This page provides a variety of traditional and contemporary formats for individuals or groups engaging in an "Examination of Conscience."  Use the format which you find most helpful in examining your attitudes and behavior according to the moral, ethical and social principles and ideals of the Judeo-Christian tradition and Catholic teaching.  Keep in mind these four fundamental principles of Catholic moral teaching:
   • the value of human life and dignity of the human person;
   • the priority of the common good;
   • the fundamental option for the poor and vulnerable;
   • the moral equivalence of ends and means (ie, good ends do not justify illicit means).

  Individuals who engage in behavior which is mortally dangerous to their relationship with God and others or to themselves are generally aware of that behavior.  In the absence of attitudes or behavior which are in themselves mortally harmful, Catholics should recognize and may wish to confess:
   a) attitudes or behavior which are relatively more harmful than others;
   b) attitudes or behavior which occur most frequently, and thus over time may have 
       seriously harmful affects; or
   c) attitudes or behavior which, at the present time, the individual has the most ability and desire
       to change.

  When examining their attitude or behavior according to the various criteria suggested in any Examination of Conscience, some individuals find it helpful to use a scale of 1 to 5 (where 1 indicates "this is not a serious problem for me" and 5 indicates "this is a serious problem for me"); this process helps an individual assess what might be most important or urgent in terms of their moral or ethical life.
  As a general rule, the purpose of an Examination of Conscience is to evaluate how well an individual or group is growing in their awareness, acceptance and imitation of God's love and mercy. Here, the emphasis is on growth, not failure -- on how good God is, not on how bad we are.

Traditional Examination Based on the Ten Commandments

• Is God the center of my life?  Do I believe that God loves me and forgives me, no matter what I have done?  Are there any "false gods" in my life (like money, work, pleasure, success, power, superstition)?
• Do I speak God's name with reverence and respect?  Do I pray frequently?  Do I take time to reflect on God's presence and God's direction in my life? 
• Do I live as a person of faith?  Am I growing in my understanding of Jesus' message and the beliefs of the Christian community?  Do I participate as fully as I can in the spiritual and sacramental life of the Church, particularly in Sunday Mass?  Do I respond to sorrows and disappointments through the eyes of faith and hope?
• Am I faithful to my conscience?  Do I inform my conscience according to the teachings of the Church?
• Am I understanding, compassionate and respectful to other people?  Do I respect other persons or groups of people, regardless of their gender, age, race, religion, sexual orientation, social, economic or legal status?  Do I refuse to take advantage of other people or groups of people?
• Do I promote reconciliation and understanding?  Am I willing to forgive and accept forgiveness?  Do I accept responsibility for my mistakes?  Do I express feelings like anger or disappointment in constructive and appropriate ways?  Am I holding a grudge or harboring feelings of hate toward anyone?
• Am I faithful and supportive to the people with whom I share special relationships?  Do I honor and respect my family?  Do I give good example and guidance to children?  Am I supportive and helpful to my brothers and sisters, in-laws, and other members of my extended family?
• Do I take care of my body and avoid activities or substances which endanger my health?  Do I express my sexuality in a way that is consistent with my dignity as a human being and a child of God?  Do I respect the sexuality of others in a way that is consistent with their dignity as human beings and children of God?
• Do I respect authority?  Do I confront authority in a responsible way when I think it is wrong?
• Do I seek the truth?  Do I tell the truth? Am I fair in my judgment and actions?  Do I consider and respect other opinions and perspectives?  Do I gossip or speak critically of others without giving them an opportunity to explain themselves?
• Do I respect the rights and property of others?  Do I steal? 
• Am I jealous of what others do or have?  Am I unnecessarily competitive?  Am I considerate with co-workers, faculty or other students?  Do I share my time, talents, possessions and financial resources in a way which benefits other people, not just myself?  Do I use my leadership abilities or my authority for the good of all and in a spirit of justice? 
• Do I recognize my responsibility for the well-being of the entire human community and the earth on which we life?  Do I recognize and advocate for the common good in social, political and economic affairs?  Does my lifestyle represent a fair consumption of resources and an active effort to preserve the environment?
• Do I support policies and leaders who will work to make our government responsive to the needs and rights of all, especially the poor and disadvantaged?  Do I support local, national and international organizations which promote understanding, peace, justice and development?

