Primacy of conscience

Primacy of conscience is a concept in Catholic moral theology that holds that a person must obey their conscience above all else, even the dictates of Catholic dogma, so long as that conscience is "well-formed". A "well-formed" conscience is one that has considered Catholic dogma deeply and seriously, and in good faith.

The concept is cited in John Henry Newman's Apologia Pro Vita Sua. It found expression in papal teaching in Pope Paul VI's Gaudium et spes, part of the constitutions of Vatican II. It was also expanded upon in the Winnipeg Statement of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1968.

Then-Cardinal Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI summarised the concept in his Commentary on the Documents of Vatican II, published in 1968:

"Over the pope as the expression of the binding claim of ecclesiastical authority there still stands one's own conscience, which must be obeyed before all else, if necessary even against the requirement of ecclesiastical authority."

See also

• Richard Gula, ‘Conscience,’ in Bernard Hoose (ed.) Christian Ethics (London: Cassall, 1998), p. 114
• L. Hogan, Confronting the Truth: Conscience in the Catholic Tradition (New York: Paulist, 2002)
• James Keenan, Commandments of Compassion (Franklin wt: Sheed and Ward, 1999), pp. 112 & 134
• A. Patrick, Liberating Conscience: Feminist Explorations in Catholic Theology (New York: Continuum, 1996)
• Fr Gregory Kalscheur SJ, 'Conscience and Citizenship: The Primacy of Conscience for Catholics in Public Life', Journal of Catholic Social Thought, vol. 6: 319–336 (2009).