agency, is another critical resource lacking in the conversation

and understanding.

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 CHAPTER FOUR

THE LENS OF AGENCY

In these agentic transactions, people are producers as well as products of social systems.

Personal agency and social structure operate interdependently.247

Graham’s pastoral theology in Care of Persons, Care of Worlds examines the

pastoral and theological context in systemic terms and clearly considers agency to be an

important dimension of power. As discussed in Chapter 2, his work and Bandura’s

resonate well with one another and are broadly compatible in that they share a systemic

perspective on relationality, and they emphasize the importance of agency. Yet from the

outset of this chapter it is critical to state that the character of their theories and

commensurate contributions differ substantially. Graham considers agency as an

important dimension of power, and looks at the pastoral and theological situation in

systemic terms. Bandura’s research with Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) gives social

scientific grounding for a systemic perspective, and offers resources Graham does not for

relating this perspective to the personalist view of primacy of conscience. Graham’s

pastoral theology locates Bandura and this project regarding primacy of conscience in a

pastoral, theological, and systemic context. From that location, Bandura offers more

disciplined behavioral science research and theory on the social-personal interfaces

247
Bandura, “Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective,” 15.
150
involved in decision-making about moral concerns. In short, the pastoral theological

method sets the context and SCT norms the claims.

From the discipline of social psychology and its corresponding methods of

research, SCT examines the interaction of social structures and individuals (e.g., the

Church and its members) through Bandura’s idea of reciprocal determinism. The

problem of either the Church or the individual having moral agency can be better

addressed from this systemic perspective. Within the structure of what he calls

“reciprocal determinism,” Bandura speaks of agency and human intentionality in ways

that some social psychologies do not. Consequently, his work compared to other

perspectives can better amplify moral theology that requires agency and rejects

deterministic explanations of moral lives. Bandura’s theorizing about agency includes

discussion of self-reflectiveness, perceived self-efficacy, and social persuasion. All of

these are important for illuminating agency in primacy of conscience and are not present

in Graham’s pastoral theology.

By drawing upon SCT, as one distinct and well established social cognitive theory, this

chapter intends to offer support for the personalist view of conscience when primacy is

amplified with the implications drawn from an SCT understanding of agency. Catholic moral

theologians recognize and accept agency as a factor in the question of primacy of conscience;

nevertheless its understanding and articulation is still capable of further development.

Generally, in Catholic moral theology and in the debate regarding conscience in particular,

agency is understood and articulated philosophically and is a common notion with varying

interpretations. Hence, Catholic moral theology and the particular question of conscience can

benefit from the array of resources available within the scientific field that may illuminate the

151
conversation. As I will show, SCT is once such resource. SCT both aligns with and amplifies

the important concept of agency within the doctrine of primacy of conscience and illuminates

the corresponding theological conversation on a variety of levels.

This chapter will first address how science, and more specifically social science, is

understood and employed by pastoral theology. An historical study of empirical psychologies

and the Catholic notion of conscience will provide a contemporary mooring for and example of

the intersection between theology and psychology as related to the question and understanding

of conscience. The second portion of this chapter will provide the background of SCT as well

as a summary orientation to the theory, especially as it addresses the systemic and relational

character of the human experience as related to agency and decision-making. As the SCT

understanding of agency is further examined, additional dimensions of the theory will be

considered that are relevant for better understanding agency within the exercise of primacy

of conscience. This will include what SCT considers the normative cognitive dynamics of

self-reflectiveness, perceived self-efficacy, and social persuasion. But before this

dissertation engages any of the specific details of the scientific theories and/or studies

being considered, it is vital to be clear about the possibilities and limits of this cross-

disciplinary venture.

Science as a Resource in Pastoral Theology

One need not be an historical theologian to readily recognize that Catholicism’s

historical relationship with science has been not only ambiguous, but even conflicted at times.

On the one hand Aquinas’ theological application of science through the integration of

Aristotelian philosophy stands to this day as a remarkable, if not revered, cross-disciplinary

venture within Catholic theology. On the other hand, questions, thoughts, and theories flowing

152
from intellectuals, be they philosophers or scientists, have not always been so well received, as

the Church’s response to modernism clearly reflects as a case in point. Given the muddied

waters of this historical relationship between the Church and its use science, it is important to

begin this chapter by clearly stating what is and is not intended as an outcome through an

appeal to the field of science in order to amplify an understanding of agency, and what

implications scientific resources might bring to bear upon interpreting the meaning of primacy

of conscience.

First and foremost, a scientific perspective is not included here in order to function as

the final arbiter regarding how agency is to be correctly understood. That is, it does not provide

proof of both the existence and intricacy of agency, let alone that the legalistic perspective is

wrong whereas the personalist perspective is right. Although the existence of agency is a given

within Catholic moral theological circles, that is not actually the case within the scientific field.

In this particular debate regarding conscience, Catholic theologians primarily question where

moral agency resides. Yet some scientists question not where, but whether agency even exists

(at least agency as it is framed within these theological conversations).248 Within the scientific

field itself, the jury is still out on this question. Cases from many positions are researched,

made, and argued; consequently, science cannot and does not prove, disprove, or resolve any

and all questions about the existence of agency and any corresponding agential dynamics.

Even if relatively committed to certain similar methodological moorings, the theories and

248
For examples of scientific perspectives questioning the understanding and/or existence
of agency, see Adina Roskies, “Neuroscientific Challenges to Free Will and
Responsibility,” Trends in Cognitive Sciences 10, (2006): 419-423; Ted Honderich, The
Consequences of Determinism: A Theory of Determinism, vol.2 (Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1990); and Leonard W. Doob, Inevitability: Determinism, Fatalism, and Destiny
(New York: Greenwood Press, 1988).
153
practices of science are not homogenous and scientific disciplines indisputably carry content

and conclusions that stand in tension and remain in question, not unlike the discipline of

theology. In short, science informs this theological research as one among a number of

authoritative, but not determinative, resources.

Second, given the indeterminate quality of the scientific debate regarding agency, it is

critical to identify that neither this chapter nor this dissertation is a study on agency. Therefore,

the array of scientific views regarding agency will not be considered, although it is important to

note the range of the continuum. On one end, some theories call into question the very

existence of agency, all the while being labeled reductionistic and deterministic by others,

including the Church.249 On the other end of the continuum, reputable scientific voices (e.g.,

Bandura) are making a claim for an understanding of agency that resonates with that of

Catholic theology as regards human society and individuals. These claims, even if not

definitive, certainly are among a body of credible provisional knowledge that has emerged

from science and social science. As such, scientific attempts to shed light upon the question of

agency, not the least of which is social cognitive theory, merit the attention of pastoral

theology. In sum, SCT is the location on the continuum regarding the scientific research that

will be explored.

Yet just as science broadly understood does not provide a sole position on the question

of agency, neither does social cognitive theory. Bandura’s SCT is actually but one expression

within a number of social cognitive theories and, in certain dimensions, the differences between

249
Edward Slingerland, “Who's Afraid of Reductionism? The Study of Religion in the
Age of Cognitive Science,” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 76, (2008):
375-411.
154
them are not merely nominal.250 Although any number of differences are operative

between SCT and the broader circle of more “traditional” social cognitive theories, it is

most important to note in light of the focus of this dissertations that the latter take a less

agentic or intentional view of human conduct. For example, more “traditional” social

cognitive theories significantly attend to automatic and unintentional processes that do

not conjure the concept of agency, let alone intentionality, while SCT integrates these

automatic and unintentional processes as in relationship on some level to both agency and

intentionality. Other social cognitive theories may, to a degree, integrate these automatic

and unintentional processes as in relationship to both agency and intentionality in the

same way that Bandura does, but their belief in the possibility of agency may be quite

different from that of SCT. Therefore, similar to this chapter not being a study on agency, it

is also not intended to be a study on social cognitive theory at large. SCT is the principal social

250
For examples of proponents of other social cognitive theories, see E. Rafaeli-Mor and
J. Steinberg, “Self-complexity and Well-being: A Review and Research Synthesis,”
Personality and Social Psychology Review 6, (2002): 31-58; R. M. Ryan and E. L. Deci,
“Self-determination Theory and the Facilitation of Intrinsic Motivation, Social
Development, and Well-being,” American Psychologist 55, (2000): 68-78; W. Mischel
and Y. Shoda, “A Cognitive-affective System Theory of Personality: Reconceptualizing
Situations, Dispositions, Dynamics, and Invariance in Personality Structure,”
Psychological Review 102, (1995): 246-268; E. T. Higgins, “Self-discrepancy: A Theory
Relating Self and Affect,” Psychological Review 94, (1987): 319-340; and P. W.
Linville, “Self-complexity as a Cognitive Buffer Against Stress-related Illness and
Depression,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 52, (1987): 663-676. For
examples of critics of social cognitive theories, see J. A. Johnson, “Persons in Situations:
Distinguishing New Wine from Old Wine in New Bottles,” European Journal of
Personality 13, (1999): 443-453; K. J. Gergen, “Social Psychology and the Wrong
Revolution,” European Journal of Social Psychology 19, (1989): 463-484; D. T. Kenrick
and D. C. Funder, “Profiting from Controversy: Lessons from the Person-situation
Debate,” American Psychologist 43, (1988): 23-34; and S. Epstein, “Stability of
Behavior: Predicting Most of the People Much of the Time,” Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology 37, (1979): 1097-1126.

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cognitive theory being explored as one voice among social cognitive theories. Further, SCT

has unique dimensions that are not operative in every social cognitive theory and would even

be contested by some.

In accord with the methodology of this pastoral theology, cognate sources like social

psychology or, more specifically in this instance, SCT are engaged in order to potentially offer

insight and perspective into whatever question or problem the theological project is addressing.

Yet, as noted above, the scientific resources themselves often stand in tension with differing

positions within their respective fields. It is neither the role nor the capacity of pastoral

theology to resolve those differences, yet it is the responsibility of pastoral theology to appeal to

those resources in accurate and credible ways. In this instance, therefore, both the possibilities

and limits of the contribution of SCT need to be identified.

The possibility of SCT amplifying an understanding of agency and the implications it

may bear for understanding primacy of conscience deserve attention given SCT’s legitimate

status within the field of social psychology and its relevance to the topic at hand. The

contribution of this specific scientific trajectory may be waning in the face of new

neuroscientific research, yet at present it is neither considered antiquated nor irrelevant. The

limits of SCT also need to be identified, even if not explored. SCT does not represent the

perspective of all social cognitive theories regarding the concept of agency, let alone that of the

scientific field at large. In short, SCT offers a limited and provisional scientific contribution to

the theological question and conversation regarding agency, but does not include the extremely

diverse and contrary scientific perspectives that also exist. Finally, in terms of the broad limits

and possibilities of pastoral theology engaging the sciences, it is vital to recognize that the end

156
product, at least in this particular project, is a conversation informed and illuminated by a

scientific perspective, but is not a scientific conversation as such.

Therefore, as summarized in Chapter 2, SCT will be employed in this dissertation in

order to expand and explicate some of the agential dimensions involved in an act of claiming

primacy of conscience. One dimension of conscience, given its engagement of judgment and

action, is that it is an expression of agency. Not only does the ambiguity inherent within the

Catholic tradition, as noted in the previous chapter, necessitate an understanding and

exercise of agency, but also the very term “primacy” within the doctrine itself suggests, if

not demands, an appreciation for the role of agency in moral decision-making when

choices differ from the normative teaching of the tradition. An enhanced understanding of

agency will not eliminate ambiguity within the tradition, yet it can better facilitate, both for the

individual and the Church, an ability to manage the challenges and opportunities present within

the tradition’s ambiguity.

Bandura’s systemic insight into agency and its implications can help recover, if not

amplify and further, the initial understanding and role of primacy within the doctrine of

conscience. At the core and most critically, SCT examines the reciprocal and interactive

agential framework within which personal and social dynamics emerge and are operative

such that one cannot be fully understood in isolation from the other.251 This framing of

251
The self-society interaction operative in SCT is consistent with other theoretical
framings within social psychology, for example social structure and role-theory. For a
review of social structure, see James S. House, “Social Structure and Personality,” in
Social Psychology: Sociological Perspectives eds., Morris Rosenberg and Ralph H.
Turner (New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 1990), 525-562. For a review of role
theory, see Karen Danna-Lynch, "Revisiting Role Theory: A Sociocognitive
Perspective." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological
Association, Montreal Convention Center, Montreal, Canada, August 11, 2006.
157
agency facilitates understanding and integrating individual and communal agential

dynamics that must be present if the Catholic view of primacy of conscience is to better

assist Catholics and become more fully intelligible to the tradition itself, especially given

its ambiguity about various levels of responsibility for moral decisions.

Rather than an “either-or” approach that pits the individual and the Church against

one another, Bandura’s systemic conceptualization of agency presents a “both-and”

framework that affords both parties unique expressions of agency. The general terms of

initiating and receiving introduced by Graham when discussing agency are explored in

greater detail through the SCT framing of reciprocal determinism. As Bandura presents

behavioral scientific research and theory on the social-personal interfaces involved in

decision-making about moral concerns, SCT’s view of agency examines cognition,

behavior, the environment, and their reciprocal interaction in a fashion that enhances an

understanding of primacy of conscience. Specifically, Bandura’s research examines

cognitive and behavioral dimensions of agency (i.e., the role of self-reflectiveness,252

perceived self-efficacy,253 and social persuasion254) that potentially engage and amplify

unexplored dimensions of the function of primacy of conscience. These will be explored

in greater detail when this chapter enters its major section on SCT and addresses its

background, provides an overview of its systemic perspective of reciprocal determinism, and

its understanding of agency.

252
Bandura, “Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective,” 10-11.
253
Bandura, “Self-efficacy,” 71-81.
254
Bandura, “Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective,” 3.
158
 With that framing in mind before going into the major SCT portion of this chapter, a

relatively recent historical mooring will be helpful in understanding the contemporary

intersection between psychology and Catholic moral theology regarding the concept of

conscience. In order to accomplish this end, the research of Thomas Srampickal will be drawn

upon.255 This research represents what was, at the time, a moderately progressive cross-

disciplinary study regarding empirical psychology and a Catholic understanding of conscience.

First, his research and conclusions regarding the concept of conscience in empirical psychology

will be reviewed. From that point, his examination of the use of the concept of conscience in

the documents of the Second Vatican Council will be sketched. Finally, Srampickal’s

synthesis and conclusion of how these empirical psychologies influential at the time of the

Second Vatican Council intersect with the understanding of conscience operative in the

documents of the Second Vatican Council will be provided. The era of Srampickal’s research

coincides with the emergence of the legalistic and personalist perspectives regarding

conscience that have consolidated in the ensuing decades and remain to this day.

In addition to providing a historical platform for entering the conversation between

psychology and Catholic theology regarding primacy of conscience, Srampickal’s research

identifies two conclusions particularly relevant to this dissertation. The two principal points

that will be drawn from Srampickal’s work are as follows. First, there is a need in the

documents of the Second Vatican Council for an improved understanding and articulation of

the social nature of the person. Srampickal’s critique of the Second Vatican Council’s

documents remains relevant to this day and stands on its own. Second, psychology is a

255
Thomas Srampickal, The Concept of Conscience in Today’s Empirical Psychology
and in the Documents of the Second Vatican Council (Innsbruck, Austria: Resch Verlag,
1976).
159
unique and important scientific resource for understanding the dynamics related to the

formation and development of conscience. Although this dissertation does not intend to further

the exploration of conscience along the lines of the particular empirical psychologies

Srampickal employed, it does agree with dimensions of his conclusions and will explore them

through SCT.

A Catholic Study on Conscience in the 1970’s

Slightly more than a decade after the close of the Second Vatican Council,

Srampickal’s The Concept of Conscience in Today’s Empirical Psychology and in the

Documents of the Second Vatican Council became the principal resource that identified

and elaborated both the resonance and dissonance present between Catholic theological

and select modern psychological perspectives on the concept of conscience.

Srampickal’s comparative analysis of conscience serves as one expression of the broader

context of the day in its exploration of the intersection between both theological and

psychological interpretations and critiques of the concept of conscience.256 Although his

research on the concept of conscience in the documents of the Second Vatican Council

and empirical psychology is principally limited to the Catholic arena, substantial overlap

exists across Christian denominations.

The study and understanding of conscience, like so many other dimensions of the

person and society, underwent substantial, if not radical, reformulation in the modern era.

This dissertation does not provide an extensive review of that history as it emerged and

developed. Nevertheless, Srampickal’s research affords a sufficient summary entry point

256
For example, see Paul Ricoeur, Martin Buber, Paul Lehmann, Paul Tillich, Josef
Rudin, N. H. G. Robinson, and Ewert H. Cousins in Conscience: Theological and
Psychological Perspectives, ed. C. Ellis Nelson (New York: Newman Press, 1973).
160
into this reformulation regarding conscience by virtue of his comparative analysis of the

empirical psychology of the time and what were the recently drafted documents of the

Second Vatican Council. Although other disciplines, especially philosophy and its

impact on theology through the emergence of existentialism and phenomenology, played

significant roles in this modern reformulation, Srampickal’s focus, like that of this

dissertation, is the impact and contribution of psychology for the understanding of

conscience in relationship to the Catholic tradition.

Conscience and Empirical Psychology

The three main psychological theories integrated into Srampickal’s research are

cognitive-developmental, identification, and learning theories. From approximately

1950, “…empirical psychology began to show a great interest in and concern for the

study of conscience. This resulted in a more systematic study—both in theoretical

formulation and in empirical investigations—of conscience.”257 The investigation into

conscience through these various theoretical orientations and corresponding empirical

explorations provides insight into the dimensions and development of conscience.258

Nevertheless, the contribution of psychology toward the reformulation of the concept of

conscience in the modern era began well before the 1950’s, as Sigmund Freud’s

introduction of psychoanalytic psychology profoundly altered the conversation and

understanding at the turn of the century. As Srampickal notes: “From the psychological

point of view, the theory that had been influencing the ‘concept of conscience’ up to a

257
Srampickal, 1.
258
Ibid., 2.
161
quarter of a century ago was the ‘superego’ concept of the Freudian depth

psychology.”259

Although the influence of Freud will be implicitly addressed in the section on

identification theory, it is worth noting, in the very broadest of strokes, Freud’s

understanding of conscience as it relates to the super-ego. In the context of the basic

elements of the psychic apparatus coined by Freud—the id, the ego, and the super-ego—

the phenomena of conscience principally reside in the super-ego. The super-ego, initially

formed by authorities’ external demands, principally parental, on the child’s ego,

eventually displaces these authorities and serves as its own locus of power as it reflects

an internalized manifestation of those primal external authorities and their demands.260

In Freud’s words, “The super-ego takes the place of the parental function, and

thenceforward observes, guides and threatens the ego in just the same way as the parents

acted to the child before.”261

Certainly one cannot limit Freud’s insight into conscience simply to its

relationship to the super-ego, as his forays into that question were both broad and deep,

nevertheless the function of the super-ego stands front and center in the conversation as it

relates to the psychic structure.262 According to Paul Lehmann, “…for Freud, the neurotic

259
Ibid., 1.
260
Paul Lehmann, “The Decline and Fall of Conscience,” in Conscience: Theological and
Psychological Perspectives, ed. C. Ellis Nelson (New York: Newman Press, 1973), 39.
261
Sigmund Freud, Introductory Lectures on PsychoAnalysis, ed. James Strachey (New
York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1989), 89.
262
For example, see Sigmund Freud’s The Origins of Psychoanalysis (1910); Group
Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego (1922); The Problem of Lay Analysis (1927);
Civilization and Its Discontents (1930); and The Problem of Anxiety (1936).
162
and the societal aspects of the phenomena of conscience meet in the super-ego and its

operation. In a word, conscience is the super-ego.”263 This claim alone gives a sense of

the historic impact Freud’s theory and practice had on the substantial and radical

reformulation of the concept of conscience in the modern era. In this dissertation,

Freud’s influence will be implicitly referred to and covered by Srampickal’s review of

identification theory. Therefore, a brief review of the empirical psychology employed by

Srampickal is in order.

The first of the empirical psychological theories to be addressed is cognitive-

developmental theory. These approaches into the investigation of the phenomena of

conscience are well represented through the renowned work of Jean Piaget and Lawrence

Kohlberg. Although of historical import and influential at the time of Srampickal’s

research, it is important to note that these theories, or at least dimensions of them, are

both dated and fairly controversial (e.g., the concept of stages, at least strictly defined).

Therefore, the material is reviewed here inasmuch as it is part of the historical

conversation between psychology and Catholic theology that Srampickal addresses.

What is of note from these theories though, inasmuch as it relates to this dissertation and

is not strongly contested or controversial, is the claim that moral development includes

and is influenced by the interaction between the person and the environment.

Cognitive-developmental theories principally attend to the cognitive dimensions

of moral responses. Further, these moral responses are understood as moving through

263
Lehmann, 39, emphasis in original.
163
developmental changes that correspond to shifts within the cognitive structure.264

Cognitive-developmental research predominantly focused on the variables that affect and

alter a child’s moral thinking and judgment. Without going into the detail of the theories

of Piaget or Kohlberg as they reflect cognitive-developmental approaches into the

investigation of the phenomena of conscience, there are points of agreement or

intersection between these theorists that reflect the general thrust of the cognitive-

developmental perspective.

At the time of Srampickal’s research, empirical psychology accepted the

theoretical structure of stages. Both Piaget and Kohlberg identified stages that posit a

‘natural,’ if not universal, pattern of moral development that correlates to maturation-

growth. Although there is currently substantial critique of both theories, it is worth

noting their stages at least as an historical context of cognitive-developmental theories.

For example, Piaget claimed a child’s moral development occurs in basically two stages

that are qualitatively different.265 The first stage (heteronomous) is located at

approximately age 7 and the second stage (autonomous) is placed around the age of 9.

