ARK Catholic Moral Principles 2 — Questions and Answers

Question 1: In Catholic moral theology, the principle of 'double effect' permits an action that has harmful consequences when which condition is met?

The harm is intended as the means to the good end
The good effect is achieved through the bad effect
The good effect is at least equally intended and the bad effect is not the means to it (Correct answer)
The harm affects only non-Catholics

Correct 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.

Articulated by Aquinas and developed in subsequent Catholic moral theology, double effect allows actions with foreseeable harmful side effects if: (1) the action itself is not intrinsically evil; (2) the agent intends the good effect, not the bad; (3) the bad effect is not the means to the good; (4) there is proportionate reason. Classic cases include administering pain medication that may hasten death, or self-defense that kills an attacker.

Question 2: The Catholic concept of 'subsidiarity' holds that:

The Church is subordinate to the State
Social matters should be handled at the lowest competent level of society (Correct answer)
Bishops are subordinate to the pope
Individuals are subservient to the community

Correct 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.

Subsidiarity was developed by Pope Pius XI in Quadragesimo Anno (1931) and is a cornerstone of Catholic Social Teaching. It holds that higher levels of organization (government, Church) should not take over functions that lower levels (family, local community) can perform themselves. It provides a middle way between individualism and statism, and has influenced European Union governance principles as well as Catholic political thought.

Question 3: According to Catholic moral teaching, intrinsic evil means an action that is:

Evil only in certain cultural contexts
Wrong only when consented to
Always morally wrong regardless of intention or circumstances (Correct answer)
Wrong only when commanded by authority

Correct 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.

Catholic moral theology, rooted in Aquinas and reaffirmed in Veritatis Splendor (1993), holds that some actions are intrinsically evil (e.g., murder, rape, blasphemy, direct abortion). The moral object of the act is evil regardless of the agent's intention (motive) or circumstances. This contrasts with consequentialism (only outcomes matter) and situational ethics. The three sources of morality are: object, intention, and circumstances — all three must be good for an act to be morally good.

Question 4: The Catholic Church's 'preferential option for the poor' is rooted in which tradition?

Natural law philosophy
Liberation theology and the prophetic tradition of scripture (Correct answer)
Canon law
Thomistic ethics

Correct 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.

The preferential option for the poor was articulated by Gustavo Gutiérrez and other liberation theologians drawing on OT prophets (Amos, Isaiah), Jesus's Beatitudes and parable of judgment (Matthew 25), and James 2. It was incorporated into official Catholic Social Teaching in the Puebla document (1979) and subsequent papal encyclicals. It means giving priority attention to the poor's needs without excluding care for others.

Question 5: In Catholic moral theology, 'proportionalism' was criticized by Pope John Paul II in Veritatis Splendor because it:

Denied the existence of God
Claimed moral rightness could always be determined by proportionate consequences (Correct answer)
Rejected the authority of scripture
Denied original sin

Correct 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.

Proportionalism, associated with theologians like Richard McCormick and Charles Curran, argued that premoral goods and evils must be proportionately weighed to determine moral rightness, seemingly allowing intrinsically evil acts in proportionate circumstances. Veritatis Splendor (1993) condemned this as a teleological/consequentialist theory that eliminates intrinsic evil, undermines moral absolutes, and misuses the principle of double effect.

Question 6: What are the three theological virtues in Catholic moral theology?

Prudence, justice, fortitude
Faith, hope, charity (Correct answer)
Humility, obedience, chastity
Love, peace, patience

Correct 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.

The theological virtues (faith, hope, charity) are distinguished from the four cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance) in that they are directly oriented toward God (not merely human excellence) and are gifts of grace rather than developed through practice. St. Paul's 'the greatest of these is charity' (1 Cor 13:13) gives charity primacy. Thomas Aquinas systematized the virtue framework in Summa Theologiae.

ARK Catholic Moral Principles 2

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