CSDC 138

In the exercise of their freedom, men and women perform morally good acts that are constructive for the person and for society when they are obedient to truth, that is, when they do not presume to be the creators and absolute masters of truth or of ethical norms²⁶¹ Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1749-1756.. Freedom in fact does not have “its absolute and unconditional origin ... in itself, but in the life within which it is situated and which represents for it, at one and the same time, both a limitation and a possibility. Human freedom belongs to us as creatures; it is a freedom which is given as a gift, one to be received like a seed and to be cultivated responsibly”²⁶² John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor, 86: AAS 85AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 85 (1993) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1993), 1201.. When the contrary is the case, freedom dies, destroying man and society²⁶³ Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor, 44, 99: AAS 85AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 85 (1993) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1993), 1168-1169, 1210-1211..