Adult constraint and egocentricity are principal factors in the development of the first

phase. Maturation, intellectual development and social experiences are the principal

casual factors in the development of the second phase. Kohlberg, building upon the work

264
E. Turiel, “An Experimental Test of the Sequentiality of Developmental Stages in the
Child’s Moral Judgments,” in Conscience, Contract, and. Social Reality, eds. R. C.
Johnson, P. R. Rokecki, and O. H. Mowrer (New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston,
1972), 308.
265
Jean Piaget, The Moral Judgment of the Child (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul,
1932).
164
of Piaget, posited three levels that consisted of six stages.266 The first level of

Preconventional Morality consisted of Stage 1 (Obedience and Punishment Orientation)

and Stage 2 (Individualism and Exchange). The second level of Conventional Morality

consisted of Stage 3 (Good Interpersonal Relationships) and Stage 4 (Maintaining the

Social Order). The third level of Postconventional Morality consisted of Stage 5 (Social

Contract and Individual Rights) and Stage 6 (Universal Principles).

Certainly there are additional points of resonance as well as dissonance between

the theories of Piaget and Kohlberg, not to mention early cognitive-developmental

theorists like J. Mark Baldwin,267 George Herbert Mead,268 or their predecessors, but

those are not necessary here, given the brief nature of this review. What remains relevant

for this research from the cognitive-developmental approach is the claim that moral

development is interactional inasmuch as maturational factors that are internal interact

with environmental factors that are external.269 As will be seen later, this final point is

central to the systemic insight of SCT.

In addition to cognitive-developmental theories, identification theory is examined

in Srampickal’s research. Identification approaches into the investigation of the

phenomena of conscience are represented by Srampickal through a variety of theorists.

As examples he recognizes, R. R. Sears, E. Maccoby, H. Levin, W. Allinsmith, R.

266
Lawrence Kohlberg, The Psychology of Moral Development (San Francisco: Harper
& Row, 1984).
267
J. Mark Baldwin, Social and Ethical Interpretations of Mental Development (New
York: Macmillan, 1906).
268
George Herbert Mead, Mind, Self, and Society from the Standpoint of a Social
Behaviorist (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1934).
269
Srampickal, 254-255.
165
Grinder, R. Burton, J. M. Whiting, and I. L. Child as important contributors to the

empirical study of conscience from the perspective of identification theory.

Nevertheless, these expressions of identification theory clearly harken to and are built

upon the renowned work of Freud. Certainly psychoanalytic psychology itself does not

directly fit within the usual understanding of empirical psychology, yet the impact of

Freud and psychoanalysis looms so large in relationship to this theory that Srampickal

finds it necessary to delineate the research he draws upon. Specifically he notes:

Here we are not interested in the clinically-based psychoanalytical theory

of identification and conscience, but in a more empirically-oriented theory
of identification and conscience development. This latter has of course
drawn its major inspiration from the psychoanalytical and the stimulus-
response theories.270

Identification theory approaches the question of conscience from the perspective

of inner control integrated through identification with the parents whereby the child

internalizes the values espoused by the parents, whether verbal or behavioral. According

to this theory, normally conscience is established in childhood around the age of six. The

child’s dependency upon the parent, expressed as anxiety over the potential loss of love

and/or necessary material resources for survival, is the basic motive for identification.

Ultimately, the early parent-child relationship and corresponding care or training serve as

the principal factors that contribute to identification which, in turn, also fosters the

development of conscience.271

270
Ibid., 106.
271
Ibid., 106-121.
166
 Whereas cognitive-developmental theories principally attend to the cognitive

dimensions of moral responses, identification theories predominantly focus upon a

variety of relational factors that contribute to the development of conscience. In short,

According to identification theory, a chain of interrelated factors are

involved in the development of conscience: conscience develops as a
result of the child’s internalization of parental values through a special
form of learning. This learning has its motives, and the strength of these
motives varies according to certain factors in the early parent-child
interaction.272

Ultimately the development of conscience is interpreted as a unique type of self

control.273 Specifically it is considered the child’s inner control as distinguished from

both external control of the child and the child’s self-control based upon punishment and

reward. The distinguishing factor of this inner control, as interpreted by identification

theory, is the dynamic of the early parent-child identification.274

The third and final of the empirical psychological theories to be addressed is

learning theory. Srampickal presents three types of learning theory relevant for

interpreting conscience: classical conditioning theory,275 instrumental learning theory,276

and observational learning theory.277 These theories, as Klaus Foppa states,

272
Ibid., 109.
273
R. R. Sears, E. Maccoby, and H. Levin, Patterns of Child Rearing (Evanston, IL: Row
& Peterson, 1957), 362.
274
Ibid.
275
For example, J. B. Watson, “Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It,” Psychological
Review 20, (1913): 158-177; and W. I. Smith and J. W. Moore, Conditioning and
Instrumental Learning (New York: McGraw Hill, 1966).
276
For example, W. F. Hill, “Learning Theory and the Acquisition of Values,” in
Conscience, Contract, and. Social Reality, eds. R. C. Johnson, P. R. Rokecki, and O. H.
Mowrer (New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, 1972); and J. Aronfreed, Conduct and
167
 …are not concerned exclusively with the explanation and systematic
representation of the learning processes, but are more or less general
theories of behavior, which merely happen to start from the common
assumption that the environmental influences operative in learning
processes are of major importance for our understanding of the ways in
which the individual adapts to his environment.278
Deeply rooted in experimental models, learning theories and their corresponding research

focus on the acquisition and modification of behavior which, in turn, give rise to

principles that frame an understanding of the development and function of conscience.

Bandura’s initial research began in the arena of learning theories, specifically

observational learning theory. In hindsight, it is clear that observational learning theory

was the harbinger of Bandura’s later development of SCT. Whereas classical

conditioning and instrumental learning assume direct reinforcements (i.e., the subject’s

direct experience of rewards and punishments), observational learning posits, while not

denying the role of direct reinforcements, that the subject’s observation of models also

contributes to the learning process. What is of particular interest in this distinction

between observational learning and both classical conditioning and instrumental learning

is the function and affect of the observation itself. For example, from an observational

learning perspective, if a parent models certain behavior in a given situation, whether that

behavior is reinforced or punished, the child can learn from that observation. In short,

Conscience: The Socialization of Internalized Control over Behavior (New York:

Academic Press, 1968).
277
For example, A. Bandura and R. H. Walters, Social Learning and Personality
Development (New York: Rinehart, & Winston, 1963); and A. Bandura and C. Kupers,
“Transmission of Patterns of Self-Reinforcement through Modeling,” Journal of
Abnormal and Social Psychology 69, (1964): 1-9.
278
Klaus Foppa, “Learning Theory,” in Encyclopedia of Psychology, vol. 2, eds. H. J.
Eysenck et al (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1972), 193, emphasis in original.
168
learning as part of the formation and development of conscience is affected by social

interaction, either through direct or observed experience.

These three categories of empirical psychology—cognitive-developmental,

identification, and learning theories—contributed in unique ways to the understanding of

the dimensions and development of conscience. Certainly differences in understanding

the dimensionality and development of conscience exist not only between the three broad

theoretical categories identified, but also within those categories themselves.

Nevertheless, Srampickal gleans several claims about the nature, dimensionality, and

development of conscience that surface from these various approaches and their

corresponding research. And while other psychologies than those he cites may given

better explanations for these processes, he lays the groundwork for interpreting the

relationship between conscience understood psychologically and primacy of conscience

understood theologically.

First, in very general terms regarding its nature, conscience relates to subjective

interiorization, however that is understood to be realized or accomplished. That is to say,

conscience relates to a person’s response from within and does not solely rely upon

external sanctions, whether actual or imagined. These various theories recognize, each in

its own manner, that this interior response neither develops nor exists in isolation or a

vacuum, given the social and environmental character of experience. Finally, according

to these theories, a person’s internal response is centered or located in the domain of

moral values, regardless of how they are understood to be constructed, such that there is a

169
sense of obligation as to how individuals think and feel they should act in any given

circumstance.279

Second, the internal response rooted in morals and values is understood as having

three basic dimensions—thinking, acting, and feeling.280 These dimensions, although

interrelated, have unique functions as related to a person’s internal response. Srampickal

gives a succinct summary as follows:

The cognitive dimension judges and evaluates one’s intentions, actions,

conflict situations, etc., in light of one’s values. The behavioral dimension
urges one to behave in accordance with these evaluations. The emotional
dimension mobilizes ‘aversive’ feelings—fear (anxiety), shame, and
guilt—and ‘pleasant’ feelings—satisfaction, joy, etc.—and motivates the
individual to restore (or maintain) the integrity of his values.281

Third, in terms of the development of conscience, there are a variety of ways to

interpret the learning process—cognitive learning, identification, and learning theories

(i.e., classical conditioning, instrumental learning, and observational learning). Further,

279
Srampickal, 336.
280
It should be noted that the research reviewed by Srampickal did not show high
consistency either within single dimensions or across dimensions (see Srampickal, 337-
338).
281
Ibid., 336, emphasis in original. It is worth noting that since Srampickal’s project in
1976, substantial data is available from mainstream attitude research. The three
dimensions that he employs (i.e., Affective, Behavioral, and Cognitive) are generally
seen as the three components of attitudes. That said, from the perspective of mainstream
attitude research, a person’s evaluative reaction to any given attitude object (e.g., the
morality of a particular act, or substance, or belief) would be able to be understood using
these dimensions. Although beyond the scope of this dissertation, exploring how morality
may be understandable as a special case of attitudes might further the understanding of
the formation and development of conscience. At a minimum, examining how the
research and literature addresses where attitudes come from and how they function being
relevant to specifically moral attitudes would further enhance this conversation. For
further reference, see Alice H. Eagly and Shelly Chaiken, “Attitude Research in the 21st
Century: The Current State of Knowledge,” The Handbook of Attitudes, eds. Dolores
Albarracin, Blair T. Johnson, and Mark P. Zanna (New York: Routledge, 2005), 743-764.
170
the learning process, understood differently according to each given theory, incorporates

a variety of dimensions in the development of conscience. For example, the learning

process includes a person’s maturation, intellectual development, empathy potential, and

temperament as well as aspects of familial relationships (i.e., love and nurturance,

discipline and training, parental values and example) and extra-familial relationships (i.e.,

peer-groups, society at large).282

Not surprisingly after reviewing the array of data and conclusions related to and

emerging from these various theories in their investigation into the phenomena of

conscience, Srampickal states that one clear definition does not clearly emerge.

Nevertheless, given the empirical character of the psychology reviewed, Srampickal does

claim to be able to make an empirical description of conscience. As he states, “we may

describe conscience as patterns of moral-value-centered response which constitute a

rather consistent, stable, and identifiable dimension of the individual’s psychic

organization.”283 With this description, Srampickal begins his exploration of conscience

within the documents of the Second Vatican Council.

Conscience and the Second Vatican Council

Srampickal’s research regarding the concept of conscience in the documents of

the Second Vatican Council remains stable within Catholic moral theology and, as such,

is relevant to understanding primacy of conscience. Further, although this dissertation is

not employing the empirical psychologies that Srampickal did, his cross-disciplinary

research connecting empirical psychologies to the moral and ontological views of

282
Ibid., 339.
283
Ibid., 338, emphasis in original.
171
conscience in the documents of the Second Vatican Council reflect a certain theological

precedent and provide a type of grounding for the research at hand. In addressing the

documents of the Second Vatican Council related to conscience, Srampickal states the

intent and limits of his research as follows: “…our purpose is not to trace the historical

development of the doctrine of conscience contained in the documents, nor to elaborate

upon that doctrine, but to draw out the idea of conscience contained in them.”284 Toward

that end he identifies three goals. First, his research cites all the instances and documents

where the term conscientia is operative. Second, building upon those citations, he

analyzes the concept of conscience present in those texts. Third and finally, given the

term conscientia has diverse functions within the various documents, he presents a

critical synthesis of the concept of conscience after reviewing all the relevant texts.

The Latin term conscientia (as well as its various Latin cases) appears seventy

two times in the original Latin versions.285 These occurrences of the term conscientia

span six documents, several of which are major works of the Second Vatican Council, as

their very titles testify—“Decree on the Instruments of Social Communication (Inter

Mirifica)”; “Dogmatic Constitution on the Church; Pastoral Constitution on the Church in

the Modern World”; “Declaration on Religious Liberty; Declaration on Christian

Education (Gravissimum Educationis)”; and “Decree on the Training of Priests.” From

reviewing these texts, Srampickal’s broadest summary is that “this all goes to show that

the term conscientia as found in the council documents has different shades of meaning

284
Ibid., 344.
285
Ibid., 345-355.
172
in different contexts.” 286 Nevertheless, his critical synthesis predominantly attempts to

“reconcile” and minimize the theological and textual differences rather than explore

them.

The overall result of Srampickal’s synthesis of the concept of conscience

consolidates into two dimensions—the ontologico-religious dimension and the moral

dimension.287 The ontologico-religious dimension is the transcendent location where the

human encounters God and, as such, is principally a theological, if not mystical, claim.

The moral dimension, however, is further differentiated by Srampickal as having both

fundamental moral and expressive moral dimensionality. According to Srampickal, the

fundamental moral dimension is defined as “…man’s basic moral orientation: the call to love

and do good, and to avoid evil.”288 Recall from Chapter 3 that the “…the first principles of

the natural law (i.e., do good and avoid evil, act according to right reason) is synderesis.” The

fundamental moral dimension, therefore, is an extension of the ontologico-religious dimension,

as it relates to the role of God manifesting the concept of the natural law within the person. His

research neither attempts to deny or affirm the theological claims inherent in the

ontologico-religious dimension or the fundamental moral dimension (synderesis), but rather

works largely from the position that this is a point where theology and psychology do not

readily intersect.289 Srampickal’s research differentiated these dimensions of conscience

286
Srampickal, 366.
287
Ibid., 372-375.
288
Ibid., 374.
289
Ibid., 378-379.
173
and limited his research almost exclusively to the expressive moral dimension. This

dissertation aligns with that delimitation.

The expressive moral dimension identified by Srampickal i.e., the judgment of

conscience by which some particular thing or action is judged good or evil) is the point where

Srampickal identifies the intersection of theology and psychology, even if without a

simple overlay. As developed in Chapter 3 and identified as focal in this research, the

judgment of conscience by which some particular thing or action is judged good or evil is

syneidesis. Srampickal’s work is predominantly located in the expressive moral dimension

of conscience or syneidesis, as it corresponds to and is illuminated by empirical

psychology. He concludes that the actualization of conscience “…is effected through the

expressive dimension: in thinking, acting, and feeling. Therefore, the various moral

responses like moral judgment, self control, altruistic behavior, guilt feelings, etc., (which

empirical psychology has investigated in detail) are not mere superficial responses.”290

Ultimately the development and formation of conscience “…develops with the human

personality; and hence its development is subject to the processes and vicissitudes of the

development of the individual.”291 In short, Srampickal’s research lays claim to the

contributions empirical psychologies—cognitive development, identification, and

learning theories—offer to the understanding of the development and formation of

conscience.292 This claim holds true for the contribution of SCT as well.

290
Ibid., 386, emphasis in original.
291
Ibid.
292
Ibid., 390.
174
 In addition to the nuance of the moral and expressive dimensions in the formation

and development of conscience, Srampickal’s research also offers an important insight

into what is lacking in the Second Vatican Council’s documents. In his examination of

the concept of conscience, Srampickal’s research explicitly concludes that the theological

anthropology operative in the Second Vatican Council’s documents is deficient in its

understanding and articulation of the social character of the human person. In no

uncertain terms, Srampickal states:

…it should be remarked that the council texts—especially article 16 of

“Gaudium et Spes”—do not sufficiently emphasize the social nature and
social awareness of man in his basic experience of the fundamental law of
conscience. Man experiences not only the relationship and dependence on
God, but also his interrelationship and interdependence on his fellowmen,
and this latter experience is an essential substratum of man’s experience
and awareness of the fundamental law.293

Consistent with the language of his time, Srampickal speaks of this deficiency as related

to the social nature and awareness of a person. Although systemic theory was gaining a

foothold in a variety of ways at the time of his research, not the least of which was the

clinical practice of family therapy, Srampickal did not explicitly label this deficiency as

systemic. Nevertheless, clearly what he termed social by way of “interrelationship and

interdependence” is a profound dimension of what is currently understood as systemic.

In identifying that the Council’s documents “do not sufficiently emphasize the

social nature and social awareness of man,” Srampickal’s research further claims that this

is particularly evident and relevant in the arena of the formation and development of

conscience—the very area to which empirical psychology adds insight. To his point

293
Ibid., 374.
175
regarding the intersection and relevance of the social nature and awareness of a person as

conscience is formed and developed, he argues:

[In the formation and development of conscience] …one’s education,

social experience, cultural milieu, etc., as the council indicates, comes to
play their role. However, except for mentioning the importance of
conscience formation and for referring to certain factors related to this
formation, the council does not treat this aspect of the phenomena of
conscience.294

Ultimately, Srampickal concludes that empirical psychology substantially enhances the

understanding and articulation of the expressive moral dimension of conscience,

specifically in terms of its development and formation. Further, empirical psychology

also offers a preliminary resource for engaging the Second Vatican Council’s deficiency

regarding the social dimension of the formation and development of conscience.295

Although the empirical psychologies considered by Srampickal do, to a minor

degree, contribute to understanding the social dynamic within the development and

formation of conscience in the expressive moral dimension, nevertheless they still come

up against the inherent limits operative within the theories themselves. The dominant

psychologies that Srampickal drew upon for his research did not include a systemic

perspective and remained largely individualistic, even with accounting for the social

variables operative in the various theories. In short, Srampickal’s research and

conclusion point to the possibility that social psychology may provide a fuller

understanding of the social dynamic in the formation and development of conscience,

especially in terms of its expressive moral dimension. His work both foreshadows and

294
Ibid., 375.
295
Ibid., 390.
176
points toward the value of exploring a systemic psychological perspective such as the one

SCT provides.

As discussed in Chapter 2, the pastoral theology method is this dissertation draws

upon a theological anthropology that seeks to integrate the sciences and their vital

contribution to the discussion and understanding of religion and theology. Srampickal’s

research contributes to the development of a more informed and sophisticated theological

anthropology vis-à-vis the empirical psychologies of his day, as they inform the question

of the phenomena and concept of conscience.296 Nevertheless, his contribution is

currently dated and did not sufficiently address the underdeveloped social dimension of

the human person in the Second Vatican Council documents. This supports the case for

exploring the possible contributions of SCT’s systemic perspective.

Before examining what SCT has to offer, one final point regarding Srampickal’s

research is worth noting. As Chapter 2 states, sometimes recovering and discovering a

dimension of theology that has been “lost” can be both illuminating and vital. This final

point regarding Srampickal’s research serves as an example as to one methodological

way relevant theological material in the tradition can be lost. A clear example in

Srampickal’s research of how important material may be lost in the theological analysis

is the choice to principally focus on one document, even though multiple texts and

applications of the term conscientia have been identified.

According to Srampickal’s review of the citations in these various documents,

only the “Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World” formally addresses

the concept of conscience in article 16. Therefore, as he states, “…our study consists in

296
Ibid., 371.
177
primarily analyzing article 16 of “Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern

World.”297 Srampickal’s decision to focus his research primarily on article 16 by virtue

of assessing it as “formally” addressing the concept of conscience narrows the possibility

of benefiting from the wealth of diverse material in the whole body of texts. It should be

noted that article 16 is the example reviewed in Chapter 3 where Hogan’s method

intentionally explores the internal tension and ambiguity present within even one article.

It seems apparent that Srampickal’s critical synthesis and work, although identifying real

differences in the texts of the Second Vatican Council regarding the use and meaning of

the term conscientia, leans toward articulating a relatively unified expression of the

material. This direction of his synthesis results in limitations in the final outcome and

conclusion. It is worth noting that his analysis of empirical psychology did not lean as

readily toward “reconciling” the differences in the various psychological theories and

approaches examined.

Social Cognitive Theory Background and Overview

Over the course of a career spanning almost six decades, Bandura has been a

prolific writer both in terms of theory and research.298 In order to both understand SCT

and distinguish it from other more “traditional” social cognitive theories, a brief review

of the historical emergence of social learning theory is beneficial. Miller and Dollard’s

publication of Social Learning and Imitation in 1941 is generally acknowledged as a

297
Ibid., 356.
298
Bandura has authored and/or co-authored over three hundred books and articles
beginning in 1953 until the present. Since 1986 he has worked on192 books and articles
that build upon SCT. See http://des.emory.edu/mfp/BanBiblioNumbered.pdf for a
complete bibliography of Bandura’s work.
178
significant historical marker of the emergence of social learning theory. 299 Influenced

by, yet moving beyond the prevalent behaviorism of the era that was championed by

theorists like B. F. Skinner, Miller and Dollard introduced a theory of social learning and

imitation that shifted from the behaviorist notions of associationism in favor of drive

reduction principles.300 Behavior was still a major focus of their theory and work, yet it

was from the position that people model observed behaviors which are either reinforced

or extinguished through environmental reinforcement and that human behavior is

motivated by internal drives. In short, Miller and Dollard claimed that if humans were

motivated to learn a particular behavior, that particular behavior could be learned by clear

observations. Further, through imitation of an observed action an individual could

establish that behavior and be rewarded (i.e., positive reinforcement).