When you have completed the examination above, review what you have learned by asking yourself these questions:
• What does this say about my relationship to God, to others, and to myself?
• What patterns or habits do I detect in my behavior?  
• What bad attitudes or faulty perceptions lie behind my actions?
• In what ways am I growing as a Christian?  
• In what ways do I need to grow more?
• What do I want or need to change about my life right now?

 •   •   •

Pope Francis's Examination of Conscience

This examination of conscience is based on a booklet "Safeguard Your Heart" distributed by Pope Francis after his Angeles address in February, 2015.

About God
• Do I turn to God only in my need?
• Do I attend Mass on Sunday and holy days of obligation?
• Do I begin and end the day with prayer?
• Have I taken the name of God, the Blessed Virgin, or the saints in vain?
• Have I been ashamed to say that I am a Christian?
• What am I doing to grow spiritually? How do I grow spiritually? When?
• Do I resist God’s will?
• Do I insist that he does things my way?
About my neighbor
• Do I know how to forgive, to share, and to help my neighbor?
• Have I slandered, stolen from, or scorned the poor and defenseless?
• Am I envious, hot-tempered, or prejudiced?
• Do I care for the poor and the sick?
• Am I embarrassed by my brother’s body or my sister’s flesh?
• Am I honest and fair with everyone, or do I foster a “throw-away culture”?
• Have I led others to do evil?
• Do I observe the spousal and family morality taught in the Gospel?
• How do I fulfill my responsibility for my children’s education?
• Do I honor and respect my parents?
• Have I rejected a newly conceived life?
• Have I extinguished the gift of life?
• Have I helped others to do that?
• Do I respect the environment?
About myself
• Am I a believer who is somewhat worldly and only somewhat believing?
• Do I over-indulge in eating, drinking, smoking and being entertained?
• Am I overly concerned about my physical well-being and my possessions?
• How I do use my time?
• Am I lazy?
• Do I desire to be served?
• Do I love and safeguard purity in my heart, thoughts and deeds?
• Do I plot vengeance or harbor resentments?
• Am I gentle and humble? A peace-maker?

The following questions were contained in the Vatican document "Misericordiae Vultus," #15:

• Have I given food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty?
• Have I welcomed the stranger and clothed the naked?
• Have I set aside time and had the courage to visit the sick and the imprisoned?
• Have I helped anyone be released from doubts that make them fearful and that are often the source of
  loneliness?
• Have I participated in overcoming ignorance by supporting education, especially for the young?
• Have I told those who live in sin about the need for conversion?
• Have I been a neighbor to someone who is lonely and afflicted?
• Have I forgiven those who offend me and resisted every kind of resentment and hate?
• Have I been patient with others based on the example of God who is so patient with us?
• Have I commended my brothers and sisters to prayer?

