Magisterial Teaching on the Foundation of Sexual Ethics

This article seeks to demonstrate that the perverted faculty argument is at the foundation of magisterial teaching in sexual ethics. Yet new natural law (NNL) theorists have consistently condemned this argument for decades despite their claim that they support the moral teachings of the Catholic Church. This situation is incongruous. Current scholarship indicates that NNL theorists do not accept the rationale for magisterial teaching in sexual ethics because, despite their opposition to proportionalism, they still hold in common its most critical error—an error that Pope St. John Paul II was at pains to condemn in Veritatis splendor

Freedom and Truth in “Veritatis Splendor” (VS)

Freedom and Truth in “Veritatis Splendor” (VS)

Moral Law Vs. Conscience in the Veritatis Splendor

Moral Law Vs. Conscience in the Veritatis Splendor.

A Tale of Two Women. Reflections on Two Types of Morality , One Hundred Years after the Birth of St. John Paul II

On the centenary of the birth of St. John Paul II, this article reflects on his legacy for moral theology by examining the enduring relevance of his 1993 Encyclical Veritatis Splendor. Against what some authors call the new morality, this papal document holds up the classical notion of morality as a realm in which we encounter the absolute, to the point that one may even be called upon to lay down one’s life in martyrdom. As a figure of classical morality, the essay presents Antigone, who risked her life to honor her dead brother’s body. A different woman serves as a figure of the new morality: Mrs. Bergmeier, who is praised by some of the proponents of this approach for having committed “sacrificial” adultery in order to be reunited with her family. Examining the differences between these two accounts, the paper recalls the classical distinction between choice and intention. It is argued that the new morality has forgotten about the moment of choice, subsuming it entirely under the intention. In its teaching on the moral object and intrinsically evil acts, Veritatis Splendor defends the basic moral experience that we have a choice and that our choices matter.

Santidad y absolutos morales en Gaudete et exsultate

La última exhortación apostólica del papa Francisco, Gaudete et exsultate, desarrolla –con estilo llano y directo– la noción de santidad como llamado personal a la configuración con Cristo, mediante la participación en sus actitudes profundas (las bienaventuranzas) y de la práctica del discernimiento espiritual. Sin embargo, otras secciones, de tono polémico, parecen dirigidas a los críticos de Amoris laetitia y a su interpretación de la doctrina de Veritatis splendor sobre los absolutos morales. El silencio sobre esta encíclica y sobre la centralidad del Decálogo indica un desplazamiento de énfasis destinado a dar mayor espacio al discernimiento espiritual. Es preciso integrar ambas perspectivas para que, en el camino hacia la santidad, la libertad del creyente no se vea privada de referencias claras.

Person and Conscience: Augustinian Strands in John-Paul's Ethics

Osoba i sumienie. Wątki augustyńskie w etyce Jana Pawła II Wielkie uznanie dla encykliki Veritatis splendor zrodziło się z jej augustynizmu. W myśli Wojtyły dominują dwa augustyńskie motywy, jeden zaczerpnięty z Maxa Schelera, drugi z Henri de Lubaca i nouvelle théologie. Jedność bytu i dobra to podstawa, na której potwierdza on integralność ontologiczną osobowego podmiotu działania. Pierwszeństwo łaski Bożej, prowadzącej człowieka jako podmiot działania do moralnego urzeczywistnienia, kieruje jego myśleniem o sumieniu jako wewnętrznym dialogu z Bogiem. Cała moralna samoświadomość zależy od tego spotkania, natomiast ciągłość osoby umożliwia rozwój moralnego doświadczenia.