Magisterium and conscience

This article proposes a brief reflection on the historical and current relationship between the exercise of the Magisterium and the need to respect the conscience of believers. A first part follows the evolution of conscience from modern times and its consequences: a new figure of faith and of life within the Christian community. A second part recapitulates the different forms of exercise of the ecclesial Magisterium in the course of history and the difficulties posed by its encounter with modernity. The author proposes a dream by proposing a new way to proceed: no longer simply surveillance, but the animation of a large planetary debate about all difficulties made the act of believing, in order to give new life to the sensus fidei of Christian people. The third part takes up the problem of truth in which teaching and modern conscience must find a genuine consensus.