Social learning theories of this era that worked with and built upon Miller and

Dollard’s seminal work basically share three common tenets: 1) humans learn through

experience and observation (i.e., vicarious learning); 2) humans model behavior based on

identification (i.e., similarity and emotional attachment); and 3) consequences influence

whether or not an individual will repeat a behavior (i.e., reward vs. punishment

contingencies). It is from this context that Bandura’s SCT was to emerge. The

publication of Social Learning and Personality Development in 1963 marked his initial

299
P. Miller and J. Dollard, Social Learning and Imitation (New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1941).
300
Parejes, “Overview,” 1.
179
studies on the acquisition of self-evaluative standards for self-directedness and reflects

the beginning of his SCT trajectory.301

After slightly more than a decade, Bandura made a significant contribution to his

theory as he introduced the element of self-beliefs into social learning with his 1977

article “Self-efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change.”302 This

modification of a predominantly behavioral model by the inclusion of a cognitive

variable gave birth to what was to become SCT. Finally, in 1986 Bandura articulated and

established his SCT in depth and detail with the publication of Social Foundations of

Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory.303

Very broadly, SCT posited a perspective of human functioning that affords a

primary role to cognitive, vicarious, self-regulatory, and self-reflective processes in

human adaptation and change. The human person is understood as self-organizing,

proactive, self-reflecting and self-regulating rather than as a reactive organism formed

and led by environmental factors or driven by hidden inner impulses. In her book

Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, scholar Jeanne Ormrod outlines SCT’s

main principles as: 1) individuals learn through the observation of others; 2) learning is

an internal process that may or may not change behavior; 3) behavior is self-directed (as

opposed to the behaviorist perspective that behavior is determined by the environment);

301
A. Bandura and R. H. Walters, Social Learning and Personality Development (New
York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, 1963).
302
Albert Bandura, “Self-efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change,”
Psychological Review 84, (1977): 191-215.
303
Albert Bandura, Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive
Theory (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986).
180
4) individuals behave in specific ways in order to achieve goals; and 5) reinforcement and

punishment have unpredictable and indirect effects on both behavior and learning.304 In

short, SCT presents human functioning as the result of a dynamic interplay of personal,

behavioral, and environmental influences. In doing so, it both explains how an individual

acquires and maintains certain behavioral patterns, while also providing the basis for

developing, implementing, and evaluating intervention strategies and programs.305

More specifically, the concept of reciprocal determinism serves as the central

theoretical construct within SCT that frames the human functioning resulting from the

interaction of personal, behavioral, and environmental factors.306 Individuals are both

influenced by and influencing the contexts within which they find themselves; that is,

304
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod, Educational Psychology: Developing Learners (Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2003).
305
K. Glanz, B. Rimer, and F. Lewis, Health Behavior and Health Education. Theory,
Research and Practice (San Francisco: Wiley & Sons, 2002). Glanz et al provide succinct
definitions of additional concepts and/or terms used in SCT: “1) Environment: factors
physically external to the person; provides opportunities and social support; 2) Situation:
perception of the environment; correct misperceptions and promote healthful forms; 3)
Behavioral capability: knowledge and skill to perform a given behavior; promote mastery
learning through skills training; 4) Expectations: anticipatory outcomes of a behavior;
model positive outcomes of healthful behavior; 5) Expectancies: the values that the
person places on a given outcome, incentives; present outcomes of change that have
functional meaning; 6) Self-control: personal regulation of goal-directed behavior or
performance; provide opportunities for self-monitoring, goal setting, problem solving,
and self-reward; 7) Observational learning: behavioral acquisition that occurs by
watching the actions and outcomes of others’ behavior; include credible role models of
the targeted behavior; 8) Reinforcements: responses to a person’s behavior that increase
or decrease the likelihood of reoccurrence; promote self-initiated rewards and incentives;
9) Self-efficacy: the person’s confidence in performing a particular behavior; approach
behavioral change in small steps to ensure success; 10) Emotional coping responses:
strategies or tactics that are used by a person to deal with emotional stimuli; provide
training in problem solving and stress management.”
306
Bandura, Social Foundations of Thought and Action.
181
agency is determined by and determinate of the array of relationships that constitute

reality. As Pajares summarizes:

The foundation of Bandura’s conception of reciprocal determinism [is] the

view that (a) personal factors in the form of cognition, affect, and
biological events, (b) behavior, and (c) environmental influences create
interactions that result in a triadic reciprocality.307

It should be noted that the deterministic dimension of the theory relates to the process of

reciprocity between and among the various factors and is in no way suggestive of a

purely behavioral or material understanding of human functioning.308

SCT by its very structure incorporates an individual’s cognitions, behaviors, and

the social factors or environment, as well as the interplay among them. This dynamic

interplay of reciprocal determinism functions such that “…internal personal factors in the form

of cognitive, affective, and biological events, behavioral patterns, and environmental influences

all operate as interacting determinants that influence one another bidirectionally.”309 It is

neither entirely individualistic nor purely social in its frame of reference. In other words,

the individual may be one particular locus of the pastoral “data” that surfaces or bears

some unresolved or lost theological issue, yet interaction with an array of influences

necessarily makes the process inherently communal and contextual.

As stated in the introduction of this chapter, Bandura’s research with SCT gives a

social scientific grounding for a systemic view of agency as well as its dimensionality

307
Pajares, “Overview,” 1, emphasis in original.
308
See Albert Bandura, “Swimming Against the Mainstream: The Early Years in Chilly
Waters,” in A History of Behavioral Therapies: Founders’ Personal Histories, eds. W. T.
O’Donohue and D. A. Henderson (Reno, NV: Context Press, 2001), 1-24.
309
Bandura, “Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective,” 14-15.
182
(i.e., self-reflectiveness, perceived self-efficacy, and social persuasion) through the

theoretical construct of reciprocal determinism. The body of SCT research by Bandura

and others is extensive and incorporates substantial empirical behavioral measures.310 A

significant portion of SCT research is located within the arena of education, learning, and

it relationship to a person’s aspirations and achievements in life. For example, a 2001

study with a sample of 272 individuals tested a structural model of the network of

sociocognitive influences that shape children's career aspirations and trajectories.311 In

addition to individual studies, a number of meta-analyses related to SCT are also

available.312

310
Appendix B provides a small sampling of abstracts reflecting the types of research that
SCT has drawn upon in reaching its conclusions.
311
A. Bandura, C. Barbaranelli, G. Caprara, and C. Pastorelli. “Self-efficacy Beliefs as
Shapers of Children's Aspirations and Career Trajectories,” Child Development 72,
(2001): 187-206. Abstract: This prospective study tested with 272 children (aged 11-15
yrs) a structural model of the network of sociocognitive influences that shape children's
career aspirations and trajectories. Familial socioeconomic status is linked to children's
career trajectories only indirectly through its effects on parents' perceived efficacy and
academic aspirations. The impact of parental self-efficacy and aspirations on their
children's perceived career efficacy and choice is, in turn, entirely mediated through the
children's perceived efficacy and academic aspirations. Children's perceived academic,
social, and self-regulatory efficacy influence the types of occupational activities for
which they judge themselves to be efficacious both directly and through their impact on
academic aspirations. Perceived occupational self-efficacy gives direction to the kinds of
career pursuits children seriously consider for their life's work and those they disfavor.
Children's perceived efficacy rather than their actual academic achievement is the key
determinant of their perceived occupational self-efficacy and preferred choice of
worklife. Analyses of gender differences reveal that perceived occupational self-efficacy
predicts traditionality of career choice.
312
For examples of meta-analyses of Bandura’s conclusions and other researchers
employing SCT, see A. D. Stajkovic and F. Luthans, “Self-efficacy and Work-related
Performances: A Meta-Analysis,” Psychological Bulletin 124, (1998): 240-261; G.
Holden, “The Relationship of Self-efficacy Appraisals to Subsequent Health-related
Outcomes: a Meta-analysis,” Social Worker Health Care 16, (1991): 53-93; K. D.
183
 Dualism within the Pastoral Situation

First and foremost, SCT facilitates an enhanced reflection upon, if not the

theoretical elimination of, a form of dualism when understanding the relationality of

agency (i.e., social group vs. individual). Agency is a critical element in considering and

understanding the relationship and/or balance between the social group (i.e., tradition and

authority) and the individual (i.e., primacy of conscience)—an agency that is

interdependent and at times in tension. SCT recognizes the complications and concerns

about dualism when understanding the agency of both the social group and the individual.

Theorizing about human agency and collectivities is replete with

contentious dualisms that Social Cognitive Theory rejects. These dualities
include personal agency versus social structure, self-centered agency
versus communality, and individualism versus collectivism….Therefore,
personal agency operates within a broad network of sociostructural
influences.313

As this conversation moves to specific considerations regarding agency (i.e., self-

reflectiveness, perceived self-efficacy, and social persuasion), it is vital to not let any

particular focus obscure the overall systemic perspective operative. The systemic

perspective of SCT remains the foundational backdrop regardless of any specific

dimension of agency being examined that may conjure an individualistic perspective (i.e.,

the term “self”).

Multon, S. D. Brown, and R. W. Lent, “Relationship of Self-efficacy Beliefs to Academic

Outcomes: a Meta-analytic Investigation,” Journal of Counseling Psychology 38, (1991):
30-38; and G. Holden, M. S. Moncher, S. P. Schinke, and K. M. Barker, “Self-efficacy of
Children and Adolescents: a Meta-analysis,” Psychological Reports 66, (1990): 1044-
1046.
313
Bandura, “Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective,” 14.
184
 As SCT has developed over the years, the concept of human agency has become

increasingly nuanced, especially in understanding perceived self-efficacy. Bandura

“…distinguishes among three modes of agency: direct personal agency; proxy agency

that relies on others to act on one’s behest to secure desired outcomes; and collective

agency exercised through group action.”314 Although each of these modes sheds light on

the question of agency and potentially the understanding of primacy of conscience, the

focus of this research is within the arena of direct personal agency. Of course, given the

fundamental platform of SCT, direct personal agency is always social and systemic

inasmuch as it is situated within the social system and is both informed by and informing

of the social group.

Consequently, the remainder of this chapter will explore dimensions of agency

beneficial for interpreting the meaning and function of primacy of conscience from a

personalist Catholic viewpoint. It will focus upon specific dimensions and factors operative in

the exercise of agency itself (i.e., self-reflectiveness, perceived self-efficacy, and social

persuasion). Ultimately, this contribution from SCT helps interprets agency in a way that

supports and amplifies the personalist interpretation of primacy of conscience and its

prioritization of the personal autonomy and responsibility of individuals in moral matters while

taking seriously the communal agency of the tradition. As self-reflectiveness, perceived self-

efficacy, and social persuasion are reviewed, each dimension will include a brief

connection to the broader question of primacy of conscience and agency which will be

addressed in depth in Chapter 5.

314
Bandura, “Social Cognitive Theory in Cultural Context,” Journal of Applied
Psychology: An International Review 51, (2002): 2.
185
 Social Cognitive Theory and Self-reflectiveness

In his article “Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective,” Bandura argues

that “the capacity to exercise control over the nature and quality of one’s life is the

essence of humanness.”315 According to SCT, several core features mark the capacity of

human agency: intentionality, forethought, self-reactiveness, and self-reflectiveness.316

Of these four core features, I will focus on self-reflectiveness. Self-reflectiveness is

particularly relevant for the discussion of agency and perceived self-efficacy and,

consequently, for the understanding of conscience as well. Individuals have the capacity

and proclivity to reflect upon their actions as well as any corresponding thoughts and

feelings those actions may engender.317 In the process of examining or reflecting upon

one’s own functioning within the social group, or of being self-conscious if you will,

individuals may explore a range of issues—mixed motivations, conflicting values,

diverse perspectives, and even the meaning attributed to this or that experience.

According to Bandura:

In this metacognitive activity, people judge the correctness of their

predictive and operative thinking against the outcomes of their actions, the

315
Bandura, “Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective,” 1.
316
Ibid., 6-10.
317
As noted earlier, differing psychological perspectives yield different insights.
Although SCT illuminates this discussion of conscience in a variety of ways, clearly it
lacks when attempting to interpret the persistent elusiveness of the “unconscious.” The
scope of this project prevents integrating psychodynamic models, yet Eric D'Arcy’s The
Sources of Moral Agency: Essays in Moral Psychology and Freudian Theory (New York:
Scribner, 1996) specifically sheds light from a perspective that incorporates the
unconscious dimension of the human psyche. Also see, Don S. Browning and Terry D.
Cooper, Religious Thought and the Modern Psychologies (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress
Press, 2004).
186
 effects that other people’s actions produce, what others believe,
deductions from established knowledge and what necessarily follows from
it.318

Self-reflection is a normative cognitive dynamic, one that Bandura believes to be

“distinctly human.”319 Some evidence would call into question the claim that self-

reflection is distinctly human, inasmuch as dolphins, chimps, and elephants exhibit self-

reflection, even if quantitatively different from that of humans.320 Nevertheless, few, if

any, would deny that normatively humans exercise this cognitive function. “Hence [self-

reflection] is an important feature of SCT’s understanding of agency. Through self-

reflection people make sense of their experiences, explore their own cognitions and self-

beliefs, engage in self evaluation, and alter their thinking and behavior accordingly.”321

Clearly there are any number of factors that could contribute to the quality, or

lack thereof, of a person’s self-reflection (e.g., intelligence, education, and time devoted

to the process) and how one makes sense of experience. Yet the principal purpose here is

simply to identify self-reflection as a dimension of agency that has implications for

primacy of conscience. More specifically, self-reflectiveness as a normative cognitive

process and an expression of agency illuminates how the term “primacy” within the

doctrine of primacy of conscience can be better understood. Self-reflection inherently

suggests an open quality to the process of a person engaging the world; that is, there are a

318
Bandura, “Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective,” 10.
319
Bandura, “Social Foundations of Thought and Action,” 21.
320
For example, see Kathleen M. Dudzinski, and Toni Frohoff, Dolphin Mysteries:
Unlocking the Secrets of Communication (New Haven: Yale College, 2008).
321
Pajares, “Overview,” 2.
187
variety of ways for an individual to make sense of experiences in order to direct one’s

thinking and behavior.

Therefore, by implication and application, the results of the self-reflective process

could contribute to whether or not a Catholic is inclined to exercise primacy of

conscience when making a moral decision. According to SCT’s framing of reciprocal

determinism, inevitably self-reflection is socially situated and influenced; hence, self-

reflection is anything but an isolated or independent act. Consequently, Catholics making

moral decisions from an informed conscience engage in self-reflection that is necessarily

informed by the tradition of the Church. Self-reflection, not unlike primacy of

conscience, is a systemic act located within a particular person, inasmuch as dimensions

of the content and experience being reflected upon arose from the social context that

influenced the person.

The doctrine of primacy of conscience, as previously noted, carries with it the

expectation that a Catholic have an informed conscience. Historically in the pastoral

setting, more often than not, a Catholic having an informed conscience was considered

synonymous with the person knowing the normative teaching of the Church on whatever

might be the relevant topic involved in the moral decision-making process. Certainly an

informed conscience includes the teaching of the Church, but with the implications of

SCT it is clear that it involves much more. The process of a person arriving at an

informed conscience involves self-reflection (i.e., a metacognitive activity by which

people judge the correctness of their predictive and operative thinking against the

outcomes of their actions, the effects that other people’s actions produce, what others

188
believe, deductions from established knowledge and what necessarily follows from it).322

Further, it is within the context of reciprocal determinism (i.e., internal personal factors in

the form of cognitive, affective, and biological events, behavioral patterns, and environmental

influences all operate as interacting determinants that influence one another bidirectionally)323

that self-reflection occurs. Hence, an informed conscience does not equate with a Catholic

simply knowing the Catechism, but is a complex social psychological dynamic process that

begins with self-reflection. This is not to suggest that Catholics are or should be conscious of

this complexity, but recognizing its presence is key to better understanding how, if not why, the

term “primacy” functions and is present within the doctrine.

Social Cognitive Theory and Perceived Self-Efficacy

Perceived self-efficacy is one of the most important dimensions of personal

agency arising from self-reflectiveness.

Among the mechanisms of personal agency, none is more central or

pervasive than people’s beliefs in their capacity to exercise some measure
of control over their own functioning and over environmental events.
Efficacy beliefs are the foundation of human agency.324

Whether or not individuals can have an impact or effect upon reality radically influences

their readiness or reluctance to engage a situation.325 A number of meta-analyses support

322
Bandura, “Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective,” 10.
323
Ibid., 14-15.
324
Bandura, “Social Foundations of Thought and Action,” 21, emphasis added.
325
Ibid.
189
the significant role self-efficacy beliefs play in human functioning.326 Bandura’s

definition of perceived self-efficacy states:

Perceived self-efficacy is defined as people’s beliefs about their

capabilities to produce levels of performance that exercise influence over
events that affect their lives. Self-efficacy beliefs determine how people
feel, think, motivate themselves and behave.327

Self-efficacy beliefs influence fundamental orientations in thinking such as being

pessimistic or optimistic as well as whether thinking or acting is inclined to be self-

hindering or self-enhancing.328

Perceived self-efficacy broadly relates to a person’s sense of agency;

consequently, it relates to a sense of moral agency as well. Morality necessarily and

ultimately incorporates action or behavior—“avoid evil and do good.” Perceived self-

efficacy beliefs influence a person’s behavior which, in turn, inevitably contributes to

how a person lives a moral life. Morality is not simply what one thinks, believes, or

feels, but also is what one does or how one acts in light of all that has informed that

behavior. Therefore, moral decision-making is an expression of agency that is influenced

by a person’s perceived self-efficacy.

It should be noted that even though self-efficacy beliefs can influence relatively

global claims such as a person being pessimistic or optimistic, specificity regarding

326
See G. Holden, “The Relationship of Self-efficacy Appraisals to Subsequent Health-
related Outcomes: A Meta-analysis,” Social Work in Health Care 16, (1991): 53-93; G.
Holden, M. Moncher, S. Schinke, and K. Barker, “Self-efficacy of Children and
Adolescents: A Meta-analysis,” Psychological Report 66, (1990):1044-1046; and K.
Multon, S. Brown, and R. Lent, “Relation of Self-efficacy Beliefs to Academic
Outcomes: A Meta-analytic Investigation,” Journal of Counseling Psychology 38, (1991):
30-38.
327
Bandura, “Self-efficacy,” 71-81.
328
Bandura, “Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective,” 1.
190
perceived self-efficacy is vital. As Pajares summarizes Bandura’s precaution to

researchers seeking to predict academic outcomes from students’ self-efficacy beliefs, he

urges that readers would:

…be well advised to follow theoretical guidelines regarding specificity of

self-efficacy assessment and correspondence with criterial tasks. This
caution has often gone unheeded in educational research, resulting in self-
efficacy assessments that reflect global or generalized self-perceptions of
competence and that bear slight resemblance to the criterial task with
which they are compared….The result is often confounded relationships
and ambiguous findings that obfuscate the potential contribution of self-
efficacy beliefs to the understanding of academic performances.329

In addition to acknowledging the importance of not muddling or overextending

claims of perceived self-efficacy, it is also important to note that perceived self-efficacy

can apply in many directions. A person’s perception or assessment of agency within the

social group does not, in and of itself, have a trajectory related to traditions or positions

espoused by the social group. A person could have an accurate perception of self-

efficacy that acknowledges a very limited ability to determine if a behavior is “good or

evil” in a certain instance. For example, a complicated and technical medical ethical

issue may exceed the understanding of a person who is very conscious of how that

complexity may limit the ability to assess the moral issues in play. Yet at the same time,

that person could have an accurate perception of self-efficacy that acknowledges a very

strong personal capacity to follow or conform to teachings from an authoritative body

that is perceived as capable of such determinations. In short, perceived self-efficacy is

329
Frank Pajares, Assessing Self-efficacy Beliefs and Academic Outcomes: The Case for
Specificity and Correspondence. Paper presented at a symposium chaired by B. J.
Zimmerman, Measuring and Mismeasuring Self-efficacy: Dimensions, Problems, and
Misconceptions. Annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association,
New York, 1996.
191
about a person’s perception of personal agency and is neither over and against the social

group nor oriented in any specific direction in terms of content.

As this relates to the Catholic context, the focused, yet open quality of the

personalist perspective can support individuals in their belief that they can make a

difference and may foster a readiness to engage a situation. Inasmuch as the personalist

perspective ultimately places responsibility on the person for moral decision-making, this

inherent assumption supports the possibility of self-efficacy. Primacy of conscience is an

exceptional and particularly powerful expression of the degree to which self-efficacy may

be operative for an individual within the Church.

The social group, in this instance the Church, is one major factor that can either

foster or frustrate the development of self-efficacy beliefs. Bandura has identified four

main sources of influence in the development of people’s beliefs in their efficacy,

including “…mastery experiences, seeing people similar to oneself manage task demands

successfully, social persuasion that one has the capabilities to succeed in given activities,

and inferences from somatic and emotional states indicative of personal strengths and

vulnerabilities.”330 Although all four sources are relevant to the development of

perceived self-efficacy, given the discussion at hand regarding primacy of conscience, I

will focus on the influence of social persuasion as it may relate to perceived self-efficacy.

Social Cognitive Theory and Social Persuasion

Social persuasion can have a significant influence on a person’s perceived self-

efficacy. The principal point regarding social persuasion for this dissertation, similar to

that of self-efficacy, is to identify social persuasion as a relevant factor in understanding

330
Bandura, “Self-efficacy,” 15.
192
agency and, therefore, primacy of conscience. According to SCT, social persuasion is

expressed by the social group in a variety of ways that can both positively and negatively

influence a person’s sense of perceived self-efficacy. On the positive side of the ledger,

“social persuasion is a…way of strengthening people’s beliefs that they have what it

takes to succeed.”331 Bandura’s research claims that social persuasion influences

perceived self-efficacy and can contribute to the following positive effect.

