Archbishop Broglio's Comments on Conscience Exemplify Catholic Morality
Military Archbishop Timothy Broglio's recent statements on conscientious objection demonstrate the relevance of Catholic moral teaching for Catholics who oppose authoritarianism, writes David E. DeCosse, for the National Catholic Reporter.
On Jan. 18 on the BBC's "Sunday" program, American Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio said of Catholic personnel in the United States military who could be ordered to attack Greenland: "Within the realm of their own conscience, it would be morally acceptable to disobey that order."
Broglio's comment was a brave intervention in the ludicrous-if-it-were-not-so-catastrophic Trumpian drive to conquer the land of a longtime ally. But the archbishop's appeal to conscience is also a prophetic moment in the development of Catholic moral teaching on war and peace and in signaling the relevance of such teaching for Catholic opposition to the authoritarian political rule now besetting this country.
David DeCosse, director, religious and Catholic ethics, published by National Catholic Reporter.