Personal Conscience vs Church Authority

Analyzing a bold and often-misapplied statement about the authority of conscience, made by an authority on theology.

In the ongoing dialogue between personal conscience and Church authority, a bold statement stands out, by someone you may not expect: "Over the Pope, as the expression of the binding claim of ecclesiastical authority, there still stands one's own conscience." Who would dare voice such a radical thought? If your guess is Joseph Ratzinger, later known as …