Dulles On Freedom

Enjoying and Making Use of a Responsible Freedom

by Avery Cardinal Dulles S.J.

An excerpt.

To avoid confusion, it will be useful at the outset to note that Dignitatis Humanae recognizes two levels or aspects of freedom. On the juridical level, freedom may be defined negatively as immunity from coercion by any civil authority.

On the moral level, freedom consists positively in the power to speak and act according to one's responsible decision.

Of the two aspects, the latter is primary, for the purpose of juridical freedom is to enhance moral freedom. The Catholic understanding of moral freedom is grounded in the philosophical and theological anthropology that the church has developed through centuries of reflection on the legacy of biblical and classical wisdom.

Link (here) to Cardinal Dulles' entire article at the Acton Institute