Based on the work of
Richard M Gula
Faith Informed by Reason
 An understanding
of Catholic
Morality begins
with two essential
questions.
 What sort of
person should I
try to be?
 How should I live
my life?
 The two core
principles of
Catholic morality
are human dignity
and community.
 We believe that
actions are always
an expression of a
person.
Three aspects of moral
actions:
1. The Intention
2. The Act Itself
3. The Circumstances
 What actions are good?
 How do you know what’s
good?
 What is the source of
goodness?
 How have ideas about
goodness developed?
 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.
 Hedonists believe
that good is
pleasure.
 In very simple
terms, a hedonist
strives to maximize
pleasure and
minimize pain.
 Utilitarians
believe that good
is what is most
useful for most
people. Actions
are measured by
their
consequences.
Jeremy Bentham
 The basic
conviction of
Catholic morality
is that God is
good.
 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?
 We believe
that every
human
person is
created in the
image of God
 To be a human
person is to be
essentially directed
to others. We are
communal at our
core.
 A person’s
subjective
responsibility for
moral behaviour is
relative to the
development of that
person’s moral
capacity.
 How does the
Church teach about
morality?
From Scripture and
Tradition, we
understand:
 Original sin
 Actual sin (mortal
and venial)
 Social sin
 Norms are derived
from experience,
the value of
persons and social
relationships.
 Scripture is our
normative criterion
of judgment.
 It is the privileged,
though not
exclusive, source of
our knowledge of
God and good.
 How do we form
our conscience?
The Story of Jonah
The Church is the
 shaper of Catholic
moral character.
 bearer of moral
tradition.
 community of moral
deliberation.
 We are called to
discernment,
to know who we
are – how we
stand before God
and one another.
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
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