•   •   •

Contemporary Examination of Conscience for Adults

Do I find joy In my relationship with God?
Can I be sure in my trust in God?
Can I embrace the joy of the Holy Spirit within me while also carrying the troubles in my life at this moment?
Do I remember to call upon and give thanks and praise to God, who is the source and sustainer of my life?
Do I recognize  myself as a Children of God?
Do I have a healthy relationship with myself?
Do I believe I carry the life of Christ within me?
Do I believe that I can birth Christ at each moment, that through my actions and words he can take flesh and be manifest to the people around me?
Do I take good care of myself?
Do I believe that my physical body is good and holy and has been created out of divine love?
Can I let the joy and the awe of this great mystery of our faith shine through me?
Do I listen to God's call in my life?
Do I forgive myself when I make a mistake?
Do I try to learn and grow from my experiences?
Do I follow through on my commitments in joyful fashion or do I resent my responsibilities?
If a relationship comes to an unwanted and painful ending, can I stand in that emptiness of loss, of being left behind, of hitting rock bottom?
Can I find my grounding in God once again, knowing that there is an even deeper love and comfort that will come after this pain?
Do I numb myself with alcohol, drugs, food, gambling, sex, pornography, technology, possessions, shopping?
Do I avoid the "still, small voice" within?
Do I bear witness to the Gospel in my relationships with others?
Do I hide behind social media instead of creating face-to-face relationships?
Have I developed patterns or judging or blaming people or giving criticism that is not meant to be helpful?
Am I hurtful toward others in actions, thoughts or words?
Do I judge or criticize people who are different from me?
In my family, do I communicate my love and care in a sincere and direct way?
Do I allow others in my family circle to grow into the people God created them to be?
Do I celebrate the success of family members without jealousy or envy?
In my own way, do I consciously strive to make peace a reality, to embody peace in the world around me?
Do I use my gifts and talents to work for justice?
Do I help fill the essential needs of others , as Jesus did?
Do I feed the hungry and give water to those who thirst?
Do I clothe the naked? Do I visit the sick and the imprisoned?
Do I help provide shelter for the homeless?
Do I assist and protect those in their last days of life?
Do I support public policies which aid the vulnerable, poor, and marginalized?
Do I care for God's creation?
Do I base my purchases on the principles of basic responsibility to the earth, such as
--the vehicle I drive?
--the products I use?
--the amount of recyclable materials I use?
--the quantity I acquire?
Do I pay attention to the well-being of all with whom I share the earth?
Am I aware of the sustainability needed to keep a harmonic balance in all of nature?
Do I support public policies which encourage and enforce sustainable stewardship of natural resources?
Summary--How Am I Growing?
Take a few minutes today to review the insights you have gained from this examination:
In what way(s) could I grow or change in my relationship to God?
In what way(s) could I grow or change as a child of God?
In what way(s) could I improve how I listen to God's call in my life?
In what way(s) could I improve my relationships with others?
In what way(s) could I improve my care for God's creation?

Adapted from Joyfully We Wait--An Advent Examination of Conscience.

•   •   •

Traditional Examination of Conscience for Adults

1. I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods before me.
-Do I give God time every day in prayer?
-Do I seek to love Him with my whole heart?
-Have I been involved with superstitious practices or have I been involved with the occult?
-Do I seek to surrender myself to God´s word as taught by the Church?
-Have I ever received communion in the state of mortal sin?
-Have I ever deliberately told a lie in Confession or have I withheld a mortal sin from the priest in Confession?
-Are there other "gods" in my life? Money, Security, Power, People, etc.?
2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
-Have I used God´s name in vain: lightly or carelessly?
-Have I been angry with God?
-Have I wished evil upon any other person?
-Have I insulted a sacred person or abused a sacred object?
3. Remember to keep holy the Lord´s Day.
-Have I deliberately missed Mass on Sundays or Holy Days of Obligation?
-Have I tried to observe Sunday as a family day and a day of rest?
-Do I do needless work on Sunday?
4. Honor your father and your mother.
-Do I honor and obey my parents?
-Have I neglected my duties to my spouse and children?
-Have I given my family good religious example?
-Do I try to bring peace into my home life?
-Do I care for my aged and infirm relatives?
5. You shall not kill.
-Have I had an abortion or encouraged or helped anyone to have an abortion?
-Have I physically harmed anyone?
-Have I abused alcohol or drugs?
-Did I give scandal to anyone, thereby leading him or her into sin?
-Have I been angry or resentful?
-Have I harbored hatred in my heart?
-Have I mutilated myself through any form of sterilization?
-Have I encouraged or condoned sterilization?
-Have I engaged, in any way, in sins against humanlife such as artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization?
-Have I participated in or approved of euthanasia?
6. You shall not commit adultery.
-Have I been faithful to my marriage vows in thought and action?
-Have I engaged in any sexual activity outside of marriage?
-Have I used any method of contraception or artificial birth control in my marriage?
-Has each sexual act in my marriage been open to the transmission of new life?
-Have I been guilty of masturbation?
-Do I seek to control my thoughts and imaginations?
-Have I respected all members of the opposite sex, or have I thought of other people as mere objects?
-Have I been guilty of any homosexual activity?
-Do I seek to be chaste in my thoughts, words,actions?
-Am I careful to dress modestly?
7. You shall not steal.
-Have I stolen what is not mine?
-Have I returned or made restitution for what I have stolen?
-Do I waste time at work, school, and home?
-Do I gamble excessively, thereby denying my family of their needs?
-Do I pay my debts promptly?
-Do I seek to share what I have with the poor?
-Have I cheated anyone out of what is justly theirs, for example creditors, insurance companies, big corporations?
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
-Have I lied? Have I gossiped?
-Do I speak badly of others behind their back?
-Am I sincere in my dealings with others?
-Am I critical, negative or uncharitable in my thoughts of others?
-Do I keep secret what should be kept confidential?
-Have I injured the reputation of others by slanders?
9. You shall not desire your neighbor´s wife.
-Have I consented to impure thoughts?
-Have I caused them by impure reading, movies, television, conversation or curiosity?
-Do I pray at once to banish impure thoughts and temptations?
-Have I behaved in an inappropriate way with members of the opposite sex: flirting, being superficial, etc.?
10. You shall not desire your neighbor´s goods.
-Am I jealous of what other people have?
-Do I envy the families or possessions of others?
-Am I greedy or selfish?
-Are material possessions the purpose of my life?
(Courtesy of The National Catholic Register)