People who are persuaded verbally that they possess the capabilities to
master given activities are likely to mobilize greater effort and sustain it
than if they harbor self-doubts and dwell on personal deficiencies when
problems arise. To the extent that persuasive boosts in perceived self-
efficacy lead people to try hard enough to succeed, they promote the
development of skills and a sense of personal agency.332

On the other hand, social persuasion can undermine perceived self-efficacy much more

readily than it can enhance it.333 Internalized negative social persuasion regarding

perceived self-efficacy can result in avoidance of possibilities for fear of failure or lack of

perseverance in the presence of complications. In short:

…people who have been persuaded that they lack capabilities tend to
avoid challenging activities that cultivate potentialities and give up
quickly in the face of difficulties. By constricting activities and
undermining motivation, disbelief in one’s capabilities creates its own
behavioral validation.334

It is important to make the distinction that internalized negative social persuasion

that compromises perceived self-efficacy is not the same as negative social persuasion

that functions morally as a prohibitive social norm. The former is about the negative
331
Ibid., 3.
332
Ibid.
333
Ibid.
334
Ibid.
193
impact of social persuasion upon a person’s belief in the capacity to accomplish a task

(e.g., everyone says a three minute mile is impossible, so I must not be able to achieve it),

while the latter is about social persuasion that contributes to enforcing social norms by

way of prohibition (e.g., an employer cannot exclude a candidate on the basis of race

because it runs counter to our social value of all persons being created equal). In this

dissertation, when discussing negative internalized social persuasion, the focus is

exclusively related to the negative impact of the social persuasion upon a person’s

perceived self-efficacy and is not about the impact of specific social moral values or

content.

Social persuasion can enhance people’s belief in their capacity to succeed or, in

this pastoral context, competently make moral choices. Even if it is cliché within the

United States, the proverbial “you can grow up to be whatever you want to be, even

President,” captures the sentiment of a positive social influence that is open to and

supportive of an individual’s achievement. The research of Holden, Moncher, Schinke,

and Barker led them to conclude that “…to the extent that persuasive boosts in perceived

self-efficacy lead people to try hard enough to succeed, they promote development of

skills and a sense of personal efficacy.”335

Social persuasion is expressed in many forms, but given the pastoral issue being

addressed, I will limit it to the context of the message communicated regarding a person’s

ability and competency to make moral choices in relationship to the Catholic tradition.

Not unlike the complexity of perceived self-efficacy, it is important to acknowledge that

335
G. Holden, M. Moncher, S. Schinke, and K. Barker, “Self-efficacy of Children and
Adolescents: A Meta-analysis,” Psychological Report 66, (1990):1044-1046.
194
social persuasion can apply in a multitude of ways as well. It is vital to not simplify the

concept of social persuasion or the experience of Catholics making moral decisions by

readily and simplistically applying a negative or positive label. Pastoral experience

suggests that many Catholics have, to some degree, lost a sense of not only how, but also

even if, they can manage their own religious and moral questions. Nevertheless, it would

be presumptuous and beyond the scope of this research to claim clarity as to what has or

has not functioned as positive and negative social persuasion in this situation.

Social Persuasion and Moral Norms

Even though primacy of conscience supports a sense of perceived self-efficacy,

the social assessment and determination of what is considered right or wrong for society

remains principally within the social group. Neither primacy of conscience nor perceived

self-efficacy is a veiled expression of moral individualism, nor the rejection of the

legitimacy and necessity of socially based moral values and norms. The inherently

holistic quality of a systemic perspective does not dilute, let alone dissolve, moral values

and norms for the social group. SCT reframes and enhances an understanding of the

interactional or self-society dynamic of experience and reality in an attempt to lessen

limitations and complications operative within a dualistic perspective. Nevertheless,

moral values and norms (e.g., “avoid evil and do good”), however structured and

interpreted, remain in force within a systemic perspective such as SCT.

Summary

Overcoming, or at least diminishing, the type of dualism addressed in this dissertation

within the relationship between the individual and a social group is a vital contribution to

constructive and productive relationality, whatever the context. This contribution is present in

195
the SCT systemic perspective and its interpretation of agency where “…people are producers

as well as products of social systems. Personal agency and social structure operate

interdependently.”336 With this systemic perspective as the theoretical construct from which

the relationship between the individual and the social group is understood, primacy of

conscience neither ignores nor displaces normative Church teaching, just as normative teaching

neither ignores nor displaces it. This systemic perspective resonates and aligns readily and

profoundly with the personalist perspective. Authoritative moral agency arises within the

context of social and personal interactions and is expressed in the primacy of conscience of the

acting moral agent. Primacy of conscience becomes the moral voice of the individual

expressing agency emerging through self-reflection and expressed on behalf of the Church

community.

In addition to the value of understanding the concept of agency systemically, SCT

examines and articulates specific dimensions and factors operative in the exercise of agency

(i.e., self-reflectiveness, perceived self-efficacy, and social persuasion). Self-reflection is a

basic and inherent cognitive process for a person that is part and parcel of the process by which

a person develops an informed conscience. From a Catholic perspective, self-reflection

amplifies an understanding of primacy of conscience through normative cognitive and

behavioral dynamics. By more fully understanding the complexity of an informed conscience,

the term “primacy” takes on clearer and deeper meaning within the doctrine. Further, this self-

reflection relates to the development of self-efficacy beliefs that inevitably affect what a person

may or may not achieve in one’s life and for the Church. Finally, social persuasion also has a

336
Bandura, “Social Foundations of Thought and Action,” 15.
196
profound role in the process, as it comes full circle and lays a foundation that supports and

affects a person’s self-reflection and perceived self-efficacy.

SCT explores and expands unarticulated and/or underdeveloped assumptions

about accountability in relation to acts of conscience. Self-reflection is inclined to

surface these assumptions both for the individual and the social group. Similarly,

Bandura’s view of perceived self-efficacy and social persuasion illuminate unarticulated

and/or underdeveloped assumptions in the doctrine of conscience regarding a person’s

capacity to act morally and the inevitable interactions with social influences. Given the

insights of SCT, the doctrine of primacy of conscience may be amplified by

understanding it as a systemic process by which the individual and social group construct

one another through the exercise of agency which is inclusive of the dynamics of self-

reflection, perceived self-efficacy, and social persuasion.

The personalist perspective on conscience is consistent with and supported by this

more comprehensive understanding of the meaning and function of primacy with respect

to the exercise of conscience. Further, I contend that the personalist position is enhanced

by the identification of agency as a central systemic construct inherent within the concept

of primacy and can be a vital resource for supporting Catholics in making moral decisions that

are informed but not controlled by the established tradition of the Church. The final chapter

of this research will begin to articulate how both the Church and the Catholics that

comprise it might benefit from a pastoral theological articulation of the doctrine of

primacy of conscience from a personalist perspective, when primacy is amplified with the

implications drawn a social cognitive view of agency.

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 CHAPTER FIVE

A PASTORAL THEOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTION OF PRIMANCY OF

CONSCIENCE

Above the Pope as an expression of the binding claim of Church authority stands one’s

own conscience, which has to be obeyed first of all, if need be, against the demands of

Church authority.337

Primacy of Conscience: Distillation for Dissemination

As this chapter engages the final phase of this dissertation’s constructive pastoral

theological appropriation and interpretation of the personalist view of primacy of conscience in

the Catholic tradition, it will naturally draw upon the breadth and depth of research present in

the preceding chapters. Nevertheless, given the pragmatic quality of pastoral theology as it

informs and is informed by pastoral care and ministry, this chapter will shift the expression and

style of writing that has been present up to this point in order to strive toward maximizing the

accessibility of its content. The academic quality and character will not be compromised, but

references in footnotes will be kept to a minimum and the anecdotal aspect of the content will

be heightened. Therefore, it will not make further explicit reference to the detail previously

developed unless required by quotation. It presumes the foundation of research operative

throughout this dissertation, yet will turn toward a more conversational tone that is consistent

337
Joseph Ratzinger, Commentary on the Documents of Vatican II, 5 vols. ed. Herbert
Vorgrimler (New York: Burns & Oats, 1969), 134.
198
with actual pastoral care encounters. This shift will be especially evident in the section that

presents a hypothetical pastoral conversation for the purpose of illustration.

I am convinced of and committed to the value of this research for the local Catholic

community I pastor, the Ecumenical Catholic Communion of which our community is

affiliated, and the array of Catholics of whatever stripe that might benefit from this pastoral

theology of primacy of conscience. I recognize and prioritize my primary responsibility of

having this chapter bear a caliber of academic pastoral theology consistent with the preceding

chapters. At the same time, as a pastoral theologian I can state that our discipline is not only

oriented toward advances in pastoral theology alone, pastoral theology also intends to inform

and enhance pastoral care and ministry as it strives for the well being of individuals,

communities, and society.

The relational and pragmatic character of the discipline of pastoral theology

presses for a medium of expression that is as inclusive as possible in order to maximize

its potential benefits. In a sense, if a “run of the mill” Catholic on the street or in the pew

cannot make general sense of what is being claimed in this chapter as the implications

and conclusions of this research, then the mark has been somewhat missed. In order to

moor this conversation in a manner that strives toward being both accessible and

applicable to as many Catholics as possible, the overall contribution of this chapter will

be clearly divided into three general sections—synthesis, illustration, and future research.

The first section will present a synthesis of the research in the preceding chapters

and its constructive pastoral theological appropriation and interpretation of the personalist view

of primacy of conscience, when primacy is amplified with the implications drawn from a

Social Cognitive Theory’s view of agency. Consequently, the section will still lean toward

199
the genre of writing (i.e., theoretical) that has been operative in this dissertation thus far.

The synthesis section will begin with a brief a summary of the personalist view of primacy

of conscience, but the major contribution of the section, if not the dissertation, consists of an

enhanced articulation of primacy of conscience. The second section will explore potential

expressions of this pastoral theology of primacy of conscience ameliorating and/or

resolving dimensions of the pastoral problem identified throughout the dissertation. This

exploration will be illuminated vis-à-vis an example of a hypothetical conversation in

pastoral practice. The genre of writing will substantially shift in this section toward one

that is more conversational in tone and much less abstract. The illustration section will

reflect how the contribution of this research might manifest itself through what a

potential conversation regarding primacy of conscience that incorporates a pastoral

theological construction of agency might sound like. Finally, the third section will give a

summary of possible directions for further research.

Synthesis and Primary Conclusions

A Personalist View of Primacy of Conscience

This synthesis will principally engage and amplify the personalist view of primacy of

conscience in the Catholic tradition and will not explicitly examine the legalistic perspective.

A brief summary of the personalist view of primacy of conscience will be helpful before

examining how the insights of SCT regarding agency contribute to a fuller interpretation

of the term “primacy” within the doctrine. The personalist perspective, just like the

legalistic, emerged from the Second Vatican Council’s call for a renewal of moral

theology. Consequently, both share a common historical and theoretical background with

differences emerging in limited arenas. As documented in this research, the Church, dating

200
back to Aquinas, understands conscience to be the application of the first principles of natural

law (i.e., synderesis) to the particularities of one’s conduct (i.e., syneidesis). Within the tension

between the particularity of syneidesis and the generality of synderesis, Aquinas located the

role of the primacy of conscience. In short, the doctrine of primacy of conscience, even if not

fully developed or articulated, has always raised and addressed the question of agency or moral

authority and the term “primacy” has been pivotal in engaging that question.

The personalist perspective engages this tension by identifying and prioritizing the role

of personal autonomy for socially situated and informed individuals in the exercise of primacy

of conscience. In an attempt to examine and potentially bolster the personalist perspective, the

focus of this research regarding primacy of conscience has been within the arena of the

particularities of individual conduct (i.e., syneidesis). Consequently, human cognition and

behavior have understandably come to the fore as avenues for potential insight. Psychology, in

turn, naturally presents itself as a prime candidate for consideration as a relevant resource.

Further, social psychology stands as particularly well suited to illuminate understanding how an

individual functions within a social system such as the Church.

Although not intentionally attempting to address a personalist perspective of

conscience, Srampickal’s research on conscience waded into waters that flow well with the

personalist perspective. Through a comparative analysis of empirical psychologies with the

documents of the Second Vatican Council regarding conscience, Srampickal further nuanced

the arena of what has historically been understood as addressing the particularities of one’s

conduct. His fuller articulation includes an understanding of the expressive moral dimension of

conscience. Further, and more importantly, his research identified the expressive moral

dimension of conscience as a unique domain for the formation and development of conscience.

201
The dynamics of the formation and development of conscience resonate with the insights

offered by psychology and are themselves manifestations of agency within the person and

Church.

A number of insights from psychology tend to support a personalist view of

primacy of conscience which espouses that a dimension of moral value and authority

emerges from a socially situated individual pursuing the good for the person and society.

Psychologically, moral values are not understood as absolutely determined by a static

view of either the person or society, but rather moral values emerge and develop through

a variety of individual and social processes across history and context. Broadly

understood, the personalist view of primacy of conscience recognizes this complexity and

identifies four dimensions that factor into understanding and applying moral values in

one’s life within the Church and world. Hogan summarizes the four dimensions as

follows:

These include (1) a greater recognition of the role of history and change in
ethics; (2) a focus on the moral significance of intentions and
circumstances in addition to the act itself; (3) a greater degree of
sophistication in categorizing the different kinds of moral norms and the
kinds of claims they make; and (4) a rethinking of the relationship
between the individual and Magisterium on the basis of relocating moral
authority.338

Although this research has touched upon all four dimensions in varying degrees, the

principal and explicit focus has been and remains the fourth point of “relocating moral

authority,” that is, reframing the understanding of the relationality of agency through

primacy of conscience.

338
Hogan, 127.
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 Primacy of Conscience: Reframing the Relationship of Agency

Within the demographic identified for this research (i.e., post-Vatican II

Catholicism in the U. S.), if not for the current population of the United States at large,

the moral charge to “follow your conscience” seems ubiquitous. Yet the broad presence

of a concept does not necessarily correlate to the depth of its understanding. This moral

charge provides an extremely basic framework for conscience and the broad strokes of

the Catechism of the Church, as important as they are for Catholics, are not sufficient for

fully understanding conscience, let alone exceptional circumstances when an individual’s

choice is prioritized for the person over the normative teaching of the Church (i.e.,

primacy of conscience). An enhanced understanding of the meaning and function of

primacy and its inherent agency provides a fuller and better basis for interpreting and

appropriating the personalist understanding of conscience for guiding contemporary U.S.

Catholics and their spiritual guides in making moral decisions that are informed but not

controlled by the established tradition of the Church.

The integration of a systemic perspective moves toward improving the pastoral

problem regarding understanding the exercise of primacy of conscience as an expression of

agency. When the relationality of agency or power is predominantly framed dualistically,

underlying dynamics of dominance and submission may be engendered and can become

problematic. In contrast, when the relationality of agency or power is principally framed

systemically, whether one considers it bi-directional, multidirectional, or reciprocal, underlying

dynamics of mutuality and interdependence are fostered, and the pastoral relationship may be

less vulnerable to complications that may be conjured from a dualistic perspective.

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 As stated in Chapter 2, an adequate theological anthropology is vital for a viable

pastoral theology that informs and is informed by pastoral care and ministry. The

theoretical advance operative in a systemic perspective readily translates into an enhanced

theological anthropology. Recall that the theological problem that is at the heart of this

dissertation, arising from pastoral practice, is how to theologically address two strands in the

Church’s tradition regarding being a moral Catholic. This dissertation’s examination of the

theological question at the base of that problem, explored through the doctrine of primacy of

conscience, identifies agency as a key and critical component for better understanding the

meaning and function of the term “primacy.” Theologically reflecting upon the pastoral

experience as a context for the critical development of a theological understanding of the

Catholic tradition of primacy of conscience, both through its recovery and enhancement,

points to an understanding of agency as vital—agency which inescapably has

implications for one’s theological anthropology.

A theological anthropology integrating SCT presents the agency of a socially situated

person in a way that supports and amplifies the personalist interpretation of primacy of

conscience and its prioritization of the personal autonomy and responsibility of individuals

engaging moral issues while also integrating the communal agency of the tradition. The term

“primacy” reflects a systemic perspective of both strands of the Church’s tradition as expressed

by an individual’s moral decision-making. Theologically, a systemic perspective of agency

acknowledges that individuals are both influential of and influenced by the tradition, just as

they are both producers and products of the Church’s teaching. Conversely, the same

interactive creative dynamic applies to the Church as well. In short, a systemic view of agency

incorporates the relationality and interaction of both the influence of Church teaching and

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the influence of a person’s conscience in moral and religious decision-making, as they

co-create one another.

When the fundamental question is framed as to whether moral authority is

ultimately located with the individual or with Church teaching, the assumption is that the

answer is either one or the other. A systemic theological anthropology alters the question

by exploring the array of interwoven and interdependent relationships that collectively

contribute to any final outcome or moral decision. Consequently, the entirety of moral

authority ultimately resides within the overall system and cannot be located exclusively

and ultimately with either the individual or the Church’s teaching. Morality and moral

decisions are a collaborative social venture and product emerging from the Church

through the individual with all parties bearing unique dimensions of responsibility for its

development and realization regarding any given moral issue. In short, the exercise of

primacy of conscience is a manifestation of a systemic theological anthropology that

recognizes and supports an underlying understanding of agency that necessarily

incorporates all parties as both initiators and receivers.

Although a systemic theological anthropology and its framing of agency are

couched in relatively contemporary terms, it is actually far from a foreign concept within

Catholicism. The long standing theological concept of the priesthood of all believers

readily resonates with a systemic theological anthropology and an interactive

understanding of agency. Without going into the history or nuance of the concept of the

priesthood of all believers, especially in terms of the differences between Catholicism

and Protestantism during the Reformation, the Council of Trent and beyond, it has been

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and remains a foundational theological construct rooted in baptism for Christians of all

stripes.

The Second Vatican Council states in the “Dogmatic Constitution of the Church”

that “…the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or hierarchical

priesthood are none the less ordered one to another, each in its own proper way shares in

the one priesthood of Christ.”339 As for most Christians, the sacrament of Baptism is the

foundational initiation rite for Catholics and constitutes entrance into the priesthood of

Christ. For Catholics and many other Christians, it is also the first of the three

sacraments of initiation and is followed by Eucharist and Confirmation. All Catholics

during their baptisms are anointed with sacred chrism as priests, prophets, and leaders.340

Each of these baptismal roles is a manifestation of agency afforded to the Church’s entire

membership by virtue of baptism, even if ordained ministers have unique expressions and

responsibilities regarding those roles.

Certainly the theological construct of the priesthood of all believers is tangential

to the principal doctrine of primacy of conscience that is being examined in this

dissertation. Nevertheless, it is worth noting the doctrine of the priesthood of all

believers, as it is a foundational religious tenet that is also compatible with, the

application of a systemic theological anthropology and corresponding understanding of

agency. In a very broad sense, it is important that what is being claimed here for the

339
“Dogmatic Constitution,” Vatican Council II, 361.
340
The normative ritual celebration of Baptism includes this anointing, though in
emergencies or for other pastoral reasons this portion of the sacrament may be omitted.
In that sense, every baptized Catholic has not literally received this anointing;
nevertheless, the intent and understanding is extended to all Catholics.
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doctrine of primacy of conscience also work with other important theological doctrines,

such as the priesthood of all believers being co-creating agents with God. A similar

example of theological compatibility in the arena of systemic agency could be made with

the vital Pauline metaphor of the body of Christ (e.g., Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12). Not

that compatibility is a theological litmus test, but it bodes well if enhancing one

theological construct also could potentially contribute to other theological constructs.

Fundamental Pastoral Shifts

Moored in a systemic theological anthropology, this pastoral theological

interpretation of primacy of conscience accomplishes three fundamental practical pastoral

shifts. Two of the shifts can be noted as focus is placed upon an individual (i.e., the pastoral

care receiver or the pastoral care provider) and the third shift relates to the relational dynamic

between individuals and the Church as a whole. One shift is for the pastoral care seeker

experiencing dissonance with a certain Church teaching. This shift highlights the possibility of

differing from the Church through an understanding of primacy of conscience without that

difference necessarily being considered synonymous with disloyalty, infidelity, or even sin,

either by the hierarchy or by other Catholics. Concretely, this implies that the Church can

affirm and support occasions when a Catholic differs from Church teaching on a specific

topic and invokes primacy of conscience. This affirmation and support addresses the

core pastoral issue at hand (i.e., agency), as it reinforces the possibility that Catholics are

adequate and competent to responsibly make a moral decision that differs from the

Church teaching without necessarily incurring a compromised status within the Church.

The implications of this change should not be underestimated.

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 To permit differing from Church teaching by individual Catholics as an

embodiment of agency and an exercise of primacy of conscience, even if not normative,

radically alters the moral decision-making landscape and removes in principal the

possibility of any commensurate negative social persuasion and judgment by the Church

hierarchy or its membership. Indeed, understanding primacy of conscience in this way

may function as positive social persuasion that does not negate the value of normative

teaching, but rather offers the possibility of the normative teaching developing in light of

the difference that is expressed.

In addition to primacy of conscience affording the possibility of differing from

normative teaching without necessarily compromising a member’s status or calling into

question one’s competency, this shift may also mitigate any misperception that there are

no real options for a person experiencing dissonance with a certain Church teaching. Granted

there are limited options as to what is considered the normative teaching of the Church, but

primacy of conscience clearly states that there are real options as to how a person relates to that

teaching. The possible elimination of the perception that obligatory foregone conclusions exist

alters the pastoral conversation and care from its very outset.

The second shift relates to the pastoral care giver or the person ministering to the

Catholic who experiences differences from Church teaching: it may ameliorate the potentially

complicated situation for the priest or pastoral care provider as representatives of the Church.

At times the pastoral problem may manifest itself within the pastoral relationship itself.

The pastoral care provider, often the priest, may be implicitly or explicitly positioned as

“the judge” or the one who knows the answers and, consequently, will adjudicate the

moral question at hand (e.g., the manualist tradition). The other side of this coin is that

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the pastoral care seeker presenting the moral question may be implicitly or explicitly

positioned as the one who is ignorant and/or incapable of making the moral decision in

question. Basically, the starting place of the pastoral engagement may be vulnerable to or

fraught with a conscious and/or unconscious polarization that may reflect a relationship

of dominance and submission or, in other words, a distorted relationship of agency that

may compromise the quality of the pastoral care offered and received.

