From ................ National Catholic Reporter

January 17, 1997

page 23

- The "We Are Church" Catholic referendum raises important issues of inclusion, justice and truth.

But I write with deep concern about a phrase which occurs twice in the statement.

That phrase is the "primacy of conscience." .....

Some church leaders fear that reforming U.S. Catholicism is afflicted with subjectivism and relativism, the belief that there are no objective moral truths and that the only thing that matters is inner sincerity.

The phrase "primacy of conscience" will confirm these fears, for it implies that inner sincerity does have priority over objective moral truth. ....

It is now probably too late to revise the referendum. But let us ensure that this unfortunate phrase is never used again.

KEVIN McGOVERN ............ Belmont, Mass.

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