2. Faith Informed by Reason
Catholic Morality
Based on the work of
Richard M Gula
Faith Informed by Reason
There are two foundational questions we ought to address with any study of morality. What are they?

3. CATHOLIC MORALITY
An understanding of Catholic Morality begins with two essential questions.

4. CATHOLIC MORALITY What sort of person should I try to be?
How should I live my life?

6. CATHOLIC MORALITY
The two core principles of Catholic morality are human dignity and community.

8. CATHOLIC MORALITY
We believe that actions are always an expression of a person.

9. CATHOLIC MORALITY Three aspects of moral actions: The Intention
The Act Itself
The Circumstances

10. CATHOLIC MORALITY What actions are good? How do you know what’s good?
What is the source of goodness?
How have ideas about goodness developed?

11. CATHOLIC MORALITY Aristotle believed that the good is happiness.
A good man is one who functions according to his nature, which is a rational nature. Hence, a good man is one who reasons well and chooses well.

12. CATHOLIC MORALITY Hedonists believe that good is pleasure.
In very simple terms, a hedonist strives to maximize pleasure and minimize pain.

13. CATHOLIC MORALITY
Utilitarians believe that good is what is most useful for most people. Actions are measured by their consequences.
Jeremy Bentham

14. CATHOLIC MORALITY
The basic conviction of Catholic morality is that God is good.

15. CATHOLIC MORALITY
We believe that we are first called to be loving persons in the imitation of Christ.
What sort of action should I perform because I believe in Christ?

16. CATHOLIC MORALITY
We believe that every human person is created in the image of God

17. CATHOLIC MORALITY
To be a human person is to be essentially directed to others. We are communal at our core.

18. CATHOLIC MORALITY
A person’s subjective responsibility for moral behaviour is relative to the development of that person’s moral capacity.
A two year old having a tantrum in the aisles of a store is not entirely responsible for their actions. You can’t say that about a 12 or 22 year old.
So when we make bad decisions or willfully do wrong, what then?

19. CATHOLIC MORALITY How does the Church teach about morality?
Church’s moral teachings

20. CATHOLIC MORALITY From Scripture and Tradition, we understand:
Original sin
Actual sin (mortal and venial)
Social sin

21. CATHOLIC MORALITY
Norms are derived from experience, the value of persons and social relationships.

22. CATHOLIC MORALITY Scripture is our normative criterion of judgment.
It is the privileged, though not exclusive, source of our knowledge of God and good.

23. CATHOLIC MORALITY
How do we form our conscience?

24. CATHOLIC MORALITY
The Story of Jonah

25. CATHOLIC MORALITY The Church is the
shaper of Catholic moral character.
bearer of moral tradition.
community of moral deliberation.

26. CATHOLIC MORALITY We are called to discernment,
to know who we are – how we stand before God and one another.

27. CATHOLIC MORALITY
Catholic Graduate Expectations A discerning believer formed in the Catholic faith community An effective communicator A reflective and creative thinker A self-directed, responsible, life-long learner A collaborative contributor A responsible citizen

29. Catholic Morality Faith Informed by Reason Based on the work of
Richard M Gula
Produced by
Alfred Guidolin
for
Nipissing University
EDUCE 1526
© 2009 A San Marco Production