289 FREEDOM IS A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT BASED ON HUMAN DIGNITY

YOUCAT Lesson 289

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

289  Must we allow a person to use his free will, even when he decides in favor of evil?

 For a person to be able to use his freedom is a fundamental right based on his human dignity.  An individual’s freedom can be curtailed only if the exercise of his freedom is detrimental to human dignity and the freedom of others.  [1738, 1740]

   

…….Jesus then said to those Jews who believed in him, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32  …..289 

Freedom would be no freedom at all if it were not the freedom to choose even what is wrong.  It would violate the dignity of a man if we did not respect his freedom.  One of the central duties of the State is to protect the liberties of all its citizens (freedom of religion, of assembly, and association, freedom of opinion, freedom to choose one’s occupation, and so on).  The freedom of one citizen is the limit to the freedom of another.

 “The martyrs of the early Church died for their faith in that God who was revealed in Jesus Christ, and for this very reason they also died for freedom of conscience and the freedom to profess one’s own faith—a profession that no State can impose but which, instead, can only be claimed with God’s grace in freedom of conscience.  A missionary Church known for proclaiming her message to all peoples must necessarily work for the freedom of the faith.”  Pope Benedict XVI, December 22, 2005

  

1738, 1740

  

I.  FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY

 …….1738   Freedom is exercised in relationships between human beings. Every human person, created in the image of God, has the natural right to be recognized as a free and responsible being. All owe to each other this duty of respect. The right to the exercise of freedom, especially in moral and religious matters, is an inalienable requirement of the dignity of the human person. This right must be recognized and protected by civil authority within the limits of the common good and public order.( Compare Dignitatae Humanae 2 § 7)³²

II. HUMAN FREEDOM IN THE ECONOMY OF SALVATION

 …….1740   Threats to freedom. The exercise of freedom does not imply a right to say or do everything. It is false to maintain that man, "the subject of this freedom," is "an individual who is fully self-sufficient and whose finality is the satisfaction of his own interests in the enjoyment of earthly goods."( Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, instruction, Libertatis conscientia 13.)³³ Moreover, the economic, social, political, and cultural conditions that are needed for a just exercise of freedom are too often disregarded or violated. Such situations of blindness and injustice injure the moral life and involve the strong as well as the weak in the temptation to sin against charity. By deviating from the moral law man violates his own freedom, becomes imprisoned within himself, disrupts neighborly fellowship, and rebels against divine truth.