•   •   •

Examination of Conscience Based on Catholic Social Principles

Life and Dignity of the Human Person
• Do I respect the life and dignity of every human person from conception through natural
  death?
• Do I recognize the face of Christ reflected in all others around me whatever their race,
  class, age, or abilities?
• Do I work to protect the dignity of others when it is being threatened?
• Am I committed to both protecting human life and to ensuring that every human being is
  able to live in dignity?
Call to Family, Community, and Participation
• Do I try to make positive contributions in my family and in my community?
• Are my beliefs, attitudes, and choices such that they strengthen or undermine the
  institution of the family?
• Am I aware of problems facing my local community and involved in efforts to find
  solutions? Do I stay informed and make my voice heard when needed?
• Do I support the efforts of poor persons to work for change in their neighborhoods and
  communities?
• Do  my attitudes and interactions empower or disempower others?
Rights and Responsibilities
• Do I recognize and respect the economic, social, political, and cultural rights of others?
• Do I live in material comfort and excess while remaining insensitive to the needs of
  others whose rights are unfulfilled?
• Do I take seriously my responsibility to ensure that the rights of persons in need are
  realized?
• Do I urge those in power to implement programs and policies that give priority to the
  human dignity and  rights of all, especially the vulnerable?
Option for the Poor and Vulnerable
• Do I give special attention to the needs of the poor and vulnerable in my community and
  in the world?
• Am I disproportionately concerned for my own good at the expense of others?
• Do I engage in service and advocacy work that protects the dignity of poor and
  vulnerable persons?
The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
• As a worker, do I give my employer a fair day’s work for my wages? As an owner, do I
  treat workers fairly?
• Do I treat all workers with whom I interact with respect, no matter their position or class?
• Do I support the rights of all workers to adequate wages, health insurance, vacation and
  sick leave? Do I affirm their right to form or join unions or worker associations?
• Do my purchasing choices take into account the hands involved in the production of what
  I buy? When possible, do I buy products produced by workers whose rights and dignity
  were respected?
Solidarity
• Does the way I spend my time reflect a genuine concern for others?
• Is solidarity incorporated into my prayer and spirituality? Do I lift up vulnerable people
  throughout the world in my prayer, or is it reserved for only my personal concerns?
• Am I attentive only to my local neighbors or also those across the globe?
• Do I see all members of the human family as my brothers and sisters?
Care for God’s Creation
• Do I live out my responsibility to care for God’s creation?
• Do I see my care for creation as connected to my concern for poor persons, who are
  most at risk from environmental problems?
• Do I litter? Live wastefully? Use energy too freely? Are there ways I could reduce
  consumption in my life?
• Are there ways I could change my daily practices and those of my family, school,
  workplace, or community to better conserve the earth’s resources for future generations?
(Courtesy of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops)

•   •   •

Examination of Conscience Based on the Works of Mercy

•   •   •

Examination of Conscience Based on the Ignatian Examen

Examination of Conscience for Seniors

[Last Update: 06.29.22]