Internal forum - Definition

Internal forum - 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. 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 in a state of divorce. Although the supremacy of conscience is acknowledged in the Roman Catholic Church, such a conscience must be properly formed.