Deacon Keith Fourner explains ‘the common good’ in a new CNA column

Richmond, Va., Sep 10, 2015 / 06:12 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a new column for CNA, “The Common Good with Deacon Keith Fournier”, the author has set out to restore a fuller understanding to the meaning of conscience and how it should shape the way Christians live their faith in the public square, the marketplace, and the entirety of culture.

“The phrase common good is at the heart of the social teaching of the Catholic Church. However, many Christians do not even know there is such a body of teaching,” Deacon Fournier, of the Diocese of Richmond, said in his first post exclusively for CNA.

“We need a re-formation of how we view Christian citizenship and our participation in the economic order, the political arena and our full participation in society," he explained. "There has been some poor teaching in the area of moral theology which has exacerbated this confusion."

One of the most common mistakes Catholics make in regards to understanding the common good is in the area of moral conscience, he said. Unfortunately, many people “speak as though ‘conscience’ equates with ‘feelings’ or is an aspect of our opinion.”

But this is certainly not the case, Deacon Fournier said.

Drawing on the Church’s teaching on the formation of moral conscience, he said Catholics are instructed to “educate our consciences to ensure they conform to the truth revealed in Natural Law and expounded upon in Revelation.”

This mistake is plain to see in the way some Catholics and other Christians engage in politics, commerce, and public life, he said. Rather than keeping our faith private, and separate from areas such as work and politics, we need to make it a personal, yet properly public matter.

“Social truths such as the dignity of every human life, the nature and ends of marriage, the moral foundation of freedom and primacy of religious freedom, our obligations in solidarity to one another – all provide a framework for structuring our social life,” he said, noting that these ideas are not solely religious, but meant to inform the entire social order.

Deacon Fournier has been ordained nearly 20 years, and is a constitutional and human rights lawyer who served as the founding executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice.

He currently serves as a special counsel to Liberty Counsel, and chairs the Common Good Foundation and Common Good Alliance.