Pope stresses the need to recover natural law

Vatican City, Feb 5, 2004 / 22:00 pm

Speaking to the members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Pope John Paul II highlighted the need to recover the importance of natural law as a source of moral certainty in today’s world.

The Holy Father stated that the natural moral law “belongs to the great patrimony of human wisdom that Revelation, with its light, has contributed to further purifying and developing. The natural law, accessible per se to every rational creature, indicates the first and essential norms that regulate moral life.”

“Today,” he explained, “as a consequence of the crisis in metaphysics, many spheres do not recognize any longer that there is a truth inscribed in the heart of every human person.”

“We see therefore, on the one hand, the spreading among believers of a morality of a fideistic character and, on the other hand, what is missing is an objective reference point for acts of legislation which often are based solely on social consensus,” he added.

In this regard, the Pontiff asked the Congregation “to promote opportune initiatives with the aim of contributing to a constructive renewal of the doctrine on the natural moral law, seeking convergence with representatives of different denominations, religions and cultures.”