Rather than being the final authority, conscience is like a compass that guides people in unfamiliar situations toward the true “moral” north. But just as a faulty compass will lead people astray, a faulty or ill-formed conscience will do the same. The Catechism states that while we “must always obey the certain judgment of [our] conscience,” it’s possible our conscience can make an “erroneous judgment” due to ignorance or even blindness caused by sin.
