Conscientious objection is refusing, for conscience’s sake, what civil authority requires against the moral order: a citizen “is obliged in conscience not to follow the directives of civil authorities when they are contrary to the demands of the moral order, to the fundamental rights of persons or the teachings of the Gospel”. That refusal “finds its justification in the distinction between serving God and serving the political community”. When people are called to cooperate in morally evil acts “they must refuse”, and the refusal is “a basic human right which, precisely as such, civil law itself is obliged to recognize and protect”. Against laws permitting abortion and euthanasia there is “a grave and clear obligation to oppose them by conscientious objection”, and those who do so “must be protected not only from legal penalties but also from any negative effects on the legal, disciplinary, financial and professional plane”. Of those who refuse to bear arms the Council said it “seems right that laws make humane provisions”, “provided however, that they agree to serve the human community in some other way”.
Glossa Catholica shows its pages only in a browser with JavaScript turned on. The colophon says where each text here comes from.