Choices: God is free and humans created in God's image are free. God freely chose to create the universe from nothing. Therefore, God is essentially free, and so human beings made in God's image are likewise gifted with the capacity to make free choices. A Catholic perspective promotes human flourishing in all its dimensions, and the making of moral choices in ways that contribute to, rather than threaten or undermine this flourishing of the whole human person. The concept of identity expresses the human desire to form a coherent sense of self through making free choices about who we want to be and what we want to do in the context of relationships. How we respond to the objective dimensions of our identity arises from our relationships with God and the world; with others, institutions, and history. How we form our own sense of self in the world, and how we shape the way other people see us depend on these factors. Human beings choose between living life to the full or rejecting God's love and God's promise. God gives human beings this choice precisely because God loves them, because God respects their inviolable dignity, and their absolute worth as moral agents, as people who can make moral decisions. In other words, though Christian faith affirms the worth and dignity of all human beings, and the boundless love of God, it is up to individual human beings, situated as they are in particular historical circumstances, to make choices and to act in ways that realise their dignity and the dignity of others; ways that show the presence of God in the world. Because people are free, rational and relational, human beings can choose to tear down and destroy the beauty and goodness that God has given to them, or they can choose to hear God's call when God asks them to care for the world and deeply love all that is in it. A fundamental choice that all human beings face is the choice to pursue self-aggrandizement at the expense of others, and ultimately at the expense of their relationship with God, or to stand up for love and live life wholeheartedly. (John 10:10)Emotions helps us to identify situations about which we may have to make moral choices about what to do, and in which what we choose to do (or not to do) can be called morally right or morally wrong. Put another way, all emotions help us work out how best to bring about true human flourishing; that is, to participate in the happiness or beatitude that God promises all human beings. (Matthew 5:1-5) By creating us as free beings, God has given us the power to choose the kind of beings we want to be, the causes we want to stand for, the values we want to hold dear. The choices we make in answering these questions will have implications forever, because our spiritual selves will live forever. Fundamentally, we are asked whether we want to stand up for love and live forever in eternal happiness with God (what is traditionally referred to as Heaven), or whether we want to reject love, to reject goodness, to reject community, to reject all that is good and true and beautiful.Sin is not simply about choosing to do something bad or evil. It is always about faulty judgments and subsequent choices about what is good and right. This can happen in two ways. Sometimes it is about choosing to achieve something that we think is good, though in reality, when all is considered, it is actually bad. Sometimes it is about choosing to achieve something that is good, but doing so at the expense of what could be better and therefore should take precedence. Conscience, loosely translated, means 'with knowledge'. In other words, when we make moral choices, we make them based on what we know about the goals we want to achieve, the ways or means to achieve them, the circumstances in which we need to achieve them, and the consequences of both the means we choose and the outcomes we achieve. When we have weighed all these things, we make a judgment based on our knowledge of what is the morally right thing to do. We are then obliged to follow our conscience and do the morally right thing, taking responsibility for our decision.

Freedom: With freedom comes responsibility. We are responsible for our moral behaviour because we are made in God's image as rational beings, capable of knowing what is the morally right and good thing to do, and as free beings, capable of choosing to do the morally right and good thing. These two capacities, to know and to choose, together form what is called conscience. In talking about moral decision making it is important to clarify what is meant by freedom. The Second Vatican Council reminds us that “freedom is an exceptional sign of the image of God in humanity” (Gaudium et Spes, 17). Our freedom to make choices about moral issues is part of what makes us like God. God wants us to make these choices and to embrace our moral responsibility and to grow and mature in our moral wisdom, because in so doing we are able to live whole-heartedly. In the light of this, it is helpful to note with O'Neil and Black (2003, p.58), that freedom can be understood in two senses: 'freedom from' and 'freedom for'. When we talk about freedom in the sense of 'freedom from', we are talking about freedom from limitations that prevent us from doing what we want. It is the limitless freedom that is often associated with individualistic cultures and the belief that you have a right to whatever you want. More positively, however, this 'freedom from' can be understood as freedom from those limitations that prevent us from fulfilling our vocation to live whole-heartedly. For example, if you lived in a society in which you were persecuted for your race or your sex or your religious beliefs, this would limit your freedom. But there is also a richer aspect of freedom in what can be termed 'freedom for'. This is not simply about being free to choose to do whatever we like. Rather, it is about being able to make choices that might seem like limits on our freedom in order to direct our lives to what is truly good, towards a destiny centred on God. From a Catholic perspective, given that human beings are free, meaning seeking and meaning making, we are faced with a choice about how we engage in those relationships with all of creation in light of the kind of beings we want to be. What do we want our lives to mean? This meaning will be realized through the moral choices we make in and through our relationships with others, with the natural world, and with God. Whole-hearted living is possible. Human flourishing is possible. At the core is the question “What do you stand for?” The Catholic perspective is one that stands for love and life and justice for all.

