CSDC 199

Freedom is the highest sign in man of his being made in the divine image and, consequently, is a sign of the sublime dignity of every human person⁴³⁵ Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 17: AAS 58AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 58 (1966) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1966), 1037-1038; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1705, 1730; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction Libertatis Conscientia, 28: AAS 79AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 79 (1987) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1987), 565.. “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”⁴³⁶ Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1738.. The meaning of freedom must not be restricted, considering it from a purely individualistic perspective and reducing it to the arbitrary and uncontrolled exercise of one's own personal autonomy: “Far from being achieved in total self-sufficiency and the absence of relationships, freedom only truly exists where reciprocal bonds, governed by truth and justice, link people to one another”⁴³⁷ Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction Libertatis Conscientia, 26: AAS 79AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 79 (1987) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1987), 564-565.. The understanding of freedom becomes deeper and broader when it is defended, even at the social level, in all of its various dimensions.