In Vol. # 7 of Incarnation Notes I said that a Catholic must form his conscience in accord with the teachings of the Church and then he must act in accord with that conscience. Conscience is your intellect trying to solve a moral problem here and now. As such conscience can be correct or incorrect.

The formation of a correct conscience begins with a belief in God and his son Jesus and the Church through which he teaches. Jesus said about his Church, "He who hears you hears me; anyone who rejects you rejects me, and those who reject me reject the one who sent me." (Luke 10:16) Vatican II says that whoever listens to the church is listening to Christ and whoever despises the Church despises Christ and him who sent Christ. And again "In forming their consciences the Christian faithful must give careful attention to the sacred and certain teaching of the Church. For the Catholic Church is by the will of Christ the teacher of truth. Her charge is to announce and teach authentically that truth which is Christ, and at the same time with her authority to declare and confirm the principles of the moral order which derive from human nature itself."

The Church does not always teach with the same degree of certitude. There are three categories of official teaching: infallibly defined truths taught by the extraordinary magisterium such as ex cathedra statements or solemn conciliar teachings; doctrines which are infallibly taught by the ordinary magisterium; and doctrines which are not infallibly taught.

Examples of the first category are Mary's Immaculate Conception (1854) and Assumption (1950). Indissolubility of marriage (Trent). Some examples of infallible teaching by the Magisterium are: the immorality of ordinary magisterium are: the immorality of abortion, homicide, euthanasia, adultery, fornication, homosexual activity...

Church teachings which do not belong to the first two categories are not infallibly taught. Is there any need for a catholic to embrace teachings which are not infallibly taught? Indeed there is. Vatican II taught: "Bishops who teach in communion with the Roman Pontiff, are to be revered by all as witnesses of divine and Catholic truth. The faithful for their part are obliged to submit to their bishop's decision made in the name of Christ in matters of faith and morals and to adhere to it with ready and respectful allegiance of mind..."

Can a dissenter worthily receive the sacraments? Pope John Paul answered this question in a talk to the Bishops of the United States at Queen of Angels Seminary, Los Angeles, in 1987 when he said, "It is sometimes reported that a large number of Catholics today do not adhere to the teaching of the Church on a number of questions, notably, sexual and conjugal morality, divorce and remarriage. Some are reported as not accepting the clear position on abortion. It has also been noted that there is a tendency on the part of some Catholics to be selective in their adherence to the Church's moral teachings. It is sometimes claimed that dissent from the magisterium, that is the teaching authority in the Church, is totally compatible with being a good Catholic and poses no obstacle to the reception of the sacraments. This is a grave error..."

Cafeteria Catholics who pick and choose what they want to believe from the teachings of the Church, put their souls in grave jeopardy.