Humanity that is truly good: From a Catholic perspective, what is truly good and 'freedom for' is the freedom to choose to direct one's actions towards the fostering of one's relationship with God, and towards the flourishing of the community as a whole. 'Freedom for' does not preclude one's own flourishing. Rather, it affirms that as beings made in the image of God, and hence as social and relational beings, human beings flourish with others. Our flourishing is intimately tied up with the flourishing of others. When we use our freedom in this way, we respect not only the dignity of all human beings, but come closer to realizing the kind of just, peaceful, and joyful community that God wants for humanity. What is truly good, in Catholic terms, is that which God wills. How do we know what God wills? We come to know through revelation, and through the use of our human reason to understand the order of the universe the way God has made it, so that we can cooperate with God in making judgements and choices on that basis. Using these two sources of revelation and reason, we can affirm the good of every human being, their dignity and ways of living whole-heartedly in a community of love, peace and justice with others. When it comes to moral reasoning, we need to consider what is truly good through critical thought, feelings, and reflection. This provides a framework for helping us think through what is the right thing to do in any given moral situation. By doing so, our consciences are well-informed about the starting point of our moral reflection. Encounters with God, in the Church, in the depths of our being, and in those positive human experiences, can heal moral blindness, prejudice, distorted desires, and self-centred passions, and direct our longings for personal worth in ways that seek what is truly good and life-giving in God. Since conscience is your own relationship to the objective truth, believers are obliged to follow their conscience. In other words, what one determines to be good and right based on the use of one's reason is like a law that must be obeyed (Gaudium et spes, 16). So, to not obey your conscience (i.e. to choose not to do what you know to be the morally right thing to do), or to blindly obey others (i.e. to abdicate personal responsibility for moral decisions) is a sin. If conscience is where we relate most closely at a personal level with the objective truth of God and perfect goodness, then to do other than what we believe to be right and true in our conscience is to do other than what we believe to be God's will, to do other than what we believe to be perfect goodness.

