CSDC 149

The human person is essentially a social being ²⁹⁴ Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 12: AAS 58AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 58 (1966) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1966), 1034; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1879. because God, who created humanity, willed it so²⁹⁵ Cf. Pius XII, Radio Message of 24 December 1942, 6: AAS 35AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 35 (1943) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1943), 11-12; John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 55 (1963) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1963), 264-265.. Human nature, in fact, reveals itself as a nature of a being who responds to his own needs. This is based on a relational subjectivity, that is, in the manner of a free and responsible being who recognizes the necessity of integrating himself in cooperation with his fellow human beings, and who is capable of communion with them on the level of knowledge and love. “A society is a group of persons bound together organically by a principle of unity that goes beyond each one of them. As an assembly that is at once visible and spiritual, a society endures through time: it gathers up the past and prepares for the future”²⁹⁶ Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1880.. It is therefore necessary to stress that community life is a natural characteristic that distinguishes man from the rest of earthly creatures. Social activity carries in itself a particular sign of man and of humanity that of a person at work within a community of persons: this is the sign that determines man's interior traits and in a sense constitutes his very nature²⁹⁷ The natural social disposition of men and women also makes it evident that the origin of society is not found in a “contract” or “agreement”, but in human nature itself; and from this arises the possibility of freely creating different agreements of association. It must not be forgotten that the ideologies of the social contract are based on a false anthropology; consequently, their results cannot be — and in fact they have not been — profitable for society or for people. The Magisterium has declared such opinions as openly absurd and entirely disastrous: cf. Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter Libertas Praestantissimum: Acta Leonis XIII, 8 (1889), 226-227.. This relational characteristic takes on, in the light of faith, a more profound and enduring meaning. Made in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen 1:26), and made visible in the universe in order to live in society (cf. Gen 2:20,23) and exercise dominion over the earth (cf. Gen 1:26,28- 30), the human person is for this reason called from the very beginning to life in society: “God did not create man as a ‘solitary being' but wished him to be a 'social being'. Social life therefore is not exterior to man: he can only grow and realize his vocation in relation with others”²⁹⁸ Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction Libertatis Conscientia, 32: AAS 79AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 79 (1987) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1987), 567..