Catechism index

1771 IN BRIEF The term "passions" refers to the affections or the feelings. By his emotions man intuits the good and suspects evil.
1772 IN BRIEF The principal passions are love and hatred, desire and fear, joy, sadness, and anger.
1773 IN BRIEF In the passions, as movements of the sensitive appetite, there is neither moral good nor evil. But insofar as they engage reason and will, there is moral good or evil in them.
1774 IN BRIEF Emotions and feelings can be taken up in the virtues or perverted by the vices.
1775 IN BRIEF The perfection of the moral good consists in man's being moved to the good not only by his will but also by his "heart." Previous - Next Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
1776 MORAL CONSCIENCE "Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is …
1777 I. The Judgment of Conscience Moral conscience, 48 present at the heart of the person, enjoins him at the appropriate moment to do good and to avoid evil. It also judges particular choices, approving those that are …
1778 I. The Judgment of Conscience Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has …
1779 I. The Judgment of Conscience It is important for every person to be sufficiently present to himself in order to hear and follow the voice of his conscience. This requirement of interiority is all the more necessary …
1780 Return to your conscience, question it.... Turn inward, brethren, and in everything you do, see God as your witness. 51 The dignity of the human person implies and requires uprightness of moral conscience. Conscience includes the perception of the principles of morality (synderesis); their application in the given circumstances by practical discernment …
1781 Return to your conscience, question it.... Turn inward, brethren, and in everything you do, see God as your witness. 51 Conscience enables one to assume responsibility for the acts performed. If man commits evil, the just judgment of conscience can remain within him as the witness to the universal truth of the …
1782 We shall . . . reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 52 Man has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral decisions. "He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he …
1783 II. The Formation of Conscience Conscience must be informed and moral judgment enlightened. A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its judgments according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed by the wisdom …
1784 II. The Formation of Conscience The education of the conscience is a lifelong task. From the earliest years, it awakens the child to the knowledge and practice of the interior law recognized by conscience. Prudent education teaches …
1785 II. The Formation of Conscience In the formation of conscience the Word of God is the light for our path, 54 we must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. We must also …
1786 III. To Choose in Accord With Conscience Faced with a moral choice, conscience can make either a right judgment in accordance with reason and the divine law or, on the contrary, an erroneous judgment that departs from them.
1787 III. To Choose in Accord With Conscience Man is sometimes confronted by situations that make moral judgments less assured and decision difficult. But he must always seriously seek what is right and good and discern the will of God …
1788 III. To Choose in Accord With Conscience To this purpose, man strives to interpret the data of experience and the signs of the times assisted by the virtue of prudence, by the advice of competent people, and by the …
1789 III. To Choose in Accord With Conscience Some rules apply in every case: - One may never do evil so that good may result from it; - the Golden Rule: "Whatever you wish that men would do to you, …
1790 IV. Erroneous Judgment A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience. If he were deliberately to act against it, he would condemn himself. Yet it can happen that moral conscience remains …