Throughout this book, I frequently refer to the “Catholic moral tradition,” “Catholic moral theology,” and “Catholic ethics.” However, at no point do I off er a sustained analysis regarding the meanings of these terms or how they relate to each other. Allow me, therefore, to use this preface as an opportunity to address these omissions for the sake of adding clarity to what is contained in the following pages.

With the term “Catholic moral tradition” I have in mind the authoritative moral teachings of the hierarchical Magisterium. These teachings are what they are independent of whether one agrees with them. For example, the Catholic moral tradition holds that one has a moral duty to help the poor. Someone may disagree with this claim, but it remains a Catholic teaching just the same. “Catholic moral theology,” on the other hand, refers to continuous reflection on the contents of the Catholic moral tradition. The job of the Catholic moral theologian is to examine the contents of the tradition in the light of reason and revelation in order to assist in bringing out its interior meaning, beauty, intelligibility, and coherence for the sake of communicating it to a wider audience and applying its insights to particular contexts and cases. Thus, the discipline of Catholic moral theology is deeply rooted in the resources of the Catholic moral tradition. Put negatively, Catholic moral theology divorced from the Catholic moral tradition ceases to be Catholic moral theology.

Finally, “Catholic ethics” refers to the formal academic discipline that puts both the tradition and the reflection on the tradition into sincere and prudent conversation with rival theories and alternative points of view, thus exposing both to external critique.