A German sculptor named Theodore Wilhelm Archtermann (1799–1984) who moved to Rome in 1839, was commissioned to create a grandiose monument by an Italian committee. When he saw the sketch and noticed that it included indecent figures and nude bodies, he said to himself, “I will not do this work.” He returned the project and resigned.
The committee wanted him to continue with the project, so they offered him more money. Archtermann replied, “Italy does not have enough money to make me give up my convictions and go against my conscience.”
Conscience is the judgment one makes before performing an action in order to discern what one should do and what one should avoid. To act according to one’s conscience, or to act with a good conscience, means making decisions and doing things that conform to ethical principles. This involves two aspects:
First, we should sincerely evaluate whether an action is right or wrong before doing it. This means accepting responsibility for our actions and their consequences.
This can be difficult when we are motivated more by our ego than by principles. When we strongly desire to do something, we can deceive ourselves into thinking that it is right, even when it is not. In other words, we do not sincerely evaluate the situation because our ego wants us to act in a particular way.
Second, we should know Catholic moral teaching. Many times, the problem is not that we fail to consider whether an action is right or wrong, but that we do not know the ethical principles involved, nor do we make an effort to learn them—whether through study or consultation—before acting.
Acting in good conscience requires a constant effort to learn and to form ourselves so that we may know the moral principles. It also requires the development of good habits and virtues, enabling us to make free and responsible decisions and to follow through on them.
If we develop the habit of acting against our conscience, we gradually dull our moral judgment. As a result, we not only act against moral principles but eventually may even fail to recognize that we are doing so.
