THE IMPACT OF VERITATIS SPLENDOR ON
CATHOLIC EDUCATION AT THE UNIVERSITY AND
SECONDARY LEVELS*
CARDINAL PIO LAGHI
Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education
INTRODUCTION
THE TOPIC which has been proposed to me, "The Impact of Veritatis Splendor on Catholic Education at the University and Secondary Levels," requires a note of clarification with regard to the word impact. When this Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II appeared, it was received with much comment, both positive and negative, on the part of the press and the other media. This is one aspect of the topic proposed: to trace in a synthetic way a picture of the reactions which the document stirred. Such would certainly be an interesting study, but I would perhaps be led to traverse much terrain before arriving at the nucleus of what I feel is my duty to say to you. I shall limit myself, therefore, to commenting on two positive reactions appearing in Italian newspapers immediately after the publication of the Encyclical.
The first was in the well-known Roman newspaper, Il Tempo, under the title, "An Act of Consistency in an Epoch of Doubt." It states: "If lighthouses had been moved every month, the sailors in the night would have seen the ships of history dashed against the rocks; and no voyager would have reached his homeland again if the North Star, within the Zodiac, had to obey vacillating positions of fashions and ideologies. ... The papal document stirs discussions. . . . Nevertheless it is very much of current interest. While many ships finish on the rocks because they have
* This paper was originally presented at the Forum on Catholic University Education at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, 3 November 1995.
1
CARDINAL PIO LAGHI
sailed following fireflies instead of lighthouses and while the ruling classes have shipwrecked for having chosen compasses that lie, there is abroad a need to see the permanence of certain values recognized in the midst of all that changes, the necessity of an ethical nucleus linked to principles of the human person, honesty, freedom and responsibility"
This is a positive reaction, then, which welcomes the Encyclical as a text which says things that have to be said, giving basic directions for a journey, and stating the things no one dares to speak but of which everyone knows the necessity in daily living. This is also the substance of another comment on the Encyclical that I think it would be useful to cite. Carlo Bo, a university professor and a well-known figure in Italian intellectual life, writes: "Modern culture no longer has objective criteria for distinguishing good from evil," and he adds, "John Paul II has fought against Communism in defense of freedom; now he criticizes Western culture, which makes of freedom an absolute value. ... The exaltation of freedom leads to ethical relativism, against which the Pope raises his voice." Agreement and basic approval are transparent in these lines, but the title under which they appear is "A Call to Order." Immediately the image is evoked—negative to the sensitivities of our times—of a commander intent on imposing order on his soldiers.
The heart of the problem perhaps, at least with regard to the teaching of moral theology in the Catholic context, is in the clear perception of the need for an unchanging point of reference, of a lighthouse for the voyage, and at the same time the fear of speaking of this need, of making it the subject of reflection, communication, and teaching. There is a kind of widespread fear which keeps us at a distance from the truth, from the permanent foundations of human acting, from the objective and the universal; a fear which is perhaps the principal cause on account of which so great a part of contemporary humanity risks dying of thirst while standing before a spring of cool water. In order not to appear authoritarian or negative, one keeps silent, does not speak, expresses oneself in a partial or even an erroneous way with regard to all that is most necessary for life. It would be difficult not to see in this a problem which is typically an educa-
THE IMPACT OF VERITATIS SPLENDOR 3
tional one, upon which many questions converge. Can one speak of what is objective without diminishing the subject? Of law, without killing freedom? Of truth, without violating conscience? Of concrete actions, without fragmenting the unified impulse which must animate the human person? Of the intrinsic evil of an act, without taking into consideration the circumstances and motives for that act? On what basis can all this be done? When we speak of these things, do not our voices risk becoming that of a command, of an external order imposing itself without any opportunity for appeal?
And here we come to the second aspect of the word "impact" in the title of my presentation. With what tone of voice does John Paul II call attention to the unchangeable principles which are to direct our actions? What resonance or impact is his call meant to have within the context of our daily commitment to the formation of the future generations?
These are the questions to which I wish to respond, dividing my paper into three parts:
1) in the first, I should like to spend some time on a global presentation of the document, highlighting its context and its educational concern;
2) secondly, I shall seek to bring to light some central ideas of the
Encyclical;
3) finally, I shall try to show some concrete consequences for teaching and, in particular, for the teaching of moral theology at the university and secondary levels of Catholic education.