Rather than the pastoral situation being cast from the beginning as an “either—or”

proposition (i.e., the Catholic is either following Church teaching or is not, or that primacy of

conscience does not require serious engagement with Church teaching) that is assessed by the

pastoral care provider, engaging differences with Church teaching can become a “both—and”

proposition reflected upon in a collaborative pastoral conversation (i.e., the Catholic is both

differing from a specific Church teaching and adhering to the Church teaching of primacy of

conscience). The priest or pastoral care provider is thereby relieved of feeling caught in

irreconcilable contradictions when caring for the person and representing both the ministry and

governance of the Church. Rather than the minister being potentially positioned from the

outset of the pastoral conversation in a role of determining approval or disapproval, the

ambiguity within the tradition can be jointly engaged through an enhanced understanding of

primacy of conscience and agency that is supported by the Church. This can be a concrete

manifestation of the Second Vatican Council’s identification of the limits and roles of the

pastoral relationship.

Let the laity realize that their pastors will not always be so expert as to
have a ready answer to every problem, even every grave problem, that
arises; this is not the role of the clergy: it is rather the task of lay people to

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 shoulder their responsibilities under the guidance of Christian wisdom and
with careful attention to the teaching authority of the Church.341

The third shift can be understood by focusing not principally on the pastoral care seeker

or the pastoral care provider, but rather on the relationship between the two as they stand within

the tradition of the Church. As both parties responsibly engage the teaching of the Church in

order to discern from an informed conscience, two relational dynamics are operative. In broad

terms, we can speak of these two relational dynamics as teaching and learning. Both teaching

and learning are expressions of agency, with the former being initiating and the latter being

receiving. More often than not and for very good reason, given the breadth of its resources,

Church tradition is predominantly positioned in the role of teacher, while the individual is

positioned in the role of learner. This is a relatively normative structure when one looks at an

individual in relationship to the social group and the socialization process. Nevertheless,

clearly the cumulative teaching expressed by the social group (e.g. the Church) that is passed

on as tradition has been learned over the course of time and is the by-product of many

individuals’ insights and contributions. Even if somewhat veiled or given a low profile, the

Church is as much about learning as it is about teaching. There is little question here as to what

is the cart and what is the horse—one who teaches must have first learned.

Granted Copernicus and Galileo did not, at the time, receive the support of the Church

that their insights actually deserved; however, the Church did eventually learn from what they

had to offer. Countless examples could be given of how the Church has been and is a learner,

regardless of how well or poorly the learning process itself might be. Further, it is this very

learning that serves as the basis for the Church to function as a teacher. For the Church, a

341
“Pastoral Constitution,” Vatican Council II, 944.
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unique dimension of the learning process is considered to be by way of divine revelation, yet it

is by no means the only source of the Church’s learning venture. Whether or not one believes

in the theological concept of divine revelation or, if so, how it is to be understood, there is

ample learning that occurs within the Church that is not complicated by such a mysterious

concept.

The exercise of primacy of conscience may function as exceptional moments when

individual Catholics shift from what is generally the normative role as learners vis-à-vis Church

tradition, to functioning as potential teachers for the Church. Primacy of conscience does not

necessarily function as teaching, but it may and certainly has in the past. In such an instance,

the Church may be in the position to consider, if not learn, new possibilities. To recognize

through the doctrine of primacy of conscience that both Catholics individually and the Church

collectively are able to occupy either the role of teacher or learner may significantly transform

the pastoral relationship. Given the ambiguity within the tradition itself, a relational agency

where all parties may either be initiating as teachers or receiving as learners regarding any

given moral issue seems appropriate, if not necessary. Primacy of conscience reflects this type

of relational agency.

Even if obvious, it is important to explicitly note that the teaching and learning function

is by no means limited to the occasional and potential moments of the exercise of primacy of

conscience. In fact, given the exceptional quality of primacy of conscience, it is

understandably not the normative location of the teaching and learning functions within the

Church. Catholic theologians, be they lay or cleric, have long served in both of those capacities

as they have fulfilled their theological vocation. Yet even those bearing the title and function of

theologian have struggled with the balance and integration of the complementary dynamics of

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teaching and learning as related to the tradition of the Church. The Second Vatican Council

addressed this issue as it shifted the Church’s understanding regarding the tradition in order to

better appreciate and recover a balanced integration between the functions of teaching and

learning.

McCormick provides a clear summary of this shift beginning with three characteristics

of the mindset prior to the Second Vatican Council.

Church teaching has had “… (1) an undue distinction between the teaching and
learning function in the Church, with a consequent emphasis on the right to
teach—and relatively little on the duty to learn and the sources of learning in
the Church; (2) an undue identification of the teaching function with a single
group in the Church, the hierarchy; (3) an undue isolation of a single aspect of
teaching, the judgmental, the decisive, the ‘final word’.”342

From this position, following the Second Vatican Council, the Church has subsequently

developed a more balanced and integrated notion of the teaching function within the Church.

Three characteristics clearly reflect the identified shift.

From the perspective following the Second Vatican Council regarding Church
teaching, “…(1) the learning process is seen as essential to the teaching
process; (2) teaching is a multidimensional function, of which the judgmental
or decisive is only one aspect; (3) the teaching function involves the charisms
of many persons.”343

The Church tradition is comprised of both learning and teaching with theologians

performing these functions normatively and according to their unique charisms. Nevertheless,

primacy of conscience is a unique example as to how any Catholic may, in fact, function as a

teacher within the Church, even if it is not realized until well after the person’s life on earth has

ended (e.g., Copernicus and Galileo). Given not all of us are Copernicus or Galileo, of course

342
McCormick, Critical Calling 19.
343
Ibid., 20.
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the individual’s conscience, as it is informed by Church teaching, may be changed as well. In

short, teaching and learning (i.e., initiating and receptive agency) always comprise a two-way

street that is mutual and interactive.

Specific Social Cognitive Theory Amplification of Agency

SCT helps nuance an understanding of the term “primacy” within the doctrine as one

examines the dimensionality of agency. The systemic framing of agency by SCT examines

cognition, behavior, the environment, and their reciprocal interaction. From these

interactions, cognitive and behavioral dimensions of agency (i.e., self-reflectiveness,

perceived self-efficacy, and social persuasion) potentially engage and amplify unexplored

dimensions of the function of primacy of conscience. An SCT understanding of agency

incorporates the mechanisms of self-reflection, perceived self-efficacy, and social

persuasion as potential human factors within the formation and development of

conscience. Hence, primacy of conscience can be amplified to be inclusive of, but not

exhausted by, a systemic understanding of agency that articulates these interrelated

dynamics operative for the individual and the social group.

From a SCT systemic perspective, primacy of conscience is an expression of agency on

behalf of the individual and the Church that includes the normative cognitive, behavioral, and

relational dimensions of self-reflection, self-efficacy, and social persuasion. Fundamentally

conscience is one’s personal and subjective discernment of good and evil in the context

of a relationship with God and creation that is influenced by, influential of, and located

within the Church. Although certainly personal and subjective, conscience is also

inherently and necessarily a relational dynamic in its formation and development as well

as its exercise. As such, conscience is a social dynamic that incorporates and relates to

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the array of domains that contribute to one’s experience of reality, not the least of which

is the Church’s teaching and the corresponding faith community. Conscience is

ultimately an individual expression of socially situated agency, as an individual attempts

to accomplish good and avoid evil in the context of any and all relationships.

In very simple terms, the exercise of primacy of conscience is a manifestation of

agency within a social system (i.e., the Church) which, from the perspective of SCT,

would incorporate self-reflection, self-efficacy, and social persuasion inasmuch as these are

normative human functions. Although it would take a researcher like Bandura to measure how

these three specific dimensions of agency might be operative within the exercise of primacy of

conscience, the implications of SCT suggest that primacy of conscience, as an expression of

agency, would manifest the dimensionality of self-reflection, self-efficacy, and social

persuasion. Therefore, each dimension will be briefly reviewed in order to explore the

implications SCT has for the exercise of primacy of conscience and to amplify its

understanding.

Self-reflection

Self-reflection is a dimension of agency that resonates profoundly with primacy of

conscience. As Bandura states, “people are not only agents of action but self-examiners of their

own functioning. The metacognitive capability to reflect upon oneself and the adequacy of

one’s thoughts and actions is another distinctly core human feature of agency.”344 This self-

examination ranges from judging one’s predictive thinking with the actual outcomes to the

effects that other people’s actions produce, what they believe, and established bodies of

344
Bandura, “Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective,” 10.
214
knowledge.345 Even at surface the very existence of self-reflection supports one dimension of a

personalist perspective of primacy of conscience. Self-reflection does not simply imply, but

rather obliges and demands, that reflection or consideration be incorporated into the act of

judgment as a dimension of agency. It claims that within the normative cognitive and

behavioral process, human agency has a reflective and constructive character.

An understanding of primacy of conscience which incorporates a self reflective quality

cannot simply be a process of informing and conforming to a set of pre-determined answers

without any alternative possibility. Self-reflection is anything but the self being programmed

according to prescribed dictates, although it presumes and requires a context with content from

which to reflect. Although certain responses may be anticipated, even preferred and expected

by the Church, regarding any number of moral questions, a variety of potential outcomes is the

sine qua non of authentic self-reflection and an understanding of the function of primacy. The

qualifying term “primacy” presumes something akin to the process of self-reflection. As

primacy of conscience includes self-reflection, a personal and autonomous quality must be

operative otherwise it would not authentically be self-reflection.

Nevertheless, self-reflectiveness is not principally about the presence of options

when it comes to decision-making. Rather it is from and with the existence of options

that the complex process of self-reflection emerges as a dimension of agency for

individuals in their unique and diverse contexts. Further, understanding this complex

process of self-reflection enhances an appreciation for how the term “primacy” operates

in relationship to the exercise of conscience, especially as Catholics’ consciences are

informed.

345
Ibid.
215
 A potential concern that may arise in the face of considering a term like self-

reflectiveness within the exercise of primacy of conscience is that it conjures individualism or

extreme subjectivity that is unfettered by the tradition and the Church. In fact, by exploring

self-reflection with some specificity, that is anything but the case. Self-reflection is a

profoundly social construct, as it judges anything from the correctness of one’s thinking against

the outcomes of one’s behavior, to the effects of the other’s behaviors, beliefs, and established

knowledge upon one’s self. Self-reflection identifies a cognitive dynamic that ultimately

affects behavior, but it does not have a determined trajectory as related to specific content

proposed by or operative for the social group. That is, the outcome of self-reflection, in theory,

may reinforce or deviate from the normative teaching of the social group (e.g., the Church). In

practice, more often than not, self-reflection reinforces the social norm which, in turn,

contributes to the social norm being maintained. In the instance of primacy of conscience, the

self reflective process is the exception to the norm and deviates from Church teaching.

As pastoral theology recovers and/or enhances theology, self-reflection integrated into

an understanding of primacy of conscience offers much more than simply an argument for the

personalist perspective vis-à-vis an enhanced framing of agency. Primacy of conscience

presumes engagement with the tradition so that the individual can make moral decisions from

what has been historically termed “an informed conscience.” How does a Catholic arrive at the

point of having an informed conscience? In its most simplistic historical expression having an

informed conscience meant knowing and reflecting upon what the Church teaches, yet clearly

that is not sufficient as the ambiguity of the two strands within the tradition regarding being a

moral Catholic demonstrates. A more comprehensive understanding of the processes by which

a Catholic’s conscience becomes informed can be achieved by integrating the contemporary

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insights of psychology, in this case, social psychology. Self-reflectiveness as articulated by

SCT identifies a number of processes by which an informed conscience is realized.

The content of the Church’s normative moral teaching is a portion of what contributes

to a Catholic having an informed conscience, yet that content is but on factor in the process of

self-reflection. For example, Srampickal’s research models how psychology can offer insight

into the process of conscience formation and development. Inevitably these processes, whether

rooted in older empirical psychological expressions or more contemporary systemic theories,

can assist in better understanding that by which an informed conscience is achieved. The

psychological processes by which conscience is formed and developed are not principally

located in the specific content of any particular moral teaching. Rather, dimensions of the

formation and development of conscience are principally located within an array of

relationships with social groups that form and are formed by the person, not the least of which

is the Church. Further, the role and nuance that SCT offers regarding self-reflection as an

expression of agency can illuminate and enhance how an informed conscience is understood to

emerge and function. An informed conscience may be manifest, in part, by the normative

cognitive process of self-reflection and all that entails, not the least of which is how it relates to

perceived self-efficacy.

Perceived Self-efficacy

Perceived self-efficacy, as a dimension of agency, presents itself as an integral

dimension of the process to be considered as it stands in relationship to self-

reflectiveness. Moral decision-making and primacy of conscience are about making a

difference in an individual’s life and world—achieving the good and avoiding evil. How

and to what degree individuals perceive themselves as capable of maximizing good and

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minimizing evil by virtue of their choices and corresponding behaviors can be a

manifestation of perceived self-efficacy. Individuals’ perceptions as to whether or not

they can have an impact upon reality can affect their willingness or hesitancy to engage a

situation. If people have a confident perception of their own efficacy, then they take on

tasks and continue to learn in ways that could help them avoid evil and do good. If they

doubt their own efficacy, they tend to sidestep challenging tasks or retreat from

opportunities and hence their development as skillful people stagnates. Stagnation is

likely to leave them less ready to confront challenges, including moral ones, even moral

ones that would help them comply with Church teachings that they accept. People’s

stagnation diminishes their agency. Consequently, perceived self-efficacy is foundational

to person’s agency.

Although perceived self-efficacy relates to people’s beliefs about their own

abilities to provide levels of performance that make a difference in events that affect their

lives, it is vital to underline that this dimension of agency is about the perceived capacity

to make a difference or have an effect, not necessarily about being different. For

example, a person can readily have a strong perceived self-efficacy that aligns with a

given Church teaching. As a case in point, I can personally attest to the fact that a person

can truly believe that putting Church teaching into practice can translate into making a

positive difference in one’s life, if not the world. Catholicism is replete with individuals

who would make this claim. Similarly though, the same could be said of the same person

who, in another given instance, differs from a specific normative Church teaching.

Again, I can readily identify this as true for myself as well as others I have encountered in

ministry.

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 The point is that “perceived self-efficacy” refers to the consciousness internal to

an individual and that he or she has the self perception of being able to have an effect

upon that which is engaged. It does not relate directly to what concrete or strategic action

is perceived as possibly realizing the desired outcome. So when Bandura claims that

“self-efficacy beliefs may influence fundamental orientations in thinking such as being

pessimistic or optimistic as well as whether thinking is inclined to be self-hindering or

self-enhancing,”346 that does not translate into how these fundamental orientations may

be specifically expressed in terms of actual moral teachings.

Broadly, the doctrine of primacy of conscience may potentially and implicitly

reinforce perceived self-efficacy, inasmuch as it teaches that a member of the Church

inherently has the possibility, responsibility and, therefore, capability of making a moral

choice. Granted, the operative assumption of the Church is that a person with an

informed conscience will generally align with and act according to the normative

teaching within the tradition. Yet given that the doctrine of primacy of conscience is part

and parcel of that normative teaching, moral choices are never simply by default. An

informed Catholic responsibly making moral decisions within the tradition must ask the

question of conscience, all the while recognizing that the outcome may or may not, in this

instance and context, correspond to the normative teaching of the Church.

Although primacy of conscience may not directly foster self-efficacy beliefs as

such, implicitly the doctrine structures the relationship between the individual and the

Church in a manner that claims that a person’s moral decision-making can and does have

an effect and make a difference. The term “primacy,” as it relates to acting from an

346
Bandura, “Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective,” 1.
219
informed conscience, orders the relationship with the possibility of a unique expression

of self-efficacy—responsibly differing from the normative teaching according to one’s

conscience. Certainly, as stated earlier, self-efficacy can readily be operative when a

person aligns with and acts upon normative Church teaching. Yet for the Church itself to

teach that the individual, by virtue of the doctrine of primacy of conscience, can

responsibly differ from the normative teaching is a poignant expression of and

commitment to the possibility of an individual’s moral choice making a difference and

having an effect.

Within the Catholic tradition, primacy of conscience may implicitly nurture, for

both the individual and the Church, the development of self-efficacy beliefs that

influence how people feel, think, motivate themselves, and behave. Primacy of

conscience could be considered the Church’s summary expression within moral theology

that each individual can make a difference and have an effect when making moral

decisions in light of the Church’s normative teaching. When the doctrine of primacy of

conscience is amplified by the implications of self-efficacy, the exceptional moments of

its exercise can be powerful opportunities to enhance and make visible the presence of

perceived self-efficacy in the process of moral decision-making. In short, “primacy” is

understood as a statement about the possibility and responsibility of the Catholic making

a certain type of moral decision within the Church—one that may be different from the

normative teaching, yet respected and accepted for the individual exercising primacy of

conscience given the Church’s teaching.

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 Social Persuasion

In the previous section on perceived self-efficacy it was stated that primacy of

conscience may implicitly reinforce perceived self-efficacy, inasmuch as it teaches that a

Catholic inherently has the possibility, responsibility and, therefore, capability of making

a personal moral choice that makes a difference. Similarly, primacy of conscience may

be seen as an expression of social persuasion regarding the Church’s understanding of the

role of the individual in the process of moral decision-making within the Church.

Bandura has identified social persuasion as one of the four main sources of influence in

the development of perceived self-efficacy.347 Specially, social persuasion is a source of

strengthening and/or weakening people's beliefs that they have what it takes to succeed.

In terms of primacy of conscience, perceived self-efficacy relates to the person’s self

perception about personal efficacy whereas social persuasion relates to the social group’s

(i.e., the Church) perception of the role of the person and any commensurate positive

and/or negative influence.

Positive social persuasion encourages confident perceptions of self-efficacy,

hence supports people in taking on growth experiences and encourages their development

of agency. The personalist view of conscience acts as positive persuasion and at least

implicitly helps Catholics to develop confidence in their individual efficacy. It supports

agency. Social persuasion can be negative, however, and negative social persuasion

tends to have a stronger effect on self-efficacy than does positive social persuasion. It

347
Bandura, “Self-efficacy,” 15. The other three main sources of influence are mastery
experiences, seeing people similar to oneself manage task demands successfully, and
inferences from somatic and emotional states indicative of personal strengths and
vulnerabilities.
221
easily undercuts a confident perception of a person’s efficacy. Primacy of conscience can

be a form of positive social persuasion simply by virtue of the fact that the Church as a

social group is both the author and teacher of the doctrine. It is one of the Church’s

principal statements to the individual about the understanding of how a Catholic relates to

the Church when it comes to moral decision-making, especially in terms of agency.

Primacy of conscience acknowledges and supports an individual’s capacity to

make an informed moral decision that differs from normative teaching and is unique to

that person regarding a particular moral decision; consequently, it can be argued that

primacy of conscience functions as a form of positive social persuasion. Given SCT

claims that social persuasion can undermine perceived self-efficacy much more readily

than it can enhance it, the Church does well when its social persuasion functions

positively to strengthen and enhance the perceived self-efficacy of its membership. The

term “primacy” within the doctrine implies that individuals have the capacity as well as

the responsibility to follow their conscience when making moral decisions. As SCT

research suggests, such positive social persuasion increases the likelihood for individuals

to make greater efforts as well as sustain them. Further, as positive social persuasion can

bolster perceived self-efficacy, such efforts may be more likely to succeed as well as

contribute to an increased sense of personal agency. In short, primacy of conscience, as

part of Church teaching, may function as positive social persuasion that can enhance

people’s belief in their capacity to succeed or, in this pastoral context, competently make

the moral choices they face.

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 Similarly, the personalist perspective may also position the Church toward positive

Social persuasion by directly placing responsibility squarely on the shoulders of

individual Catholics, thus implicitly recognizing their capacity to take on the task.

Communicating that Catholics have the capacity to make an array of moral decisions,

including potentially those differing from Church teaching by invoking primacy of

conscience, truly expresses positive social persuasion that can benefit both individuals

and the Church at large. As Bandura states, “social persuasion is a …way of

strengthening people’s beliefs that they have what it takes to succeed.”348

In summary, as the question of agency or moral authority is addressed vis-à-vis

the doctrine of primacy of conscience, SCT’s research and theory on agency and the social-

personal interfaces involved in decision-making affords a more fully developed and

articulated understanding of the question. Broadly SCT frames the question of agency

systemically and specifically it introduces the dynamics of self-reflectiveness, perceived

self-efficacy, and social persuasion as related to agency for both the individual and the

group. These insights help in better understanding how the term “primacy” functions

within the doctrine as well as the complex factors that contribute to the process of

informing one’s conscience. Ultimately the implications of SCT for an amplified

understanding of primacy of conscience support and deepen the personalist perspective

that identifies and prioritizes the role of personal autonomy for socially situated and informed

individuals making moral decisions and potentially exercising of primacy of conscience.

348
Bandura, “Self-efficacy,” 3.
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 Illustration of Primacy of Conscience

The implications that SCT provides for a fuller understanding of primacy of conscience

will be implicitly explored in some detail in this section. It will be in the form of a

hypothetical dialogue that might occur in an actual pastoral encounter and, as such, will

be conversational in tone. The conversation will contain expressions of the three

foundational shifts and the potential amplification SCT affords. Upon completion, it will

provide more of an anecdotal expression that reflects how current pastoral care and ministry

could be transformed by a pastoral theological interpretation of primacy of conscience and

agency. A summary reflection upon the conversation will identify some of the potential shifts

operative.

Primacy of conscience, as an expression of agency within Catholic moral

decision-making, applies to the range of moral issues and questions that a Catholic may

encounter. As stated earlier, this research is not oriented toward examining any particular

moral issue as such. Yet for the purpose of illustration, some moral issue is required so

that the hypothetical conversation has a concrete character and is not overly abstract or

disconnected from the experiences from which the problem of conscience arose in the

first place. Sexual behavior and, more specifically, contraception have been the constant

example used when a moral issue is required for the discussion to have some concrete

mooring in order to more readily make sense. This will continue to be the case in this

illustration and, even though not advancing the study of a given moral issue, the domain

of sexuality and the specific topic of contraception is not an arbitrary choice.

