The Guardian of Freedom
By: Deacon Keith Fournier
© Third Millennium, LLC
"Since man's true freedom is not found in everything that the various
systems and individuals see and propagate as freedom, the Church, because of
her divine mission, becomes all the more the guardian of this freedom, which
is the condition and basis for the human person's true dignity. Jesus Christ
meets the man of every age, including our own, with the same words: "You
will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." These words contain
both a fundamental requirement and a warning: the requirement of an honest
relationship with regard to truth as a condition for authentic freedom, and
the warning to avoid every kind of illusory freedom, every superficial
unilateral freedom, every freedom that fails to enter into the whole truth
about man and the world." Pope John Paul II (Redemptor
hominis (12), Encyclical Letter "The Redeemer of Man, March 4,
1979)
One of the great themes of the pontificate of Pope John Paul the Great was
his teaching concerning - and his insistence upon- a true and authentic
definition of human freedom to guide the lives of individuals, communities,
Nations and the international community. John Paul was a true freedom fighter.
Whether it was in his unashamed opposition to State tyrannies, both left and
right, or his insistence upon the existence of absolute moral truths that are
intended to guide all human behavior, he proclaimed, in both word and in deed,
that the struggle for freedom is the struggle of our age. Now, his friend and
successor, Pope Benedict XVI has taken up this important mission.
In a recent homily in Rome, Pope Benedict spoke of his Petrine mission. He
reminded those gathered that "Peter expressed in the first place, on behalf of
the apostles, the profession of faith: 'You are the Christ, the son of the
living God.' This is the task of all the Successors of Peter -- to be the guide
in the profession of faith in Christ, the son of the living God… this teaching
authority frightens many men within and outside the Church. They wonder if it is
not a threat to the freedom of conscience, if it is not a presumption that is
opposed to freedom of thought. It is not so….The power conferred by Christ to
Peter and his Successors is, in the absolute sense, a mandate to serve. The
authority to teach, in the Church, entails a commitment to the service of
obedience to the faith. The Pope is not an absolute monarch, whose thought and
will are law. On the contrary, the Pope's ministry is a guarantee of obedience
to Christ and to his word… He must not proclaim his own ideas, but constantly
bind himself and the Church to obedience to the word of God, in face of attempts
to adapt and water down, as well as of all opportunism."
The Catholic Church exists to proclaim to every age the truth concerning
authentic human freedom. According to Pope Benedict , this was Pope John Paul
II's mission, "…when, in face of all attempts, apparently benevolent, in the
face of erroneous interpretations of freedom, he underlined in an unequivocal
way the inviolability of the human being, the inviolability of human life, from
its conception until natural death." Clearly, this work of exposing the
"erroneous interpretations of freedom" and proclaiming the full truth concerning
its constitutive nature, now continues under the inspired, intelligent,
profoundly spiritual and deeply theologically leadership of Pope Benedict XVI.
In one of his seminal works entitled "Introduction to Christianity" he wrote
"…one could very well describe Christianity as a philosophy of freedom."
And, so it is.
Philosophy deals with the existential questions. We hear the men and women of
this age asking these fundamental questions. Central to them all is the nature
of freedom and how it is to be exercised. This contemporary neo-pagan and post
modernist age has become intoxicated on the wine of a false notion of freedom as
a raw power over others who are weaker and the "right" to do whatever one wills.
In this same homily, the Pontiff exclaimed "The freedom to kill is not true
freedom, but a tyranny that reduces the human being to slavery." While
calling what is wrong a "right," contemporary men and women are bound in the
chains of their own self delusion, materialism and nihilism.
Yet, more and more people are beginning to see the real horror of the
"culture of death" and the deceptions of materialism. The new slavery of this
age treats persons as property to be used and disposed at will, even for
convenience. The real task of this hour, and the one for which the Catholic
Church exists, is to proclaim a different way, the "more excellent way" that St
Paul writes of in his letter to the Corinthians, the way of love. (I Cor. 12 and
13) That is also the way of authentic human freedom. It now falls upon the
shoulders of the Church to help the men and women of this age to build a culture
of life and a civilization of love. The "Guardian of Freedom", following in the
trail of the One who was Crucified and raised can lead the way out of bondage.
