Pope Benedict XVI: Reason should recognize the importance of human dignity

Pope Benedict XVI recalled that the main function of reason is to recognize the principal ethical principals tied to the dignity of a person. He also said that liberty makes sense when one decides to respect them. John of Salisbury was the thread for his catechesis.



Excerpted from Pope Benedict's Wednesday catechesis:

"The question of the relationship between natural law and positive law, as mediated by equity, is still of great importance. Indeed, in our own time, and especially in certain countries, we are witnessing a disquieting fracture between reason, which has the task of discovering the ethical values associated with human dignity, and freedom, which has the responsibility of accepting and promoting those values. 

"Perhaps, John of Salisbury would remind us today that the only 'equitable' laws are those that defend the sacredness of human life and reject the legitimacy of abortion, euthanasia and unrestrained genetic experimentation; the laws that respect the dignity of marriage between a man and a woman, that are inspired by a correct understanding of the secularism of the State - a secularism that must always include the safeguarding of religious freedom - and that seek subsidiarity and solidarity at the national and international level."
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