I. A DOCUMENT THAT RAISES AN EDUCATIONAL QUESTION
We find a key passage for understanding the fundamental aim of Veritatis Splendor in n. 4 of the document. The Pope, after having pointed out the constant tradition of magisterial expressions concerning specific moral questions, underlines the originality of the intervention he is about to make: "Today it seems necessary to reflect on the whole of the Church’s moral teaching, with the precise goal of recalling certain fundamental truths of Catholic doctrine which, in the present circumstances, risk being distorted or denied." In other words, the Magisterium cannot be concerned only with covering all the areas of human life, in extenso, so to speak. It must also assume responsibility for the
4 CARDINAL PIO LAGHI
basic elements of the Christian ethical vision, without which the moral teaching of the Church in the individual sectors of life, no matter how well argued, cannot be assimilated, and thus will remain superficial and ineffective. Hence the effort at removing obstacles in an area of communication which today encounters particular difficulties: communication concerning moral choices.
An observation presents itself immediately: namely, one has the impression that the modern person finds it ever more difficult to perceive that his behavior, his decisions, can have need of instruction. At the pedagogical level there is, for example, a hesitation in the face of any kind of directivity or of setting forth proposals for what should be done or how it should be done. Frequently one is confronted with the idea that teaching should not carry with it a communication of contents, but should consist essentially in a "drawing out," an explication of what is already there. When one leaves the field of communicating technical skills and moves to the field of morality, this hesitation increases. Here the notion is widespread that one cannot or should not teach; that even less should there be the concern to make people aware of something objective, of what is received from outside oneself, what is independent of the will or understanding of the individual. But experience shows that, at every level, just as a true communication without the free involvement of two subjects cannot exist, so also human communication cannot exist unless it has a message, a content. Thus whoever holds that one must remain silent with regard to permanent foundations for giving direction for human choices leaves no room for the development of freedom and autonomy. Such a position instead lays the foundation for the development of a closed ideology, without any authentic opening, impenetrable to the reality of life. Against such a vision Veritatis Splendor raises its voice.
In the Pope’s words, which take their point of departure from a look at the present situation of moral reflection in the ecclesial context, "[today] a new situation has come about within the Christian community itself, which has experienced the spread of numerous doubts and objections of a human and psychological, social and cultural, religious and even properly theological nature, with regard to the Church’s moral teachings. It is no
THE IMPACT OF VERITATIS SPLENDOR
longer a matter of limited and occasional dissent, but of an overall and systematic calling into question of traditional moral doctrine, on the basis of certain anthropological and ethical presuppositions. At the root of these presuppositions is the more or less obvious influence of currents of thought which end up by detaching human freedom from its essential and constitutive relationship to truth" (n. 4).
The concern evidently is for the teaching of morality in the ecclesial context. Such teaching risks being weakened in two ways. On one hand there is a decreased awareness in the field of moral theology of its being, no less so than dogmatic theology, at the service of the living Tradition of the Church. On the other, there is the danger of constructing a moral theology which has nothing to say to the contemporary world, a moral theology which dilutes the gospel or even alters it nature. Moreover, the tragedy which the Pope points to is that of moral thought which, for fear of appearing authoritarian and extrinsic to the subject, has in fact conferred an absolute character upon partial visions of the human reality. Ideas about man resulting from a study of limited aspects of human existence (psychological, intellectual, social, economic, etc.) have been transformed into ideologies claiming to account for the totality of man, if not ideologies which are in fact totalitarian. These, presenting themselves in the elegant and appealing vesture of scientific reality, have not always been recognized or uncovered by the moral theology of recent decades. It is in this way then that the necessity of discernment carried out and called for by the Encyclical is to be seen: it is not a "call to order," but penetrating look, an attention to the roots of the problems, an effort at clarity so as to prevent people from falling victim to their own illusions.
In this light one can see how the Encyclical has in view, without neat distinctions between them, two circles of an intended audience for its teaching, two circles which are destined to interset throughout the course of the document. In the first place, obviously, the ecclesial community, with its preaching, catechesis, its reflection and teaching in moral theology. But, inseparable from the Church, the Encyclical also has in view the whole of humanity in our troubled times, with its culture, its philo-
6 CARDINAL PIO LAGHI
sophical thought, its political, economic, and social order. There can be no separation between these two realms. Certainly the Church is concerned about maintaining the purity of its message, but for no other reason than to be able to continue to proclaim it. Certainly, it thinks about the negative influences which some ideas can have on its thought, but while doing so it seeks to bring to the heart of these very ideas the liberating light of the gospel. The central question, indeed, is that of keeping alive today the dialogue, the "educational" communication between Jesus and the human person. This is what we read in n. 25 of Veritatis Splendor: "Jesus’ conversation with the rich young man continues, in a sense, in every period of hi story, including our own. The question ‘Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?’ arises in the heart of every individual, and it is Christ alone who is capable of giving the full and definitive answer. . . . Christ’s relevance for people of all times is shown forth in his body, which is the Church." Seen within this perspective, it is difficult to place Veritatis Splendor within the military imagery mentioned earlier.
