Gaudium et Spes and dignitatis humanae on conscience: A forgotten concept of Vatican II?

This paper explores the authority and inviolability of conscience in Gaudium ct Spcs and Dignitatis Humanac. It then highlights three tensions in the texts, two models on the nature of conscience that result from these tensions, and argues that since Vatican II, during the pontificates of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, traditions claims on the inviolability of a well-formed conscience have been largely forgotten and, at times, even violated. It also proposes steps, which Pope Francis has initiated, that must be taken to regain the authority and inviolability of conscience and return it to its proper place in the Catholic tradition.