Page 41 - Vaccines

Key principles of Catholic moral theology

The series of acts which Sánchez here condemns as
(actively) scandalous came to be recognised, classically by
St. Alphonsus Liguori, as features of formal cooperation
in the wrong-doing or sin of another. Formal cooperation
is always immoral, since it always entails some real level
of approval of the sin perpetrated; it is distinguished from
“merely” material cooperation. Neither Sánchez, nor
Alphonsus judges “merely” material cooperation to be
morally legitimate in any automatic or normal sense.
Alphonsus judged that, for merely material cooperation
in another’s wrong-doing to be legitimate, there needs
always to be a proportionately grave reason for cooperat-
ing. Both he and in effect Sánchez agreed that:
1. the act of cooperation must be in itself good or at
least indifferent (which excludes any and all acts
by the cooperator which are intrinsically immoral).
2. the act of cooperation must be conducted with a
good intention and for a just cause; it must not be
done in order to help the other to sin.
Whereas Sánchez considered that it was not possible to
specify further in what such a just cause (or proportion-
ately grave reason) might consist, Alphonsus states that,
if the cooperator cannot prevent the other’s sin or at least
is not required to do so on the basis of some reasonable
cause (such as being a public official or someone else
required by duty to intervene), then any act of merely
material cooperation would require a just cause or
proportionate reason which would need to be all the
greater, according to the following criteria:
1. the more serious the sin to which the cooperation
gives rise or affords an opportunity (eg. tacitly
giving an alibi to another to conceal his systematic

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