Steps to moral decision making: Definition: Be very clear about the moral question you are asking. The more you deal with moral issues, the more you will realise how often the issues at stake come down to careful use of words, and clearly understanding what different terms mean when used by various parties. Knowledge: Find out as much as possible about what is actually involved in the issue you are deliberating. There is no point talking about the ethics of a particular new medical technology if you do not understand the science of what is involved in that technology. In social ethics, we need to find out about the effects on people of certain kinds of social structures, for example economies, health care systems and education. Making use of the natural and social sciences is an important part of thinking through moral issues.Identify the good and bad things: Be honest about the good things that are at stake in a given situation, as well as the possible bad things that might happen as part of, or as a result of, your action or lack of it. Identify the 'truly good' things that we hope to ultimately achieve. The challenge comes in understanding how to realise these things in the context of particular concrete moral issues. Good things include not only things that are good for us like food, oxygen, and love, but also the kind of person we want to be. These latter good things are called virtues. “A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good” (CCC 1803). Important virtues include justice, temperance, courage, prudence (or wisdom), chastity as well as faith, hope and love. In identifying the goods at stake (i.e. good things and virtues), we might also ask about how this will make us and others more loving, just and wise. To identify the good things at stake, one can also turn to tradition. From a Catholic perspective, this includes both the Bible and the teachings of the Church. We have already seen how the Catholic tradition of faith and reason reveals what is good for us and for our communities. Many communities, cultures and religions share common ideas about what is good for a community. Scripture Galatians 5: 22-23Identify moral norms: Take seriously what other people have done before you. Others have encountered similar moral dilemmas before you. Generations of people have tried to develop codes of behaviour, also called moral norms, that help to see what is the right thing to do, and prevent unjustifiable bad things from happening. These codes of behaviour provide us with insights into what people have thought to be really important and how to achieve it. Our contemporary legal system, with its codes of law, is one example of this, but so too are teachings such as the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes in the Bible. Consulting the tradition, the collected wisdom of thousands of generations before us, can be helpful in helping us see what other people have done in our situation and why they have done it. Not everything our ancestors have done has been morally right. Almost every tradition has a degree of change in its moral positioning, for example, the change in moral attitudes towards slavery.Use reasoning and the judgment of conscience:At the end of the day, you have to make a decision. You have to freely judge what is the right thing to do, and then, you have to do it.“In the Catholic tradition, some rules apply in every situation. One may never do evil so that good may result from it. The Golden Rule: “Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.” Charity always proceeds by way of respect for one's neighbour and his or her conscience: Thus, sinning against your brother [or sister] and wounding their conscience... you sin against Christ. Therefore, it is right not to... do anything that makes your brother [or sister] stumble.” (CCC #1789)

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE: Catholic perspectives in the study of biological science calls us to always reflect on our humanness and the respect for each individual, created in the image and likeness of God. There are many complex issues surrounding the ethical considerations of biological scientific studies. Fostering [students'] capacities and skills of discerning, interpreting, thinking critically, seeking truth and making meaning” is a significant aim of Religious Education in Australian Catholic schools. In his most recent Apostolic Exhortation (Gaudete et Exsultate, March 2018), Pope Francis refutes a closed theology that does not honour questioning, doubting and inquiring. “When somebody has an answer for every question, it is a sign that they are not on the right road” (n.41). Catholic perspectives call us to remain faithful to the truth entrusted to Catholic education, honouring the reality of people's lives: their questions, suffering, dreams, struggles and worries? This apparent opposition needs to be held as paradox; needing the ability to hold this tension in life-giving ways, allowing it to open our minds and hearts to new ways of seeing and being. (Framing Paper: Religious Education in Catholic Schools, NCEC, 2017). Bioethics is a branch of ethical inquiry that examines the nature of biological and technological discoveries and the responsible use of biomedical advances, with particular emphasis upon their moral implications for our individual and common humanity. The Centre for Bioethics and Human Dignity Ethical considerations in this area of study are not limited to religious values and teachings. The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) released revised Ethical guidelines on the use of assisted reproductive technology in clinical practice and research (ART guidelines).? The ART guidelines are used by professional organisations to set standards for the practice of ART. The ART guidelines are primarily intended for ART clinicians, clinic nurses, embryologists, counsellors and administrators, researchers, Human Research Ethics Committees, and governments. Guiding Principle 7: Processes and policies for determining an individual's or a couple's eligibility to access ART services must be just, equitable, transparent and respectful of human dignity and the natural human rights of all persons, including the right to not be unlawfully or unreasonably discriminated against. Catholic perspectives provide a clear lens for understanding Catholic social teachings about human dignity. Social action is closely linked to the Catholic Social Teaching principles. Social action is a call to live out the Gospel through focusing on human dignity  and caring for God's creation through opportunities for public advocacy and action. Steps to moral decision making Be very clear about the moral question you are asking. The more you deal with moral issues, the more you will realise how often the issues at stake come down to careful use of words, and clearly understanding what different terms mean when used by various parties.