There are several reasons that sexuality and contraception have been chosen as the

illuminating example throughout this dissertation. There are two main reasons I have

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picked these topics. First and foremost, the laity are the principal members of the Church

that are called to the vocation of marriage.349 As such, these individuals have the

experience of being in on-going sexual relationships as well as possibly raising a family.

Conversely, celibate clergy who comprise the majority of the Church’s hierarchy that

promulgates Church teaching, presumably have a much more limited experiential basis

regarding sexual relationships upon which to reflect. From the Catholic theological

perspective that experience is an important source of insight and understanding, it would

follow that those who are called to the vocation of marriage and are sexually active

would have unique and significant input regarding sexuality and contraception. Of

course this is not to suggest that only those who have had or have a particular experience

are able to reflect and/or comment upon it, yet it would certainly seem that those who do

should not be left out of the equation. In short, given the focus on agency within this

dissertation, sexuality and the morality of contraception are prime candidates for

potential domains that lay Catholics should be able to express, at least in part, initiating

agency as teachers and not be exclusively located in the position of receptive agency as

learners.

Second, contraception among Catholics in the United States is among the most

demonstrable behavioral deviances from normative Church teaching regarding sexuality.

The Catholic Medical Association’s journal “The Linacre Quarterly” published an article

regarding the use of contraception by women that drew upon the data of the 2002

National Survey of Family Growth. There were 7,635 women in the sample, 2,250 of

349
Even in the Roman communion, exceptions exist regarding married clergy (e.g.,
married permanent deacons; married priests who have transitioned to the Roman Church
from another denomination such as the Episcopal Church).
225
who were Catholic (29.5% of the sample) of which 48.8% practiced contraception and

only 0.4% practiced the natural family planning advocated by Roman Catholic

teaching.350 In their article “The Influence of Religiosity on Contraceptive Use among

Roman Catholic Women in the United States,” Jennifer Ohlendorf and Richard Fehring

conclude the following:

“The overall findings from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth
indicate that US RC women between the ages of 15-44 have patterns of
use of contraceptive methods similar to those of US women in general.
The current use of contraceptive methods by US women and US RC
women differ only by a percentage point. The 3 most frequently used
methods of family planning by both US women and RC US women are
the hormonal oral contraceptive pill, sterilization, and the condom.”351

To the best of my knowledge there is no research that attempts to directly

demonstrate a correlation between a Catholic’s choice to use contraception and an

understanding and/or exercise of primacy of conscience. Nevertheless, given my pastoral

experience and that of others as well, it is certainly a reasonable assumption that some

portion among this group makes this linkage. In the research of Ohlendorf and Fehring

cited above, when speculating as to possible rationales or framings by Catholics related to

350
The distribution of the contraceptive practices is divided accordingly: birth control pill
19.6%, female sterilization 13.9%, condoms 11.7%, and male sterilization 3.6%.
351
Jennifer Ohlendorf and Richard J. Fehring, “The Influence of Religiosity on
Contraceptive Use among Roman Catholic Women in the United States,” The Linacre
Quarterly 2, (2007): 140. For further references, see L. W. Tentler, Catholics and
Contraception: An American History (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2004); R. Fehring
and A. M. Schlidt, “Trends in Contraceptive Use Among Catholics in the United States:
1988-1995,” The Linacre Quarterly 2, (2001):170-185; and C. F. Westoff and N. R.
Ryder, “Conception Control among American Catholics,” in Catholics/U.S.A:
Perspectives on Social Change, eds. W. T. Liu and N. J. Pallone (New York: John Wiley
& Sons, 1970), 257-268.
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their data regarding use of contraception, the authors suggest the following as one among

a number of possibilities.

A possible reason is that, although RC couples know the Church’s

teachings on contraception and sterilization, they view themselves as
“autonomous” adults, and downplay or ignore the role of the Church’s
official teachings in forming their consciences on the issue of family
planning.352

The concept of primacy of conscience is not even introduced into the discussion

as a dimension of conscience formation as well as an “official teaching” of the Church.

Given the great disparity between the Church’s teaching and the practice of the laity in

the case of contraception that such a blatant lacuna would exist in research sponsored by

the institutional Church seems sadly negligent. This project sets a basis for addressing

this lack.

Generally a conscious behavioral deviation by a Catholic from Church teaching,

especially on an on-going basis, would be accompanied by a corresponding

understanding or framing. That is, from the perspective of the Catholic choosing

contraception, the act could minimally be framed or considered as at least one of two

possibilities—an on-going sin or an exercise of primacy of conscience, as both are

relatively common Catholic notions regardless of how well or poorly they are

understood. The hypothetical pastoral conversation integrating primacy of conscience,

therefore, will engage the issue of contraception in the overall context of sexuality as it is

a domain particularly well disposed to illuminate the topic of primacy of conscience and

agency.

352
Ibid., 142.
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 At this point the summary pastoral vignette from the beginning of Chapter 2 will

set the foundation for the extended pastoral conversation that is to follow. Recall from

Chapter 2 that Sue is struggling with her choice to use contraception while also being

aware of the Church’s general prohibition regarding artificial means of contraception.

Nevertheless, she feels she can explain and justify her choice as one that makes sense to

her given the overall context of her family. Sue considers herself to be a “good” Catholic

and had always been taught to follow her conscience and was unsure if that was, in fact,

what her choice regarding contraception reflected. Sue is a regularly attending member

of the Church, has served on the council of the Church, and the priest knows her fairly

well. She informed the priest of the purpose of their conversation when she set the

meeting time, so both were prepared for the conversation and needed little time to begin

to address the topic in earnest.

Pastoral Conversation353

Priest: When you called to ask if we could talk about primacy of conscience, I

mentioned that it might be helpful to also explore and possibly expand how we

understand the phrase “an informed conscience” as it relates to primacy of conscience. In

your questioning and struggle to understand what the Church means when it says we

should follow our conscience, you said your parents and teachers always taught you that

you must have an informed conscience. You said you weren’t clear about what that

actually means or how to get one. After all, it’s not like you can purchase it at a Catholic

bookstore? As we discuss primacy of conscience in our lives, we can certainly explore

353
This dialogue is an edited version of a transcribed recording of an actual pastoral
theological role play.
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the meaning of an informed conscience and even use it as our entry point for today’s

conversation? How do you understand it?

Sue: I think my parents had a lot to do with how my conscience became

informed, both for good and bad I guess. Although I was taught from very early on by

my parents to follow my conscience, I didn’t get the nitty-gritty until later in my life. I

am sure the road my parents had to walk affected what they taught me, even if they never

spoke of it directly to us as kids. They had five of us in the family. Much later on as an

adult, I found out that my dad went to the priest and said if my mom had another child, he

would divorce her. So the priest said to my dad that the lesser of two evils is for him to

have a vasectomy. It was the exception to the rule. The priest said that if that's what my

dad intended to do, he would grant him the equivalent of a dispensation to seek a

vasectomy.

Priest: I agree with you that our parents play a significant role in the process of

developing an informed conscience, including the idea of following your conscience. In

fact, there are many factors that come into play as Catholics develop an informed

conscience. Our self-reflection includes anything from how we assess the outcome of our

decisions, resources like the Bible or Catechism, and what others think and do as well.

Are you wondering if what your dad did was exercise primacy of conscience?

Sue: No, not really. I wouldn’t think that involves dispensations. I do know it

put his conscience at ease though. I am more trying to express how my dad or maybe my

parents couldn't live up to the Church’s standard…and I haven't been able to live up to

the standard as well. I think my parents taught me, whether they intended to or not, that

the Church’s standards are unrealistic. An informed conscience meant you knew you

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were set up for failure. I recall my dad often muttering, “easy for him to say” after

leaving Church. I would joke with my sister that it was another common response to the

priest, but not as benevolent as when we say, “And also with you.”

Priest: Okay, I have a better sense of where you are going now. Do you

personally believe that the Church’s standards are unrealistic in general, or just certain

ones? Do you really think that an informed conscience means that you are set up for

failure?

Sue: No, not when you put it that way, but when it comes to birth control, the

Church has such a high standard that doesn’t seem to take a lot of people, a lot of life,

into consideration when it teaches about contraception. We are still surrounded by it. An

Italian woman was beatified about two years ago, who died rather than have treatment for

cancer. This was a modern woman who was a medical doctor with 3 or 4 children. She

was pregnant and the treatment for the cancer would have killed the fetus. She refused

treatment so that her child could be born. It was worth more for her to bring this life into

the world than save her own. She deprived her children of a mother and the community

of a doctor, yet the beatification speaks about what a saint she was. The model of

holiness presented to women is to sacrifice your own life to give birth to a child.

Whether it's your actual life like this woman, or your sanity and health, everything else is

secondary to child-bearing. This is still the message and standard that Catholic women

receive to this day—it is just so unrealistic and simplistic.

Priest: Well that circumstance and issue is a bit different than contraception, yet

clearly it captures the stakes and emotion that are in play here for you. It sounds like you

are saying two things here on a broad level, but correct me if I am wrong or missed

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something. One point is that you and your family experience the Church’s teaching

regarding contraception as an unrealistic standard. The other point is that not being able

to achieve that standard has been difficult on the life of your family, both for your parents

and yourself. A critical question is whether you consider a standard or moral teaching

wrong or simply beyond your ability or desire to achieve it. How you understand and

respond to that question may determine whether or not developing a different and lesser

standard may actually be finding a way to deal with a sense of guilt or failure for not

keeping the standard that you know is right, or exercising primacy of conscience by

differing from a normative Church teaching. Do you think your parents’ or your

experience contributes to an informed conscience beyond assessing, as you see it, that the

teaching regarding contraception is a set up for failure for some people?

Sue: Maybe that is what I hope you will tell me, but to be completely honest it

has always seemed like saying that Catholics are to have an informed conscience is just a

tricky way to say we have to do just what the Church says. It suggests we have a role in

the decision-making process, but not really. If what I eventually decide goes against or

stands in opposition to a moral teaching like contraception, then I am told that my

conscience must not be well informed. I am faulted and told that I need to go back and

pray about this some more. Or I am directed to study the Catechism on the topic because

supposedly it is very clear there. At the end of the day, it seems that the Church believes

that if my conscience is well formed it will inevitably be in line with what the Catechism

states.

Priest: I understand your experience thus far seems to suggest that an informed

conscience can be presented like there really is only one correct answer. Are you open

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to, or have you had the experience when, having an informed conscience aligns with

Church teaching, even if you have fallen short of practicing it fully in your life?

Basically it is important to sort out whether or not you have a blanket rejection of any

Church teaching you do not realize in your life as too high a standard. Can you see in

your life where falling short doesn’t translate into saying the Church is just unrealistic?

Sue: I have not thought of it in that sense, but I can readily say that is not the

case. I don’t simply say the Church is wrong because I haven’t achieved its standards or

followed its teachings. You know of some of my struggles with fidelity in my marriage,

but I have never come to the conclusion that the Church’s teaching against adultery is

wrong.

Priest: Hold onto that thought for a moment. This is an important distinction

because following one’s conscience is about doing what we think is right or good.

Falling short of the Church’s standards does not necessarily mean the standards are

wrong, as you stated when you mentioned the seventh commandment banning adultery.

An informed conscience may lead us to recognize how we have failed or sinned, or it

may lead us to consider that the teaching is off or wrong rather than ourselves. Does that

make sense?

Sue: Absolutely! I think sometimes I find it so frustrating that I just lump it all

together and it may seem a bit exaggerated. So you are telling me that an informed

conscience isn’t one that always agrees with the Church, though it does at times, and that

primacy of conscience isn’t really a ruse to suggest we can actually differ with the

Church’s teaching and still be considered part of the faithful? So how come I think this

way? I am an intelligent woman who has really taken this stuff seriously.

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 Priest: Whether or not it might be a bit of a characterization, certainly there are

some Catholics who would argue that an informed conscience will always align with the

Church teaching. It is not like you made all this stuff up in your head. It is one

interpretation of natural law, but it is not the only one. Exploring interpretations of

natural law probably won’t be helpful for us at the moment. I can certainly point you to

some articles if you would like to read more about it later. For the time being, let’s look

at the responsibility and obligation of having an informed conscience as being about the

information and influences we see as part of what forms our conscience. Understanding

having an informed conscience as a process or way of being in relationship is a good

foundation. It really expresses that we are part of the Church, or in Paul’s terms, part of

the Body of Christ. Let’s put on hold for the moment what possible conclusions might

emerge from an informed conscience. You have identified the Catechism as one source

of information. Have you found that helpful at times? Is there a way you can or do use it

in your life?

Sue: Well to be honest I haven’t read much of it lately, but that is partly due to

the fact that it seems like I am told to go back to the Catechism when I question or

disagree with the Church. It is kind of used just as a rule book and not much else. I

know it expresses the Church’s tradition, but it can’t be the only source of relevant

information. When I am directed to the Catechism there seems to be the suggestion, like

I said earlier, that I am somehow the problem and that the solution lays in the Catechism.

I simply need to study and pray in order to correct my confusion and error. Frankly, I

think it is an intentional way to demean adults by treating them like kids by sending them

back to redo the lessons they seemingly didn’t learn well the first time round. I don’t

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mind the Catechism, but it can’t be the end-all and be-all when it comes to informing

ourselves.

Priest: It is good that you can identify that level of feeling around being told to

engage the Catechism. Before we look at praying and studying more about a particular

issue that you question or have difficulty with accepting or practicing like contraception,

it may first be helpful to recognize if or how the Catechism has been a resource in your

development of faith. It can prevent lumping the whole relationship into one negative

category. Or maybe it is just something that you think relates to being a child. I am not

sure, but let’s see. This may shift the experience of seeing the Catechism as something

more than a rule book that is drawn out only when you differ with a specific Church

teaching. Are there positions on moral topics that you would agree with in the

Catechism, say like the Ten Commandments? After all, it has over a hundred pages on

the Ten Commandments that reflect over an eighth of the entire text.

Sue: Even though I can’t recite them all like I could when I was a girl, I am not

calling those into question. “Thou shall not kill” seems pretty obvious to me and I am

definitely on board with that one. But I know “thou shall conceive” was not one of them

and, if you ask me, it seems to be stretching the matter to try to make the case that they

are somehow connected.

Priest: So could you say the Catechism might or does serve you in some capacity

as a resource that expresses and supports your understanding of yourself as a moral

Catholic?

Sue: Sort of funny, but I can’t recall really trying to see where I stood in

agreement with the Catechism because it has mainly been used to correct me. But now

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that you put it that way, sure I think there are definitely ways it represents what I believe

and try to practice as a Catholic.

Priest: When you stated that you did not think “thou shall not kill” translates into

“thou shall conceive,” you said “if you ask me.” Well even if it does not always seem to

be the case, the Church is asking you about your stand on contraception for yourself and

your family. Let me read something out of the Catechism for you. Remember we just

agreed that this is a source that does at times represent what you believe and try to

practice as a Catholic. It states: “[One] has the right to act in conscience and in freedom

so as personally to make moral decisions. ‘[One] must not be forced to act contrary to

conscience. Nor must [one] be prevented from acting according to conscience, especially

in religious matters’.”354 Does that sound like an informed conscience inevitably aligns

with every Church teaching?

Sue: No it doesn’t. What page is that hidden on? Even if it is in the Catechism,

it doesn’t seem to get the press that all the other teachings seem to enjoy. You know as

well as I do that certainly all clergy don’t seem to come from this perspective and, in all

due respect, I can think of a particular clergyman with a whole lot more clout than you

that didn’t. I have this very clear memory of sitting in front of a television with a

neighbor watching Pope John Paul II in Monterey, CA in the early 80’s. He was giving a

speech addressing a number of things, but what struck me most was the part about non-

compliance with the Church’s teaching regarding contraception. One portion was about

being selfish. He phrased it something like, “Why would we deprive our sons and

daughters of siblings? Why would we deprive them, if not for our own selfish reasons?”

354
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 439.
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 Priest: Talk about a generous portion of Catholic guilt.

Sue: And as a cradle Catholic it got me. It hooked me. I am depriving my son

and daughter of siblings because I don't want the extra work. I am the problem—I am

being selfish. So we had another child. Later it was like "Oh my God." What was that

decision about? His speech really got me to that place of believing I'm being selfish.

This person, this great spiritual person, this wise and holy man who doesn’t know me

from Adam was basically saying, “Well honey, you don't have any good reason to not

have a child,” and I bought it. By our fifth child I finally got to the point of saying, "God

damn, I really do have a good reason, a really good reason because I will deprive my

children of a sane and healthy mother if I keep doing this.”

Priest: I am sure that was not an easy thing to say or realize in your life. This

may reflect the point of where listening to yourself as well as the Church led you to

exercise primacy of conscience regarding the question of contraception. As you were

informed by the Church and your life, you came to your response regarding the perceived

“thou shall conceive” mandate. The quote I read you not only expresses the teaching of

the Catechism by which you are called to inform yourself, but also draws upon the

teachings of the Second Vatican Council. The last part is actually a quote from the

“Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World.” As a priest, I certainly do

not have as much clout as the Pope, but this statement from the Catechism that was

painstakingly crafted by and representative of the Pope, cardinals, bishops, priests, and

laity as a summary of the tradition and the Second Vatican Council sure does.

Sue: So are you saying John Paul II was wrong in what he said?

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 Priest: Well I wasn’t trying to say that as such…there is certainly a broader

context that he was speaking from that I do not know. Let’s put it this way. A Pope’s

voice is one among a number of voices Catholics are called to listen to as they discern

moral choices. We can both see with our own two eyes that if we go to the Catechism we

are taught that our conscience is another voice we are called to listen to when making

moral decisions. Now this may not be altogether clear to either you or me as to how that

exactly plays out in our lives, but I think we are together today to explore more fully what

that might mean for both of us as Catholics. I can’t simply open up the Catechism and

tell you what you should do in each and every instance. I can’t even do that for myself.

Even if I were in agreement with whatever moral position the Catechism supports, I

would still have to support your primacy of conscience because it is a teaching of the

Church as well. A Catholic cannot have a fully informed conscience that does not

include being informed about this teaching regarding primacy of conscience.

Sue: I certainly don’t regret the life of our children. They are wonderful gifts

from God and life wouldn’t be the same without them. I just don’t feel comfortable with

how that choice was made and, more to our point today, how that continues to affect me

in terms of my on-going choice to use contraception. Between our financial situation, my

husband’s alcoholism and behavior, and the sheer demand of it all, I just can’t have

another child.

Priest: Do you feel like you did not or do not have a choice in the matter?

Sue: It’s not that I am saying I don’t have a choice, but I feel like my choice is

not understood or supported by the Church. Frankly it feels like it is condemned. Are

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you saying that it is my responsibility or fault because I am the only one who is making

the choice and I am free to do otherwise?

Priest: No I assure you that am not trying to find fault or judge you. I would

simply like us to broaden rather than narrow how we understand our choices. I want to

look at what context influences or affects the decisions we make. It is another angle on

understanding how we develop an informed conscience. From our previous

conversations I know that as a mom you have an idea of what is meant by peer pressure

and how it can affect children’s choices.

Sue: Of course, we talked last year about Billy’s problem with those other kids

and their drinking. My own mom told me about not hanging out with a bad crowd.

You’re not saying that the Pope and the Vatican is a bad crowd are you?

Priest: No, but I appreciate your humor. I want to use your understanding of peer

pressure as a general way to realize that our choices are influenced by others. We can

neither make decisions in complete isolation nor would we want to. We don’t live in a

vacuum. The influence and resources of those around us and those who have preceded us

is invaluable, even if sometimes confusing and even conflicting. When the Church

teaches that we must follow an informed conscience, it is another way of saying our

conscience must be influenced by the Church’s teaching as well as any other source

available that assists in our understanding the situation and moral decision in question.

Without getting lost in a bunch of technical psychological terms, let’s just say that the

tradition or teaching of the Church is like a form of peer pressure. Since it is not exactly

peers as such, it might be better to see it as social persuasion. The group, in this instance

the Church, wants us to do some things and not do other things, for the sake of

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everyone’s good. This is real persuasion that has an effect and generally carries some

form of consequence. Of course we might be hearing it through our peers, but they first

received it from some form of the Church’s teaching, like the Catechism for example.

Remember the big picture view that we discussed when we were looking at how peer

pressure might affect your son?

Sue: Oh yeah that peer pressure usually just gets a bad rap, as if it is only what

happens when some kids get other kids to do dumb or dangerous things. Of course we

have all seen that happen, but it can also be present when peers pressure others to do

good or creative things like in sports.

Priest: Yes, it can have either a positive or a negative influence. Social

persuasion can be understood in a similar way. It is really neither good nor bad in and of

itself. It is simply something that occurs as people relate to one another and we live in

society—we are influenced by those we live with and this is a way to understand it on a

large scale. Its affect on a person might be beneficial or detrimental and that is not

determined simply by whether or not we are being told to do something or not do

something. For example, “thou shall not kill” is a negative social persuasion. The

Church is persuading people not to kill, so it is a prohibition. So even though it is

negative social persuasion, it is a positive thing because it values and safeguards life. A

positive social persuasion is the Church teaching us to work for justice and care for those

suffering in poverty.

Sue: It sounds like you are trying to tell me that even though the Church is

prohibiting contraception, it is a good thing. I have heard that before and it sounds like

the same old same old.

