Category Archives: ethics

According to the teaching in Veritatis Splendor, only three things are needed to make any human act, that is, any decision or choice, objectively moral or immoral: (1) intention, (2) object, (3) circumstances. So this teaching must also apply to … Continue reading →

One of the conditions for a war to be just (morally justifiable) is stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church as: “there must be serious prospects of success”. The reason for this condition is that a war to defend … Continue reading →

Intrinsically Evil Acts The type or kind of an act, in terms of its morality, is called the “moral species” of the act. Some acts are wrong by the nature of the act. These acts are a bad type of … Continue reading →

Can a Catholic married couple morally use abortifacient contraception (the birth control pill) for a medical purpose, while remaining sexually active. No, certainly not. And when we apply the principle of double effect to the question of using abortifacient contraception … Continue reading →

Many conservative Catholics today are just as much “cafeteria Catholics” as the liberals they criticize. They have their own belief system, which (for many, but not all of them) is substantially different from Catholic Christianity as taught by the Church. … Continue reading →

Reactions to the articles by deacon Russell and myself on the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki vary. What surprises me is the total absence of any understanding of the magisterial teaching on intrinsic evil. The atomic bombings are condemned by … Continue reading →

Sometimes an act which is objectively morally disordered is committed with a sincere but mistaken conscience, such that it is not also an actual sin. Only actual sins include guilt and deserve punishment. “Conscience frequently errs from invincible ignorance without … Continue reading →

Euthanasia is intrinsically evil and always gravely immoral. It is not justified by a good intention or purpose, not even by the medical purpose of relieving severe suffering. It is not justified by a dire circumstance, not even that a … Continue reading →

The teaching of Humanae Vitae is not limited to the topic of contraception within marriage. In Humanae Vitae, the Magisterium condemns contraception as intrinsically evil and always gravely immoral, regardless of marital state. “Just as man does not have unlimited … Continue reading →