Let us see now whether this approach holds up to an examination of the central message of the Encyclical.
II. THE CENTRAL MESSAGE
We have seen the profoundly dialogical, "educational" intention which animates the document. We must now try to show that this intention is concretized in the focal point to which the Pope calls attention: those "certain fundamental questions regarding the Church’s moral teaching" spoken of in n. 5.
As you know, the Encyclical is composed of three chapters, each with a specific character: the first one is "Biblical," centered on the dialogue of Jesus with the "rich young man" (Mt 19:16); the second is "doctrinal," in which the problem of the discernment of some tendencies of contemporary moral theology is addressed in a language which at certain points is technical; the third is "pastoral," concerned with indicating the consequences of this reflection for the concrete life of the Church and the world.
THE IMPACT OF VERITATIS SPLENDOR
Notwithstanding this apparent diversity in literary genre, the document in its entirety has a profound interior unity A kind of unifying element pervades the whole document and assures its solidity. It is the fundamental question of the relationship between freedom and truth, or better, in Christ’s own words:
"You will come to know the truth and the truth will make you free" (Jn 8:32). So much so that the title of the Encyclical, instead of Veritatis Splendor, could be Libertatis Splendor
Whence comes the necessity of insisting on this aspect? Veritatis Splendor does not hesitate to respond to the question, pointing out explicitly that there is a "crisis"—a crisis which has developed, as far as regards fundamental moral theology, around two aspects of the present culture:
a) the more philosophical aspect, leading to the claim of human autonomy in the area of morality, beginning with the discussion of freedom and truth;
b) the more theological aspect, that is, the loss of awareness of the authentic relationship between faith and moral conduct.
On one side, then, there is a sort of "fusion" which has progressively led philosophical reflection to identify truth and freedom, making of this latter the only absolute—truth "dissolved" in freedom. On the other, there is the risk—for moral theology which is faced with this philosophical vision—of dissociating in the life of the believer the area of faith from that of particular moral choices. In one case a kind of absolute affirmation of freedom, destined to lead to its own negation; in the other, a sort of "practical fideism" which robs faith of its influence and relevance for the effective determination of a way of acting.
This, we must acknowledge, is the decisive topic of our time, a topic which, with the fall of the communist dictatorships, has become yet more urgent: How to learn to live correctly in freedom? A freedom which is conceived of in a purely individualistic way, which approaches arbitrariness, can only be destructive; it would in the end place everyone against everyone else. The danger of again determining freedom from outside the human person and substituting for truth the result of the "collective will" is evident. Think, for example, of the analysis which John
8 CARDINAL PIO LAGHI
Paul II made in his speech to the United Nations (5 October 1995): "Freedom is not simply the absence of tyranny or oppression. Nor is freedom a license to do whatever we like. Freedom has an inner ‘logic’ which distinguishes it and ennobles it: freedom is ordered to the truth, and is fulfilled in man’s quest for truth and in man s living in the truth. Detached from the truth about the human person, freedom deteriorates into license in the lives of individuals, and, in political life, it becomes the caprice of the most powerful and the arrogance of power" (n. 12).
Within this broad horizon we can see the crisis which the Encyclical points out. Naturally, Veritatis Splendor is a response of the Magisterium. As such, it is important to emphasize, it is not a "theological" response in the technical sense of the term. That is, in the document there is not to be found—no matter how tempted one may be to think so—the canonization of a particular "theology," chosen from among those existing at the present time (cf. nn. 29 and 116). (Such theologies are recognized in their specific role of providing "a more appropriate way of communicating doctrine to the people of their time" [Gaudium et spes 62, cited in n. 29].) Even though the Encyclical treats, in great part, questions of the theoretical order concerning morality, the demands intrinsic to the Christian "way" (cf. Acts 22:4) remain its central point of reference. Therefore the source is Sacred Scripture, the living Tradition of the Church, and, in particular, the teaching of the Second Vatican Council (cf. nn. 5; 27; 29).
From the "magisterial" character of the Encyclical’s response to this crisis flows the principal purpose which the document sets for itself. That purpose can be summed up in the world "discernment." In fact the title of the second chapter is: "The Church and the Discernment of Certain Tendencies in Present-Day Moral Theology." "Discernment," that is, "comparison" between some tendencies in moral theology and the "sana doctrina," therefore, is certainly a "critical discernment," capable of acknowledging what is legitimate, useful and of value in them, while at the same time pointing out their ambiguities, dangers and errors" (n. 34)—a discernment, finally, that makes its own Saint Paul’s warning not to conform oneself to this age but to be transformed by the renewal of one’s mind (cf. Rm 12:2).