In a homily on the Second Chapter of the Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes,
Saint Gregory, a Bishop of Nyssa and Cappadocian Father of the fourth century,
reflected on timing in the Lord. The author of the Book of Ecclesiastes reminds
us that there is a time for everything. As we enter into the Third Christian
Millennium, the Catholic Church is uniquely equipped - and positioned - to rise
to the hour and help modern men and women to reclaim freedom, by wrenching it
away from those thieves who have stolen it. It is time. Those who have
substituted a false, insidious and errant notion in its place have led so many
astray. The Catholic Church is, a "guardian of freedom" precisely because she
continues the redemptive mission of Jesus to every age, proclaiming and
demonstrating the fullness of the Gospel within the context of the hour. It is
Jesus Christ who eternally proclaims that all men and women can "know the truth
and the truth shall set you free." (John 8:32)
To an age enamored with false concepts of "choice" the Catholic Church
rightly insists that some "choices" are always and everywhere wrong. She teaches
that what is chosen not only affects the world - but changes the "chooser."
Saint Gregory gives some unique insights concerning our choices in this homily,
"Now, human life is always subject to change: it needs to be born ever anew…but
here birth does not come about by a foreign intervention, as is the case with
bodily beings, it is the result of a free choice. Thus we are in a certain way
our own parents, creating ourselves as we will, by our decisions." Moral
theologians refer to this insight as the reflexive nature of human choice.
Freedom has consequences and our choices make us.
The very capacity to make choices is what makes us human persons. It reflects
the very "Imago Dei," the Image of God, present within every human person. As
the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council wrote in their wonderful document on
the Mission of the Church in the Modern World, "Authentic freedom is an
outstanding manifestation of the divine image within man." (Gaudium et Spes,
"Joy and Hope," 17). The Catechism of the Catholic Church addresses the sobering
implications of the exercise human freedom when it reminds us that "Mortal sin
is a radical possibility of human freedom, as is love itself." (CCC, 1861.) In
other words, what we choose truly matters. Authentic Human Freedom cannot be
realized in decisions made against God and against the Natural Law. Authentic
freedom has a moral constitution. It must be exercised in reference to the truth
concerning the human person, the family, our obligations in solidarity to one
another and the common good. That is why the fullness of authentic human freedom
is ultimately found in a relationship with the God who is its source and who
alone can set us free.
In his encyclical letter on Faith and Reason, John Paul the Great wrote: "It
is not just that freedom is part of the act of faith: it is absolutely required.
Indeed, it is faith that allows individuals to give consummate expression to
their own freedom. Put differently, freedom is not realized in decisions made
against God. For how could it be an exercise of true freedom to refuse to be
open to the very reality which enables our self-realization? Men and women can
accomplish no more important act in their lives than the act of faith; it is
here that freedom reaches the certainty of truth and chooses to live in that
truth."
Fides
et Ratio (13), Encyclical Letter (Sept. 15, 1998)
Choosing the good is the pathway to the realization of the fullness of
authentic human freedom. Again the Catechism of the Catholic Church is helpful
"The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. There is no true freedom
except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to disobey and do
evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to "the slavery of sin." (Cf. Rom 6:17)
(CCC 1733)
Taking on the task of being the "Guardian of Freedom" in this hour is one of
the highest and most perilous challenges that the Catholic Church faces. Endemic
to the counterfeit nature of the various claims of "freedom" in our day is an
accompanying disdain for a Church that insists on the very existence of moral
absolutes and right and wrong. Again, the Catechism, "So-called moral
permissiveness rests on an erroneous conception of human freedom; the necessary
precondition for the development of true freedom is to let oneself be educated
in the moral law. Those in charge of education can reasonably be expected to
give young people instruction respectful of the truth, the qualities of the
heart, and the moral and spiritual dignity of man." (CCC 2526)
As sons and daughters of the Catholic Church, we need to live the fullness of
the truth we profess in every area of life. We also need to fervently pray for
Pope Benedict and for all those who lead our Church in this age.
May she truly become the "Guardian of Freedom" to an age that longs to lose
the chains of the slavery of sin and find authentic human freedom.
_______________________________________________________________________
Deacon Fournier is a Deacon of the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia. He holds
degrees from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, the John Paul II
Institute of the Lateran University and the University Of Pittsburgh School Of
Law. He serves as the Senior Editor of Catholic Online and a Contributing Editor
of Traditional Catholic Reflections and Reports. He is the associate Director of
Deacons in the Service of Life.