239
 Priest: I am actually just trying to introduce a basic idea about how we are

influenced and affected by a group, but if you want to look at it regarding contraception

we can. Basically, as you stated, the Church’s teaching about contraception is that

prohibiting contraception is a good thing. But it is vital to recognize that this is not the

Church’s only teaching that must be considered. Prohibiting contraception is the

Church’s teaching or judgment on that topic in general, but is not a judgment of you in

particular or your practice. As Catholics we are called to engage our tradition and listen

to the voices of our leadership as they present the tradition. But it is important to not lose

sight of the fact that the Church teaches that we are not to let those voices be heard so

loudly that we cannot hear the voice of our own conscience. The Church exercises

positive social persuasion when it says you can and must ultimately make that decision

yourself based upon all the relevant information you have. This is the Church’s teaching

about your ability and responsibility to make moral decisions. Remember before how

you said there are a lot of things in the Catechism that you agree with? Can you agree

with the Church that after listening and gathering all the information and influence that

might matter, then you will follow you conscience?

Sue: I think that is what I have been doing, but somehow it seems so inadequate

and isolating. In my own situation with the decision I've made, it has felt and continues

to feel as if what I am doing when I appeal to my conscience is looking for the exception

to the rule. Others have set the rules and my only option leaves me coming up short. My

appeal is that I'm the exception because of my conscience, even if supported by the

Church. I am exempting myself from the rule. It's much more difficult to say the rule is

wrong, but I think it is. I feel like I am carving out my own space where I can survive,

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but as an exception. I'm not breathing well. I'm on the life support of primacy of

conscience which allows me an exception, but boy I really feel second rate. I feel like

I'm just at the margin of my Catholic life here. I want to be able to receive communion

like everybody else and not be looked down upon or look down upon myself because of

what I have decided and am doing.

Priest: I understand how you don’t want following your conscience to leave you

feeling at a loss, as if you were a second rate citizen. I hear the isolation you struggle

with here. I don’t think the Church’s teaching intends to address how following one’s

conscience might make a person feel. But I do know that how we understand those

teachings might affect those feelings. Are you really an exception to the rule? Isn’t one

of the rules to follow our conscience? Can there be moments when I faithfully and

legitimately claim exception to one rule because I am following another rule? Might the

Church, conscious or not, have created this confusing structure because it recognizes that

one teaching might not cover every scenario? Isn’t that the case with “thou shall not

kill?” That's clearly a rule, but there are also exceptions. The Church teaches about the

right to self-defense. It teaches the just war theory. So on the one hand we might say

that exceptions are the norm, but what if you are not expressing an exception. What if

you are a voice possibly contributing to what might become a new teaching?

Sue: So now I am to just tell my friends and the Pope that I am a theologian? Do

you have some paperwork that can go along with this claim?

Priest: Well let’s not concern ourselves for the moment as to how others might

interpret what you are doing when claiming primacy of conscience and what it may or

may not offer the Church. Let’s just focus on how you might understand it. We

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recognize that sometimes primacy of conscience does conjure the idea of an exception to

the rule, yet it is actually following another rule. A person can faithfully differ from a

normative Church teaching precisely because of following another normative Church

teaching. When we exercise primacy of conscience we are informed by the tradition and

we are the part of the Church that has been identified by the Church itself as those who

may and must differ in accordance with the teaching on conscience. The teaching on

primacy of conscience does not exclude, let alone excommunicate, those who exercise it.

The very presence of the teaching acknowledges the possibility of it being among the

expected practices of faithful Catholics. Catholics who exercise primacy of conscience

are a part of the whole, not apart from the whole. Some folks would talk about this in

terms of the Church as a system where everything and everyone stands in relationship to

everything and everyone else. So can you be faulted for putting into practice the very

teaching that your parents taught you as a child and the Church continues to teach in its

Catechism?

Sue: It does get all jumbled together doesn’t it? Usually I feel like if something

is out of order, it must be me. It never really occurred to me that the lay of the land is

actually complicated and confusing outside of me.

Priest: Well not to further complicate matters, but there also can be times when

the stance a Catholic holds isn't merely a petition for an exception considering my

circumstances, but rather an expression of a perspective that really calls to task the

normal teaching of the Church. Take slavery for example. Those who critiqued the

Church’s normative teaching that accepted slavery weren’t simply saying that there are

occasions when an exception to slavery would be appropriate and acceptable. They were

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saying the Church teachings were wrong. That is an example within the moral arena, but

we can also look at scientists like Copernicus or Galileo. They weren't asking for an

exception in their lives, they were saying as scientists that certain dimensions of the

Church’s understanding of the universe were wrong for everyone. Granted they were

called heretics and it took over four hundred years for the Church to acknowledge their

insight and wisdom, but following one’s conscience might be making a contribution to

the Church’s understanding and teaching. Martin Luther was uniquely positioned to

understand deficiencies in the Church that not everyone else could see in the same way,

or at least identify and address. His following of his conscience with “Here I stand, I can

do no other” was a great contribution to the Church. Although it took quite some time,

not unlike Copernicus and Galileo, the Second Vatican Council actually adopted most of

his reforms even though they didn’t explicitly credit him as such. Three obvious

examples are the liturgy going into the vernacular, the laity being more fully recognized

as ministers, and Catholics being urged to read the Bible. Do you think your role as a

wife and mother has given you some insight into bearing and raising children that

celibate priests and theologians might not have?

Sue: Yes of course I do. I have been arguing that all along and I am not the only

one. How many times have you heard the comment about people not wanting the Church

to decide what goes on in our bedrooms? When I hear a comment like not wanting to

have another child being framed as selfishness, I could just pull my hair out. It seems so

ignorant, arrogant, and insensitive. I know it is not from the Bible and probably isn’t

Christian, but that saying about not judging someone until you have walked a mile in

their shoes makes a whole lot of sense to me. I feel like I am being told both what shoes

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to wear and what road to walk. They give you the damn answer. The Church doesn’t

know what's going on in my life, and yet they say, “If you were really following God's

will you wouldn't be using birth control.” My voice must mean something. Parents are

the ones who are having the children. Our experience must be worth something. I

definitely have insight into what it means to be a mother that a celibate priest doesn’t

have, but all I have ever heard or hear is that the Holy Mother Church is the teacher.

When you use phrases like the deposit of faith, it's like a box that gets handed from one

generation to the next and my job is to guard and hand on the “true teaching” no

questions asked. I feel like I'm standing as an individual against the institution, against

the Pope, against the bishop, and I don't have the theological fire power that those folks

do to bring to bear. It feels like a very lonely decision and weak position.

Priest: Yeah I understand. It can seem like the deck is stacked when symbols like

the Pope, or the tradition, or the Church all seem to claim one thing, even if there is not

simply one thing to consider. It's interesting you use the word theological firepower. I

think that's a powerful metaphor of agency. Where is power or agency present? Is it

only in those symbols and persons? When we look at Church teaching, is power

unidirectional? Does teaching come only from those symbols, the Pope, the tradition, the

Church? Can you or women like you, or couples in the question regarding contraception

also be teachers to the Church? A recent study by the Church itself shows that almost

fifty percent of Catholic women in the United States choose to practice contraception.

Do you have theological firepower as a member of the Church? Do you ever have a

place to say things theological, for you to be teacher for the Church, or are the only

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teachers of the Church always those who occupy institutional and ecclesial offices or

roles?

Sue: I guess so…I certainly would hope so, but it hardly feels that way.

Priest: Primacy of conscience says that you are informed by the tradition and you

inform the tradition. You have power or agency, just as everyone who is part of the

Church does. Not that this means there are not real differences in power, but no one is

without it. Everyone can and does make a difference, especially as they make moral

choices that affect themselves and others around them.

Sue: So are you saying that though the Church would prefer we do it one way,

our conscience inevitably leads us to do what right?

Priest: Yes and no. It is right to follow our conscience, but that does not

necessarily mean that are choices will be what truly accomplishes what is good for others

and ourselves. The Church says we are to follow our conscience, but there are no

guarantees as to what the outcome will be. The obligation to act from an informed

conscience does not assure that a person is doing good, but only that they think they are

doing good. Just as part of the doctrine of primacy of conscience is having an informed

conscience, it also states that primacy of conscience does not mean we are above making

a mistake. It is called an erroneous conscience. An erroneous conscience can develop on

two levels. On one level it can develop because someone did not inform themselves—

neglected doing their homework so to speak. On another level, even if a person has

informed themselves and done all they could, the final choice still may not be something

good, even though the person seriously and sincerely thought that would be the case.

Primacy of conscience is not individualism because it is informed by and done with the

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Church according to its teaching. It is also not a guarantee that our decision will

necessarily achieve the good it is intended to achieve. Does that address your question?

Sue: Honestly, yes and no. It still has a confusing character to it.

Priest: It would be nice if the tradition was simple and clear, yet there is

ambiguity on a lot of levels. We can see from the commandment “thou shall not kill”

that rules are not always so black and white. We are called to listen to the Church’s

wisdom, but we are also called to contribute to it as well. The teaching of the Church

not only has ambiguity in it, there is also error. We can look across Church history and

think that some of its teaching might endure forever. But it is equally true that there is

plenty of stuff that's been way off base and doesn’t even endure to this day. Who's going

to make a case for slavery in this day and age? The Church provides you with a

normative teaching that basically says, follow or lead. Probably we need to do both with

more of the former than the latter given the collective wisdom of the Church. It is simply

not as easy as, “Here’s the answer. You're good to go." Can the Church be a strong

voice, but not the only voice? Listen to yourself and others as you journey in your life,

your ministry, and our world. We are all learners and teachers. There may be certain

arenas where we may be uniquely positioned to reflect upon the experience and

understand it in important unique ways. Your role and experience as a mother and wife

seems to be one. Primacy of conscience may be the Church telling us that in these

moments when it's confusing and there doesn't seem to be a clear answer, we're going to

trust you to try your best with all the resources you have been provided. And that doesn't

need to lock you out to live in the hinterlands, live at the margin of the Church, or live in

246
rejection. You are having the courage to be true to yourself and the community that has

formed you. That's another way to say following our conscience.

Sue: I didn’t expect you would be able to take away the all confusion that I have

lived with for some time now. It is different to see confusion or, as you put it, ambiguity

as somewhat normal and part of the tradition. I do think this has been helpful.

Priest: Like any conversation, we have certainly wandered around, but I hope we

have stayed centered enough on your question regarding primacy of conscience that it has

been beneficial. I am certainly open to continue our conversation as you mull over and

pray with what we have discussed today.

Reflection upon Pastoral Conversation

Without the priest necessarily needing to be explicit with Sue regarding the

potential theological and psychological depth that can inform a pastoral theological

understanding of primacy of conscience and agency, the pastoral conversation has an

orientation that implicitly frames the relational dynamic in a manner that intends to

engender and/or enhance the three shifts previously identified. In terms of shift for Sue:

it allows her the possibility of differing from a normative Church teaching without that

difference necessarily being interpreted negatively; it also reinforces the possibility that

Catholics are competent and sometimes required as Catholics to responsibly make a

moral decision that differs from the Church teaching. This shift may also contribute the

following for Sue as well: mitigate any mistaken conception that there are no options

available for her; ameliorate any potential reactive behavior for Sue if she is a person that

struggles with authority that is perceived as domineering; and potentially transform or

heal her pastoral relationship with the priest by positioning it as informational, dialogical,

247
and exploratory rather than judgmental and fixed. With this shift, the normative

cognitive dynamics of self-reflection, perceived self-efficacy, and positive social

persuasion may be enhanced for Sue as she considers the possibility of exercising

primacy of conscience. Finally, inasmuch as Catholics’ are called to operate from an

informed conscience, the role play also demonstrates how exercising the agency required

in informing one’s conscience also involves a step toward maturity. Sue has to examine

past understandings of what she was taught and critically update these in the light of

discerning judgments about her present circumstances. This, in turn, leads to the

possibility of revising her moral decision-making.

In terms of the shift for the priest, several benefits may be operative. First, it may

ameliorate the potentially complicated situation of being a representative of the Church

that is seen as conjuring the role of judge or arbiter of the question at hand. Second, it

may enhance the pastoral relationship by virtue of affirming Sue’s capacity to address the

moral decision in question. Finally, it may mitigate responsibility potentially being

abdicated by Sue through an unconscious desire to have the priest, in essence, make the

moral decision for her. It also may lessen any potential polarization and/or confrontation

within the pastoral relationship because the priest is not positioned in irreconcilable

contradictions while caring for Sue and representing both the ministry and governance of

the Church. In short, ambiguity within the tradition can be a resource rather than a

conundrum, as it is jointly engaged through primacy of conscience and an understanding

of agency that is supported by the Church. With this shift, the priest may function as a

source of positive rather than negative social persuasion in the process of supporting

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Sue’s self-reflection and agency in the process of moral decision-making through a

collaborative pastoral conversation.

From the perspective of the pastoral relationship between Sue and the priest, it

allows the dynamics of learning and teaching to be fluid and interchangeable. At a

minimum, the priest is located with Sue in the question instead of being the person with

the answer. Rather than the relationship being fixed from the outset (i.e., the priest

functioning in the teaching role through initiating agency and Sue in the learning role

with receptive agency), either party may function in either role with its corresponding

agency. As such, both parties may be enriched from the pastoral conversation in its

dynamic interchange, as they journey together is searching for and discerning what might

be the best moral course given the context and the question. In actuality, without trying

to assess proportionality, both Sue and the priest function as learner and teacher. In sum,

the pastoral relationship is framed systemically with all parties exercising various

expressions of agency. Because neither the issue nor the pastoral relationship is cast in

“either—or” terms, the pastoral care dynamic is more disposed to the possibility of on-going

evaluation of the issue.

Finally, as the priest supports Sue’s possible exercise of primacy of conscience from

the personalist perspective, the principal pastoral role facilitates and fosters her informing her

conscience and supports the agency she requires in the moral decision-making process. From

the personalist perspective, Sue is recognized as potentially competent and responsible for

managing her moral decision-making. The perspective of and directives from the tradition are

seriously engaged and considered, but the tradition’s affirmation about the primacy of

conscience is determinative when conflicts, such as Sue’s, exist. As such, the pastoral

249
relationship holds in tension both the fluidity and stability of the tradition. Therefore, Sue can

simultaneously be faithful to the tradition and authority of the Church while occasionally

differing from it as related to a specific moral topic due to the guidance of her

conscience. Pastoral care, through the integration of a personalist perspective of primacy

of conscience, can be tailored to Sue’s specific needs, challenges, and context while also

addressing the Church’s normative teaching, not the least of which is primacy of conscience.

Another person could visit the very same priest later that day and the conversation

might look very different. Because of the unique context of each person and how the

personalist perspective ultimately prioritizes the personal autonomy and responsibility of

individuals in moral matters, there is no pat predictable outcome. Certainly the

normative teaching of the Church as well as the process of engaging primacy of

conscience is predictable in its doctrinal stability, yet the individual results can and do

vary. This is related to the very same moral issue by different persons, let alone across

different moral issues and contexts.

Future Research

The question of future research is always an open-ended one with immeasurable

possibilities. Nevertheless, some trajectories present themselves as both more immediate and

more promising. One consideration seems to stand out as a particularly strong and promising

candidate. Further exploration of the correlation between the contraceptive practices among

U. S. Catholics and the exercise of primacy of conscience merits serious consideration for a

variety of reasons. First, it is a strong (i.e., 48%) and demonstrable instance of Catholic

behavior that deviates from normative Church teaching. Second, it is within an arena of life

(i.e., human sexuality) where many Catholics may readily be in a teaching role as much as a

250
learning role in terms of agency. Third, social structures (e.g., National Survey of Family

Growth) are currently in place that makes data collection relatively reasonable.

The development of instruments to examine the correlation of contraceptive

practices among U.S. Catholics and the exercise of primacy of conscience can illuminate

the degree to which theological understandings and motivations are related to the

behavior. The trajectory of Ohlendorf and Fehring’s research and others like it regarding

the contraceptive practices of Catholics points to the possibility of this correlation.

Further research could move their work beyond the stage of speculative conclusions,

especially as regards the suggestion of Catholics working from the psychological position

of “autonomous persons” rather than theological position of primacy of conscience.355 It

is very possible that a self-understanding and motivation that is moored in the

psychological position of “autonomous persons” may correlate with a theological

understanding and motivation rooted in primacy of conscience.

Given the empirical quality of SCT, the contraceptive practices of Catholics could

also be examined in terms any of the three dimensions of agency examined in this

dissertation (i.e., self-reflectiveness, perceived self-efficacy, and social persuasion).

Perceived self-efficacy would be the point I would consider first, given the breadth of

research and instruments available that address it, as well as it being particularly salient

to the question of primacy of conscience. Research of this nature could empirically

355
Although not in the arena of contraceptive practices, some research correlates self-
efficacy and dissent. Dissent is not necessarily interpreted as an exercise of primacy of
conscience, yet there are parallel characteristics. For further reference, see Louise E.
Parker, “When to Fix It and When to Leave: Relationships among Perceived Control,
Self-Efficacy, Dissent, and Exit,” Journal of Applied Psychology 78, (1993): 949-959.
251
explore some of the theoretical considerations that have been presented throughout this

research and lead to an even greater understanding of primacy of conscience.

Conclusion

A Catholic understanding of conscience that is both brief and broad may be age-

appropriate for certain children and, in the most general terms and simplest circumstances, may

even serve some adults on a very limited level. Nevertheless, in many or most instances, the

stakes are too high and the questions too complicated for Catholics to simply appeal to the

concept of "following one's conscience" without it having more clarity and sophistication.

If “following one’s conscience” is merely code for a generic and diffuse understanding of

“going with a gut feeling,” Catholicism, whether for the individual or the organization,

will be left wanting. Such an approach does not even fully engage the Church's tradition

of conscience, let alone an enhanced one that appeals to this pastoral theological

construction of agency for Catholic moral decision-making.

This contemporary pastoral theological interpretation of the doctrine of primacy of

conscience as related to agency can be a critical resource for helping contemporary U.S.

Catholics and their spiritual guides make moral decisions that are informed but not controlled

by the established tradition of the Church. Further, by drawing positively upon a doctrine that

has been historically subordinated in the Church’s teaching, it helps Catholics better understand

and collaborate with their Church when making moral decisions, even to the point of realizing

the possibility of sometimes contributing to moral advances. The personalist perspective of

primacy of conscience since the Second Vatican Council has made a significant contribution to

the question of moral agency and authority. Its contribution is both reinforced and expanded

through this pastoral theological construction of agency for Catholic moral decision-making.

252
This research is intended to take one more concrete step in making the necessary resource

possible, understandable, and available for Catholics’ moral decision-making and the

possibility of exercising primacy of conscience.

253
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274
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Journal Articles:

Aden, LeRoy. "Pastoral Care and the Gospel: A Theological Foundation for Hiltner's
Pastoral Care." Journal of Psychology and Christianity 4 (1985): 78-84.

________. "Hiltner and Pastoral Care." Journal of Psychology and Christianity 4 (1985):
1-77.

________. "Counseling and the Development of Responsibility." Pastoral Psychology 27

(1979): 164-170.

________."Counseling and Moral Change." Journal of Religion and Health 7 (1968):

164-174.

Allsopp, Michael. “Conscience, the Church and Moral Truth: John Henry Newman,
Vatican II, Today.” Irish Theological Quarterly 58 (1992): 197.

Appleby, R. Scott. "Crunch Time for American Catholicism." Christian Century 113
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Bandura, Albert. “Social Cognitive Theory in Cultural Context.” Journal of Applied

Psychology: An International Review 51 (2002): 269-290.

________. “Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective.” Annual Reviews of

Psychology 52 (2001): 1-26.

275
________. “Moral Disengagement in the Perpetration of Inhumanities.” Personality and
Social Psychology Review 3 (1999): 193-209.

________. “Self-Efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change.”

Psychological Review 84 (1977): 191-215.

Bandura, Albert and C. Kupers, “Transmission of Patterns of Self-Reinforcement through

Modeling.” Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 69 (1964): 1-9.

Bracken, Joseph A. "Toward a Grammar of Dissent." Theological Studies 31 (1970):

437-459.

Browning, Don S. "The Challenge and Limits of Psychology to Theological Ethics."

Annual of the Society of Christian Ethics 19 (1999): 133-143.

________. "Can Psychoanalysis Inform Ethics? If So, How." Journal of Religion 77

(1997): 278-282.

________."Moral Psychology and Moral Philosophy: Theoretical and Professional

Perspectives." Religious Studies Review 19 (1993): 317-320.

Connery, John R. "Catholic Ethics: Has the Norm for Rule-Making Changed?"
Theological Studies 42 (1981): 232-250.

Crotty, Nicholas. “Conscience and Conflict.” Theological Studies 32 (1971): 208-232.

Curran, Charles E. "Being Catholic and Being American." Horizons 14 (1987): 49-63.

Dillon, Michele. “Rome and American Catholics.” The Annals of the American Academy
of Political and Social Science 558 (1998): 122-134.

Duncombe, David C. "The Dilemma of Conscience in Christian Belief: A Pastoral

Perspective." Pastoral Psychology 45 (1996): 85-98.

Egan, John Mark. "A Lecture On: The Fate of Conscience in Psychotherapy." Journal of
Pastoral Counseling 31 (1996): 86-95.

Enquist, Roy J. "The Churches' Response to Abortion." Word & World 5 (1985):
414-425.

Epstein, S. “Stability of Behavior: Predicting Most of the People Much of the Time.”
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 37 (1979): 1097-1126.

Fehring, R. and A. M. Schlidt. “Trends in Contraceptive Use among Catholics in the

United States: 1988-1995.” The Linacre Quarterly 2 (2001):170-185.

276
Fernández-Ballesteros, R., J. Díez-Nicolás, G. V. Caprara, C. Barbaranelli, and
A. Bandura. “Structural Relation of Perceived Personal Efficacy to Perceived
Collective Efficacy.” Applied Psychology: An International Review 51 (2002):
107-125.

Ford, John T. “‘Dancing on the Tight Rope’: Newman’s View of Theology.” CTSA
Proceedings 40 (1985): 133.

Gallup, George, Jr. “Religion in America.” The Annals of the American Academy of
Political and Social Science 480 (1985): 167-174.

