CSDC 142

The natural law, which is the law of God, cannot be annulled by human sinfulness²⁷⁴ Cf. Saint Augustine, Confessions, 2, 4, 9: PL 32, 678PL — Patrologia Latina (Migne): “Furtum certe punit lex tua, Domine, et lex scripta in cordibus hominum, quam ne ipsa quidem delet iniquitas”.. It lays the indispensable moral foundation for building the human community and for establishing the civil law that draws its consequences of a concrete and contingent nature from the principles of the natural law²⁷⁵ Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1959.. If the perception of the universality of the moral law is dimmed, people cannot build a true and lasting communion with others, because when a correspondence between truth and good is lacking, “whether culpably or not, our acts damage the communion of persons, to the detriment of each”²⁷⁶ John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor, 51: AAS 85AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 85 (1993) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1993), 1175.. Only freedom rooted in a common nature, in fact, can make all men responsible and enable them to justify public morality. Those who proclaim themselves to be the sole measure of realities and of truth cannot live peacefully in society with their fellow men and cooperate with them²⁷⁷ Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, 19-20: AAS 87AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 87 (1995) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1995), 421-424..