CCC 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." CDF — Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, instruction, Libertatis conscientia 13. 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.

Read the full chapter 1. The Dignity of the Human Person ¶1700–1876

Cited in 1

  • ¶1740 Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church(137)