Gergen, K. J. “Social Psychology and the Wrong Revolution.” European Journal of

Social Psychology 19 (1989): 463-484.

Glaser, John W. “Conscience and Superego: A Key Distinction.” Theological Studies 32

(1971): 30-47.

Glaz, Maxine. “How I Am Making up My Mind: Deconstructing Abnormal Psychology

Re-Constructing Conscience." Journal of Pastoral Theology 10 (2000): 81-95.

Hamar, Anna Karin. "Some Understanding of Power in Feminist Liberation Theologies."

Feminist Theology 12 (1996): 10-20.

Higgins, E. T. “Self-discrepancy: A Theory Relating Self and Affect.” Psychological

Review 94 (1987): 319-340.

Hiltner, Seward. "Theology and Pastoral Care in the United States." Pastoral Psychology
18 (1967): 15-21.

________. Power and Privacy." Pastoral Psychology 16 (1966): 9-11.

________. “Clinical and Theological Notes on Responsibility.” Journal of Religion and

Health 2 (1962): 7-20.

________. "Counseling the Catholic: Modern Techniques and Emotional Conflicts."

Religion in Life 30 (1961): 159-160.

________. "Conscience and Reason." Pastoral Psychology 6 (1955): 64-65.

Holden, G. “The Relationship of Self-efficacy Appraisals to Subsequent Health-related

Outcomes: A Meta-analysis.” Social Work in Health Care 16 (1991): 53-93.

Holden, G., M. Moncher, S. Schinke, and K. Barker. “Self-efficacy of Children and

Adolescents: A Meta-analysis.” Psychological Reports 66 (1990): 1044-46.

277
Hornsby-Smith, Michael P., et al. "A Typology of Progressive Catholics: A Study of the
Delegates to the National Pastoral Congress." Journal for the Scientific Study of
Religion 26 (1987):234-248.

Hunt, Mary E. "Feminist Theo-Politics: Religions and Power." Feminist Theology 25

(2000): 9-17.

Hunter, Rodney J. "The Lapsley Legacy." Princeton Seminary Bulletin 13 (1992):

176-186.

________. "A Perspectival View of Pastoral Theology: A Critique of Hiltner's Theory."

Journal of Psychology and Christianity 4 (1985): 18-36.

Johnson, J. A. “Persons in Situations: Distinguishing New Wine from Old Wine in New
Bottles.” European Journal of Personality 13 (1999): 443-453.

Karaban, Rosalyn. “Work in Progress: Pastoral Counseling as an Emerging, Professional,

Lay Ministry in the Roman Catholic Church.” Journal of Pastoral Theology 3
(1993): 55-66.

Kenrick, D. T. and D. C. Funder. “Profiting from Controversy: Lessons from the Person-
Situation Debate.” American Psychologist 43 (1988): 23-34.

Lapsley, James N. "On Defining Pastoral Theology." Journal of Pastoral Theology 1

(1991): 116-124.

________. "Pastoral Theology: Its Nature, Methods, and Uses." Princeton Seminary
Bulletin 1 (1977): 21-34.

________. "Conscience: Theological and Psychological Perspectives." Union Seminary

Quarterly Review 29 (1974): 279-281.

________."Reconciliation, Forgiveness, Lost Contracts." Theology Today 23 (1966):

44-59.

Lewis, Brian. "The Primacy of Conscience in the Roman Catholic Tradition." Pacifica
13 (2000): 299-309.

Linville, P. W. “Self-complexity as a Cognitive Buffer against Stress-related Illness and

Depression.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 52 (1987): 663-676.

Lyon, K. Brynolf. "Conscience and Christian Perfectionism: Boisen on Ethics and the
Moral Life." Journal of Psychology and Christianity 7 (1988): 17-28.

278
________. “The Ethic of Sincerity and the Sincerity of Ethics: Hiltner and the Moral
Dimension of Pastoral Care." Journal of Psychology and Christianity 4 (1985):
37-46.

Magill, Gerard. "Interpreting Moral Doctrine: Newman on Conscience and Law."

Horizons 20 (1993): 7-22.

Marty, Martin. “Revising the Map of American Religion.” The Annals of the American
Academy of Political and Social Science 558 (1998): 13-27.

________. “Transpositions: American Religion in the 1980s.” The Annals of the

American Academy of Political and Social Science 480 (1985): 11-23.

May, Gerald G. "The Fate of Conscience in Psychotherapy: A Synthesis and a

Challenge." Journal of Pastoral Counseling 13 (1978): 12-17.

May, William E. "Veritatis Splendor: An Overview of the Encyclical." Communio 21

(1994): 229-251.

________. "Natural Law, Conscience, and Developmental Psychology." Communio 2

(1975): 3-31.

McNamara, Patrick. “American Catholicism in the Mid-Eighties: Pluralism and Conflict

in a Changing Church.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and
Social Science 480 (1985): 63-74.

Migliore, Daniel and James Lapsley. "Theological Pluralism and Pastoral Care." Pastoral
Psychology 26 (1977): 76-82.

Miller-McLemore, Bonnie. “The Human Web: Reflections on the State of Pastoral

Theology.” Christian Century 4 (1993): 366-369.

Mischel, W. and Y. Shoda. “A Cognitive-affective System Theory of Personality:

Reconceptualizing Situations, Dispositions, Dynamics, and Invariance in
Personality Structure.” Psychological Review 102 (1995): 246-268.

Multon, K., S. Brown, and R. Lent. “Relation of Self-efficacy Beliefs to Academic

Outcomes: A Meta-analytic Investigation.” Journal of Counseling Psychology 38
(1991): 30-38.

Oates, Wayne E. "Hindering and Helping Power of Religion: The Difference between the
Freudian Concept of the Superego and the Christian Concept of Conscience."
Pastoral Psychology 6 (1955): 43-49.

279
Ohlendorf, Jennifer and Richard J. Fehring. “The Influence of Religiosity on
Contraceptive Use among Roman Catholic Women in the United States.” The
Linacre Quarterly 2 (2007):135-144.

Parker, Louise E. “When to Fix it and When to Leave: Relationships among Perceived
Control, Self-Efficacy, Dissent, and Exit.” Journal of Applied Psychology 78
(1993): 949-959.

Patton, John H. "Physicians of the Soul: Boisen on Pastoral Care and Counseling."
Journal of Psychology and Christianity 7 (1988): 44-53.

________. "Toward a Theology of Pastoral Event: Reflections on the Work of Seward

Hiltner." Journal of Pastoral Care 40 (1986): 129-141.

________."There's Something About Lost Sheep." Pastoral Psychology 6 (1955): 43-49.

Peru, Albert, Jr. "The Issue of Power/Authority in the Global Church of the 21st
Century." Currents in Theology and Mission 24 (1997): 245-251.

Pope Paul VI. “Humanae Vitae.” The Pope Speaks 13 (1969): 329-46.

Rafaeli-Mor, E. and J. Steinberg. “Self-complexity and Well-being: A Review and

Research Synthesis.” Personality and Social Psychology Review 6 (2002): 31-58.

Roskies, Adina. “Neuroscientific Challenges to Free Will and Responsibility.” Trends in

Cognitive Sciences 10 (2006): 419-423.

Ryan, R. M. and E. L. Deci. “Self-determination Theory and the Facilitation of Intrinsic

Motivation, Social Development, and Well-being.” American Psychologist 55
(2000): 68-78.

Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal. "Conscience in Time." Communio 19 (1992): 647-657.

Slingerland, Edward. “Who's Afraid of Reductionism? The Study of Religion in the Age
of Cognitive Science.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 76 (2008):
375-411.

Stajkovic, A.D., and F. Luthans. “Self-efficacy and Work-related Performances: A Meta-

analysis.” Psychological Bulletin 124 (1998): 240-261.

Watson, J. B. “Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It.” Psychological Review 20

(1913): 158-177.

Wilson-Kastner, Patricia, and Beatrice Blair. "A Pro-Choice Commentary." Witness 67

(1984): 5-10.

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Dissertations:

Cababe, Louise Diane. "A Qualitative Study of Power and Empowerment as Perceived
by Women Catholic School Superintendents." Ph.D. diss., Fordham University,
1997.

Cassem, John McDonough. "An Analysis of Seward Hiltner's Systematic Pastoral

Theology and its Value and Application to Contemporary American Catholic
Pastoral Theology." Ph.D. diss., Catholic University of America, 1979.

Hoffman, John C. "Guilt and Aspiration: A Pastoral Theology of Conscience." Ph.D.

diss., Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, 1964.

Lines, Patricia M. "Freedom of Conscience and Education at the Founding." Ph.D. diss.,
Catholic University of America, 1999.

O'Donoghue, Thomas Finbarr-Patrick. "Notions of Acceptance in Ethics, Psychology and

Pastoral Theology." Th.D. diss., Harvard Divinity School, 1985.

Pasewark, Kyle A. "A Theology of Power Domination and the Communication of

Efficacy." Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago, 1991.

Schmitz, Robert E. "The Disenchantment of American Catholicism: Profiles of Active

Catholics in a Changing World." Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 1994.

Woods, Thomas E. "Ever Ancient, Ever New: Catholic Intellectuals and the Progressive
Era." Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 2000.

Additional materials:

Danna-Lynch, Karen. "Revisiting Role Theory: A Sociocognitive Perspective." Paper

presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association,
Montreal Convention Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, August 11, 2006.

Pajares, Frank. “Overview of Social Cognitive Theory and of Self-efficacy.” Retrieved

November 12, 2002 from http://www.emory.edu/EDUCATION/mfp/eff.html.

________. “Assessing Self-efficacy Beliefs and Academic Outcomes: The Case for
Specificity and Correspondence.” Paper presented at a symposium chaired by
B. J. Zimmerman, Measuring and Mismeasuring Self-efficacy: Dimensions,
Problems, and Misconceptions. Annual meeting of the American Educational
Research Association, New York, 1996.

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 APPENDIX A

Statement of Bibliographic Procedure—Donald A. Rickard January 9, 2006

My interest in recovering/reconstructing the traditional Catholic doctrine of

primacy of conscience coalesced during an independent study in pastoral theology with

Larry Graham. This research topic addresses my personal and ministerial experience as

well as the situation of many other Catholics in the community. From this initial work

with Graham, both a topic and several key theorists emerged that provided initial search

terms for my research and selective bibliography. The selection criterion predominantly

reflects specific terms as well as particular authors and/or theories. Although no date

parameter was included in the selection criteria, the majority of relevant materials are

from the mid-20th and 21st centuries. I expanded these initial search terms further by

consulting the Library of Congress Subject Heading 23rd Edition, the ATLA Religion

Index, and the Guide to Social Science & Religion in Periodical Literature for

synonymous and/or related terms. Finally, I continued to amplify the search terms by

noting additional keywords that surfaced in the process of searching my expanded list.

The final search terms that guided my research are as follows:

1) Conscience, primacy of conscience, liberty of conscience, freedom of conscience,

casuistry, guilt, primacy, and dissent

2) Pastoral theology, practical theology, pastoral care, pastoral counseling, pastoral

psychology, care of souls, cure of souls, and ministry

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3) Agency, power, self-efficacy, control, moral agent, moral agency, and mastery

4) Hiltner, Lapsley, Patton, Poling, Graham, Doehring, Curran, McCormick, Grisez, John

Henry Newman, Hogan, and Bandura

5) Catholic Church, Catholicism, Second Vatican Council, sociology, United States,

history, 20th century, membership, attitudes, Ex-Church members, and controversy(ies)

All of these terms were searched according to library catalogues (Taylor, Penrose,

John Vianney, Denver Public Library, and Prospector), Online Databases (ATLA

database--especially ATLA Religion and WorldCat, PYSCHLIT, Digital Dissertations,

EBSCOhost EJS, Expanded Academic ASAP, and MLA), CD-ROM Databases (Catholic

Periodical & Literature Index and Religious and Theological Abstracts), and

Amazon.com. Authors were also searched under Social Science Citation Index and Arts

& Humanities Citation Index.

The terms were searched as keywords, subject, subject heading, subject phrase,

and author (when appropriate). Searches consisted of individual terms, dual terms, and

multiple terms, moving from very general to the most specific until no hits emerged. The

process was structured as follows: the first term from category #1 (i.e. conscience) was

paired with one term from one of the next four categories (e.g. pastoral theology),

until all the terms from categories #2-#5 had been paired with the initial category #1 term

(i.e. conscience), resulting in 38 searches. Then I proceeded to the next term under

category #1 (i.e. primacy of conscience) and did a similar pairing procedure, resulting in

another 38 searches. Continuing in this fashion across all categories, the pairing process

resulted in a matrix of 837 searches. From this point, I continued to search three terms

following a similar organized sequence. I did not exceed combining more than three

283
terms, with the exception of some of the category #5 terms. Finally, additional resources

were also identified vis-à-vis the footnotes and bibliographies of these previously

identified sources.

The bibliography will primarily be divided broadly according to medium:

monographs, edited books with essays, essays from edited books, journal articles,

dissertations, and additional materials. Because of the interdisciplinary and

interdenominational character of the research, ample materials were identified for the

research. Nevertheless, the limited focused resources that emerged from a

comprehensive search process clearly demonstrate this specific question and thesis has

not been addressed.

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 APPENDIX B

8 Examples of Social Cognitive Theory research

1) The Revised Scale for Caregiving Self-Efficacy: Reliability and Validity Studies.
A. M. Steffen, C. McKibbin, A. M. Zeiss, D. Gallagher-Thompson, and A.Bandura.
Journal of Gerontology Series B-Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences 57, (2002):
74-86.

Abstract: Two samples of family caregivers (Study 1, 169 Ss mean age 63.8 yrs; Study 2,

145 Ss mean age 60.2 yrs) of cognitively impaired older adults were, used to revise,

extend, and evaluate a measure of perceived self-efficacy for caregiving tasks. The

Revised Scale for Caregiving Self-Efficacy measures 3 domains of caregiving self-

efficacy: Obtaining Respite, Responding to Disruptive Patient Behaviors, and Controlling

Upsetting Thoughts. The 3 subscales show strong internal consistency and adequate test-

retest reliability. Construct validity is supported by relationships between these 3 facets

of perceived caregiving efficacy and depression, anxiety, anger, perceived social support,

and criticism expressed in speech samples. The Revised Scale for Caregiving Self-

Efficacy has potential uses for both research and clinical purposes.

2) Self-efficacy Beliefs as Shapers of Children's Aspirations and Career Trajectories.

A. Bandura, C. Barbaranelli, G. Caprara, and C. Pastorelli. Child Development 72,
(2001): 187-206.

Abstract: This prospective study tested with 272 children (aged 11-15 yrs) a structural

model of the network of sociocognitive influences that shape children's career aspirations

and trajectories. Familial socioeconomic status is linked to children's career trajectories

285
only indirectly through its effects on parents' perceived efficacy and academic

aspirations. The impact of parental self-efficacy and aspirations on their children's

perceived career efficacy and choice is, in turn, entirely mediated through the children's

perceived efficacy and academic aspirations. Children's perceived academic, social, and

self-regulatory efficacy influence the types of occupational activities for which they

judge themselves to be efficacious both directly and through their impact on academic

aspirations. Perceived occupational self-efficacy gives direction to the kinds of career

pursuits children seriously consider for their life's work and those they disfavor.

Children's perceived efficacy rather than their actual academic achievement is the key

determinant of their perceived occupational self-efficacy and preferred choice of

worklife. Analyses of gender differences reveal that perceived occupational self-efficacy

predicts traditionality of career choice.

3) The Structure of Children's Perceived Self-efficacy: A Cross-national Study.

C. Pastorelli, G. Caprara, C. Barbaranelli, J.Rola, S. Rozsa, and A. Bandura.
European Journal of Psychological Assessment 17, (2001): 87-97.

Abstract: Investigated the replicability of the factor structure of the Children's Perceived

Self-Efficacy scales in Italy, Hungary, and Poland. The findings of this cross-national

study support the generalizability of the factor structure of children's social and academic

efficacy (aged 10-15 yrs). Perceived efficacy to resist peer pressure to engage

transgressive conduct had a somewhat different factor structure for Hungarian children.

Gender and national differences in the pattern of efficacy beliefs underscore the value of

treating perceived self-efficacy as a multifaceted attribute. There were no overall gender

differences in perceived social efficacy, but girls in all 3 societies have a higher sense of

efficacy for academic activities and to resist peer pressure for transgressive activities.

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Italian children judge themselves more academically efficacious than do Hungarian

children and more socially efficacious than their counterparts in both of the other 2

countries. An analysis of the facets of academic efficacy revealed that Hungarian children

have a high sense of efficacy to master academic Ss but a lower efficacy than their Italian

and Polish counterparts to take charge of their own learning. Polish children surpassed

their counterparts in academic self-regulatory efficacy.

4) Self-evaluative and Self-efficacy Mechanisms of Governing the Motivational Effects

of Goal Systems. A. Bandura and G. Cervone. Journal of Personality & Social
Psychology 45, (1983): 1017-1028.

Abstract: Tested the hypothesis that self-evaluative and self-efficacy mechanisms

mediate the effects of goal systems on performance motivation. These self-reactive

influences are activated through cognitive comparison requiring both personal standards

and knowledge of performance. 45 male and 45 female undergraduates performed a

strenuous activity with either goals and performance feedback, goals alone, feedback

alone, or without either factor. The condition combining performance information and a

standard had a strong motivational impact, whereas neither goals alone nor feedback

alone effected changes in motivation. When both comparative factors were present, the

evaluative and efficacy self-reactive influences predicted the magnitude of motivation

enhancement. The higher the self-dissatisfaction with substandard performance and the

stronger the perceived self-efficacy for goal attainment, the greater was the subsequent

intensification of effort. When one comparative factor was lacking, the self-reactive

influences were differentially related to performance motivation.

287
5) Escaping Homelessness: The Influences of Self-efficacy and Time Perspective on
Coping with Homelessness, E. Elissa, A. Bandura, and P. G. Zimbardo. Journal of
Applied Social Psychology 29, (1999): 575-596.

Abstract: This study explored whether self-efficacy and time perspective of homeless

adults (N = 82) living in a shelter affected their coping strategies related to obtaining

housing and employment. Participants with high self-efficacy searched more for housing

and employment and stayed at the shelter for a shorter duration, whereas participants with

low self-efficacy were more likely to request an extension of their stay at the shelter.

Those high on future orientation had shorter durations of homelessness and were more

likely to enroll in school and to report gaining positive benefits from their predicament,

whereas those with a high present orientation had more avoidant coping strategies.

Despite the predictive power of self-efficacy and future orientation of proactive search

behaviors, there were no predictors of obtaining stable housing, which is a scarce

resource in the area. However, a high present orientation predicted obtaining temporary

housing. A present temporal perspective may be adaptive in finding short-term solutions

to an unstable situation, such as homelessness. The role of time perspective in crisis

situations is discussed, as well as the severe environmental constraints on the exercise of

personal control over reality dictated by social, economic, and political forces.

6) Perceived Emotional and Interpersonal Self-efficacy and Good Social Functioning.

Original Title [Italian]: Autoefficacia Percepita Emotiva e Interpersonale e Buon
Funzionamento Sociale. G. V. Caprara, E. Scabini, C. Barbaranelli, C. Pastorelli, C.
Regalia, and A. Bandura. Giornale Italiano di Psicologia 26, (1999): 769-789.

Abstract: Studied the role of perceived emotional and interpersonal self-efficacy in

psychological adjustment. 162 male and 162 female high school students aged 14-18 yrs

in Italy were administered a scale developed to measure the perceived ability to regulate

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one's own positive and negative affect. A structural equation model was used in which

depressive social withdrawal, antisocial conduct, and prosocial behavior were considered

as dependent variables that were influenced by perceived emotional self-efficacy directly

and indirectly through perceived interpersonal self-efficacy. The results partially confirm

the direct influence of perceived emotional self-efficacy on the dependent variables and

fully confirm its indirect influence through perceived interpersonal self-efficacy.

7) Impact of Adolescents' Perceived Self-regulatory Efficacy on Familial

Communication and Antisocial Conduct. G. V. Caprara, E. Scabini, C. Barbaranelli,
C. Pastorelli, C. Regalia, and A. Bandura. European Psychologist 3, (1998): 125-132.

Abstract: Tested the hypothesis that perceived self-efficacy to resist peer pressure for

high-risk activities is related to transgressive conduct, both directly and through the

mediation of open familial communication. 324 adolescents (aged 14-18 yrs) rated their

self-regulatory efficacy, openness of communication with parents, and their involvement

in delinquent conduct and substance abuse. Results of structural equation modeling

confirm that a high sense of efficacy to ward off negative peer influences was

accompanied by open communication with parents about activities outside the home and

by low engagement in delinquent conduct and substance abuse. Both the posited direct

and mediated paths of influences were replicated for males and females, although girls

exhibited a slightly weaker direct relationship between self-regulatory efficacy and

transgressive conduct.

8) Self-motivation for Academic Attainment: The Role of Self-efficacy Beliefs and

Personal Goal-setting. B. J. Zimmerman, A. Bandura, and M. Martinez-Pons. American
Educational Research Journal 29, (1992): 663-676.

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Abstract: The causal role of students' self-efficacy beliefs and academic goals in self-

motivated academic attainment was studied using path analysis procedures. Parental goal

setting and students' self-efficacy and personal goals at the beginning of the semester

served as predictors of students' final course grades in social studies. In addition, their

grades in a prior course in social studies were included in the analyses. A path model of

four self-motivation variables and prior grades predicted students' final grades in social

studies R = .56. Students' beliefs in their efficacy for self-regulated learning affected their

perceived self-efficacy for academic achievement, which in turn influenced the academic

goals they set for themselves and their final academic achievement. Students' prior grades

were predictive of their parents' grade goals for them, which in turn were linked to the

grade goals students set for themselves. These findings were interpreted in terms of the

social cognitive theory of academic self-motivation.

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