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to determine what is most fitting to a specific context, and to act decisively.
Exercising this virtue often requires the courage to act in defense of moral prin-
ciples when making decisions about how to build a society of justice and peace.
20. The Church’s teaching is clear that a good end does not justify an immoral
means. As we all seek to advance the common good—by defending the
inviolable sanctity of human life from the moment of conception until natural
death, by promoting religious freedom, by defending marriage, by feeding the
hungry and housing the homeless, by welcoming the immigrant and protect-
ing the environment—it is important to recognize that not all possible courses
of action are morally acceptable. We have a responsibility to discern care-
fully which public policies are morally sound. Catholics may choose different
ways to respond to compelling social problems, but we cannot differ on our
moral obligation to help build a more just and peaceful world through morally
acceptable means, so that the weak and vulnerable are protected and human
rights and dignity are defended.
Doing Good and Avoiding Evil
21. Aided by the virtue of prudence in the exercise of well-formed con-
sciences, Catholics are called to make practical judgments regarding good and
evil choices in the political arena.
22. There are some things we must never do, as individuals or as a society,
because they are always incompatible with love of God and neighbor. Such
actions are so deeply flawed that they are always opposed to the authentic
good of persons. These are called “intrinsically evil” actions. They must always
be rejected and opposed and must never be supported or condoned. A prime
example is the intentional taking of innocent human life, as in abortion and
euthanasia. In our nation, “abortion and euthanasia have become preeminent
threats to human dignity because they directly attack life itself, the most
fundamental human good and the condition for all others” (
Living the Gos-
pel of Life
, no. 5). It is a mistake with grave moral consequences to treat the
destruction of innocent human life merely as a matter of individual choice.
A legal system that violates the basic right to life on the grounds of choice is
fundamentally flawed.
23. Similarly, human cloning, destructive research on human embryos, and
other acts that directly violate the sanctity and dignity of human life are also