[3] For rulers are not a cause of fear to good conduct, but to evil. Do you wish to have no fear of authority? Then do what is good and you will receive approval from it,
(CCC 1912) The common good is always oriented towards the progress of persons: "The order of things must be subordinate to the order of persons, and not the other way around" (GS 26 § 3). This order is founded on truth, built up in justice, and animated by love. (CCC 1906) By common good is to be understood "the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily" (GS 26 § 1; cf. GS 74 § 1). The common good concerns the life of all. It calls for prudence from each, and even more from those who exercise the office of authority. It consists of three essential elements: (CCC 1907) First, the common good presupposes respect for the person as such. In the name of the common good, public authorities are bound to respect the fundamental and inalienable rights of the human person. Society should permit each of its members to fulfill his vocation. In particular, the common good resides in the conditions for the exercise of the natural freedoms indispensable for the development of the human vocation, such as "the right to act according to a sound norm of conscience and to safeguard… privacy, and rightful freedom also in matters of religion" (GS 26 § 2).
No comments:
Post a Comment