Conscience and Catholicism

Overview

CATHOLIC PRESS ASSOCIATION BOOK AWARD WINNER! - Faithful Citizenship/Religious Freedom

In this volume leading ethicists and theologians address conscience, a term with loaded meaning and controversy in the Catholic Church in recent decades around issues like political participation, human sexuality, war and institutional violence, and theological dissent. Many essays in this challenging and far-ranging volume focus on the tension between the primacy of conscience (codified at Vatican II) and the processes and cultures of Catholic institutions, including schools, hospitals, and medical research facilities. Intended for a scholarly audience, this valuable collection will also appeal to those involved in Catholic health care, catechetical work, and pastoral ministry.

David E. DeCosse is the director of campus ethics programs at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, where he is also adjunct associate professor of religious studies.

Kristin E. Heyer is Bernard J. Hanley Professor of Religious Studies at Santa Clara University. Her books include Kinship across Borders (2012); Prophetic and Public: the Social Witness of U.S. Catholicism (2006), and the edited volume Catholics and Politics: Dynamic Tensions between Faith and Power (2008) all from Georgetown UP.