Internal forum

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Internal forum is a term used in moral theology referring to the private realm of one's personal conscience or an act of judgement applying the universal truth to a particular situation, such as the sacrament of reconciliation. The term is frequently used in association with dealing with decisions that cannot be adequately handled in the public external forum regulated by canon law, such as in cases involving the reception of the Eucharist by those who have civilly divorced and remarried without an annulment. Although the supremacy of conscience is acknowledged in the Catholic Church, such a conscience must be properly formed.

In the Roman Curia, the Apostolic Penitentiary has jurisdiction for matters in the internal forum.