A Pastoral Theological Construction of Agency for Catholic Moral Decision-Making

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A Pastoral Theological Construction of Agency for Catholic Moral Decision-Making University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 1-1-2010 Primacy of Conscience: A Pastoral Theological Construction of Agency for Catholic Moral Decision-Making Donald Augustine Rickard University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the Catholic Studies Commons, and the Practical Theology Commons Recommended Citation Rickard, Donald Augustine, "Primacy of Conscience: A Pastoral Theological Construction of Agency for Catholic Moral Decision-Making" (2010). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 551. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/551 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. PRIMACY OF CONSCIENCE: A PASTORAL THEOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTION OF AGENCY FOR CATHOLIC MORAL DECISION-MAKING __________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the University of Denver and the Iliff School of Theology Joint PhD Program __________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy __________ by Donald Augustine Rickard June 2010 Advisor: Larry Kent Graham ©Copyright by Donald Augustine Rickard 2010 All Rights Reserved Author: Donald Augustine Rickard Title: Primacy of Conscience: A Pastoral Theological Construction of Agency for Catholic Moral Decision-Making Advisor: Larry Kent Graham Degree Date: June 2010 ABSTRACT A significant pastoral problem for some Catholics flows from the dissonance they experience when attempting to integrate certain Church teachings with the leading of their conscience as they make moral decisions. All Catholics do not accept every established moral answer or position provided by the Church and integrating those differences between the Church teaching and one’s conscience can be difficult—a difficulty affecting parishioner, priest, and Church. This problem is, in part, rooted in and reinforced by the fact that there are two theological strands in the Church’s tradition regarding morality. One strand suggests that the moral response is to obey normative Church moral teachings, whereas the other strand suggests that the moral response is to follow your conscience which is informed by Church teaching. The pastoral problem of understanding and exercising conscience while striving to be informed by and responsible to normative Church teachings is at the heart of this research in order to ameliorate the polarization and division that is currently present in this arena. One of the unstated assumptions and/or insufficiently developed concepts within the primacy of conscience debate between obedience to tradition and following individual conscience is the status of agency as it relates to primacy. The principal thrust of this study of primacy of conscience is that agency is a critical element in understanding the meaning and function of primacy of conscience within the relationship between the social group (as reflected in the terms tradition and teaching) and the individual (as reflected in the term primacy of conscience)—an agency that is interdependent and at times in conflict. This pastoral ii theological study employs Larry Graham’s psychosystemic approach to pastoral theology as it expands the conversation by identifying the pastoral problem of primacy of conscience and the role of agency from a pastoral theological methodology that examines relevant personal and pastoral experience, historical antecedents to the problem, and appropriate conceptual theological and secular resources. As this study reviews the long and varied history of conscience in the Catholic tradition as illustrated in several critical historical moments, it identifies the problematic character of the two strands within the tradition and reveals the importance of a more developed understanding of agency in light of the tradition’s inherent ambiguity. By integrating Albert Bandura’s systemic Social Cognitive Theory, this study offers an enhanced understanding of agency from a disciplined behavioral scientific perspective on the social-personal interfaces involved in decision-making in general (i.e., self-reflectiveness, perceived self-efficacy, and social persuasion) which apply to moral concerns and, consequently, amplifies an understanding of primacy of conscience that can inform priestly counsel to Catholics seeking moral guidance. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One: Introduction to the Pastoral Problem..........................................................1 Expanding the Problem of Conscience ................................................................9 The Potential for Constructing New Theological Understandings ....................14 A Systemic Perspective of Agency in Clarifying Primacy of Conscience ........16 Location and Identity .........................................................................................23 Literature and Resources ....................................................................................24 Outline of Chapters ............................................................................................32 Chapter Two: Emerging Pastoral Theology ...................................................................38 A Pastoral Theological Illustration of Primacy of Conscience...........................46 Exploring the “Lost”...........................................................................................55 Contemporary Advances in Pastoral Theology ..................................................60 Vignette from a Systemic Perspective of Agency ..............................................72 Theological Anthropology at the Crux of Pastoral Theology.............................76 Chapter Three: The Problematic Tradition of Conscience .............................................80 Primacy of Conscience Examined ......................................................................86 Historical Review................................................................................................91 Traditionalist and Revisionist Schools..............................................................115 Legalistic and Personalist Perspectives ............................................................123 Understanding Ambiguity within the Tradition................................................137 Summary...........................................................................................................146 Chapter Four: The Lens of Agency ..............................................................................150 A Catholic Study of Conscience in the 1970’s .................................................160 Social Cognitive Theory Background and Overview .......................................178 Social Cognitive Theory and Self-reflectiveness..............................................186 Social Cognitive Theory and Perceived Self-efficacy......................................189 Social Cognitive Theory and Social Persuasion ...............................................192 Summary...........................................................................................................195 Chapter Five: A Pastoral Theological Construction of Primacy of Conscience...........198 Synthesis and Primary Conclusions..................................................................200 Illustration of Primacy of Conscience...............................................................224 Reflection upon Pastoral Conversation.............................................................247 Future Research................................................................................................250 Conclusion ........................................................................................................252 Bibliography .................................................................................................................254 Appendices....................................................................................................................282 Appendix A.......................................................................................................282 Appendix B.......................................................................................................285 iv CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION TO THE PASTORAL PROBLEM For pastoral theology contends that unaddressed theological issues often arise from the particularity of human experience, including the actual practice of ministry, and that further interpretation of what actually takes place in concrete experience has the potential for constructing new theological understandings or clarifying unresolved matters in the tradition.1 Some Catholics experience dissonance when attempting to integrate certain Church teachings with the leading of their conscience as they make moral decisions. As a priest for the last twenty two years, I have experienced numerous Catholics, myself included, struggling at times between following their conscience and being obedient to the authority of the Church’s teaching. Frequently this dissonance is addressed confidentially within the context of pastoral care, counseling, or confession and the topics are quite diverse (e.g., contraception, pacifism, divorce, obligation to pay taxes, sexual orientation). Yet occasionally this experience of dissonance for Catholics gets
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