Reproductive Technologies: Considering the use of genetic testing for personal use or by organisations calls for a Catholic Christian response to freedom and choice grounded in Catholic Social Teaching, responding to questions about human freedom around choice and conscience when making ethically difficult human decisions for humanity that is truly good. With freedom comes responsibility. We are responsible for our moral behaviour because we are made in God's image as rational beings, capable of knowing what the morally right and good thing is to do, and as free beings, capable of choosing to do the morally right and good thing. These two capacities, to know and to choose, together form what is called conscience. The Pope made remarks on November 15 in a meeting with members of the Association of Italian Catholic Medical Doctors. Pope Francis: 'Fidelity to the Gospel of life and respect for life as a gift from God sometimes require choices that are courageous and go against the current, which in particular circumstances, may become points of conscientious objection,' Pope Francis said. The Pope said the Church opposes abortion and euthanasia not only as a matter of faith or philosophical principle but as a question of science. 'It is a scientific problem, because there is a human life there, and it is not lawful to do away with a human life to solve a problem,' he said. 'In ancient and modern thought, the word 'kill' means the same thing.' The Pope urged doctors to practice true compassion as 'good Samaritans, caring in a special way for the elderly, the infirm and the disabled.' 'There is no human life that is more sacred than another,' he said, 'just as there is no human life qualitatively more significant than another just by virtue of having greater resources, rights and economic and social opportunities.' Ethical considerations in this area of study are not limited to religious values and teachings. The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) released revised Ethical guidelines on the use of assisted reproductive technology in clinical practice and research (ART guidelines)  The ART guidelines are used by professional organisations to set standards for the practice of ART. The ART guidelines are primarily intended for ART clinicians, clinic nurses, embryologists, counsellors and administrators, researchers, Human Research Ethics Committees, and governments. Assisted reproduction raises significant issues for individuals, families and communities. It can be a controversial topic, with opinions influenced by a wide range of political, cultural, religious, ethical, scientific, professional and legal factors. Some may regard assisted reproduction as standard medical practice that should be available with minimal constraints, in the interest of scientific progress and out of respect for an individual's or a couple's reproductive choices. Others, in contrast, may regard it as ethically problematic, raising a number of issues and dilemmas that challenge humanity's core values, putting the needs and wants of the intended parent(s) above those of the potential child. Some may regard ART to be a direct contradiction of their religious faith. For some, ART may raise questions about the extent to which medicine should ‘interfere with nature' or the manner in which medical technology may empower or disempower individuals and the control they have over their own lives, bodies and reproductive futures. Ethical guidelines on the use of assisted reproductive technology in clinical practice and research, p.19 Be very clear about the moral question you are asking. The more you deal with moral issues, the more you will realise how often the issues at stake come down to careful use of words, and clearly understanding what different terms mean when used by various parties. Steps to moral decision making There are a number of methods which can be used to analyse issues related to justice. These methods help us to reflect on what is happening in society, what issues need to be addressed and what action might be taken as a result of our analysis. According to Pope John XXIII (Mater et Magistra, 1961), “There are three stages which should normally be followed in the reduction of social principles into practice. First, one reviews the concrete situation; secondly, one forms a judgment on it in the light of these same principles; thirdly, one decides what in the circumstances can and should be done to implement these principles.” This process is referred to as See, Judge, Act. The Pastoral Spiral or Pastoral Circle was developed by Fr Peter Henriot sj and Joe Holland as a framework for responding to issues and situations of social injustice. The method consists of four ‘moments': experience, analysis, theological reflection, and response. The four moments provide spaces in which to draw on each of the sources of Catholic social ethics: Scripture, Tradition, reason and experience. The moments also enable us to engage feelings and imagination, to dialogue and to contemplate. The pastoral spiral provides a tool for drawing on Catholic Social Teaching. and prevents us from rushing into action without paying attention to the experience of those most affected and giving adequate time and attention to analysis of and reflection on the issue or situation. The name ‘pastoral spiral' emphasizes the circle is not closed. Our response leads to a new reality; we are changed by our action. We do not return to the same experience allowing the process of analysis, reflection and action to continue