Catholic Moral Principles Flashcards

In Catholic moral theology, the principle of 'double effect' permits an action that has harmful consequences when which condition is met?

Answer: The good effect is at least equally intended and the bad effect is not the means to it

The doctrine of double effect requires that the good effect be intended, the bad effect merely foreseen (not the means), and the good must be proportionate to the harm.

The Catholic concept of 'subsidiarity' holds that:

Answer: Social matters should be handled at the lowest competent level of society

Subsidiarity, a key principle of Catholic Social Teaching first articulated in Quadragesimo Anno (1931), holds that decisions should be made at the most local level capable of addressing the matter.

According to Catholic moral teaching, intrinsic evil means an action that is:

Answer: Always morally wrong regardless of intention or circumstances

An intrinsically evil act (malum in se) is morally wrong by its very nature, in every circumstance and regardless of intentions or consequences, because it contradicts human dignity or God's law.

The Catholic Church's 'preferential option for the poor' is rooted in which tradition?

Answer: Liberation theology and the prophetic tradition of scripture

The preferential option for the poor emerged from Latin American liberation theology and Scripture's prophetic tradition, later officially incorporated into Catholic Social Teaching.

In Catholic moral theology, 'proportionalism' was criticized by Pope John Paul II in Veritatis Splendor because it:

Answer: Claimed moral rightness could always be determined by proportionate consequences

Proportionalism held that an action could be right if the good consequences proportionately outweighed the bad; John Paul II condemned this as a form of consequentialism that denies intrinsic evil.

What are the three theological virtues in Catholic moral theology?

Answer: Faith, hope, charity

The three theological virtues are faith, hope, and charity (love). They are called theological because they directly relate us to God and are infused by grace, not acquired by habit.