THE IMPACT OF VERITATIS SPLENDOR 9
Now to the object of this act of the Magisterium. It is not easy to specify it in just a few words. The "discernment" of the Magisterium focuses on a convergence of debated questions more vast and more complex than ever before. The problematic can be set forth in terms of two sides of the question of the relationship between truth and freedom:
a) that of the law, that is, the Law of God, both in its universal formulation (nn. 35-53, in which is treated the relationship between divine law and human freedom), and in its application to the concrete personal situation, that is, conscience (nn. 54-64, in which is treated the relationship between conscience and truth);
b) that of the concrete putting of freedom into action, both in the free subject (that is, the person who acts freely, following a "fundamental option" expressed in "particular choices," nn. 65-70), and in its result (the moral act, nn. 71-83).
How can we come to grasp the deepest meaning of this intervention of the Magisterium on these two aspects of our topic? It is necessary, I think, in the case of both of the perspectives mentioned, to look at what would be the final negative outcome of the tendencies criticized by the Encyclical.
A) The perspective of the law
In this regard, the tendency to which Encyclical calls attention derives from a presumed conflict. The Law of God is understood as external to the human subject, constraining him, humiliating human freedom. A complete sovereignty on the part of human reason in determining the norms necessary for the ordering of life in this world is claimed as the fundamental premise for the autonomy of the human being.
It is not difficult to see how such a tendency leads inevitably to the canonization of man’s solitude and, consequently, to the denial of the intimate structure of the person as open to dialogue and to communion. The presumed externality of God’s law is eliminated by suppressing in man the capacity of listening. Thus the Word of God becomes "an exhortation, a generic paraenesis, which the autonomous reason alone would then have the task of completing with normative directives which are truly ‘objective,’ that is, adapted to the concrete historical situation" (n. 37).
10 CARDINAL PIO LAGHI
It is a word then without "objective" content, without concrete incisiveness on the life of humanity, a word without "substance," deprived of that intrinsic gratuitous dynamism which leads it to become incarnate in history
But the risk of canonizing man’s solitude by means of a system of philosophy or moral theology has a still graver aspect. Not only must the Word of God conserve all of its power for an "objective" permanent and unchangeable proposition, but it must also be possible to grasp the interiority of the Word in all of its depth. The systems which are "ruinous" for freedom and which the Encyclical denounces are also the ones which deny that the freedom in man carries within itself its own regulation such as can be recognized as the order of his nature. What is this principle of regulation? The first and fundamental reply of the Pope is this: The principle of regulation is the truth, the truth which is found in our being human. Our "nature," which derives from the Creator, is the truth which guides and instructs us. The fact that we ourselves carry our truth within us, that our "nature" is our "truth," is also expressed with the term "natural law."
This idea, which goes back to pre-Christian philosophy, was developed further by the Fathers of the Church and by medieval philosophy and theology and had an entirely new relevance and urgency at the beginning of the modern era, in the face of the usurpations by the colonial lords. Those new peoples, even though not members of the Christian community, were not for that reason without rights, because man’s "nature" confers rights on man as such. From this comes the principle that every man, insofar as he is man, by reason of his human nature, is the subject of fundamental rights that no one can take from him, because no human institution has conferred them on him.
Today the accusation is constantly heard that, with the concept of natural law, the Church makes man a slave of an outdated metaphysics or a backward biologism, attributing to biological processes the value of moral laws. The Encyclical rejects such an accusation, citing Saint Thomas: "The natural law is nothing other than the light of intelligence infused in us by God." The natural law is a "rational" law: it is the nature of man to be
THE IMPACT OF VERITATIS SPLENDOR
endowed with reason. When it is said that our nature is the regulation of our freedom, not only is reason not excluded, but its place is fully acknowledged. In this way also we acknowledge fully the dialogical nature of human conscience, which is the seat of the relationship between man ‘s freedom and God’s law. "Moral conscience does not close man within an insurmountable and impenetrable solitude, but opens him to the call, to the voice of God. In this, and not in anything else, lies the entire mystery and the dignity of the moral conscience: in being the place, the sacred where God speaks to man" (n. 58).
B) The perspective of putting freedom into action
Following the same line of thought, that of the dignity of the human person as a being open, in his totality, to listening to the Word, and thus capable of recognizing in the Law of God the keystone of his freedom, we can easily approach the second perspective on the relationship freedom-truth of which the Encyclical treats.
In this case as well, we can begin from what would be the negative outcome of the dominant tendencies of contemporary thought. Here attention is drawn to the wholeness of the response which the human person is called upon to give to God by means of his moral life. The risk to freedom under this aspect is that of taking away the meaning and the seriousness of human action, seen either in its entirety or in the particularity of the individual act.
In accordance with his presumed incapacity to listen to a truth of which he himself is not the speaker, contemporary man tends to remove personal meaning from his concrete actions. In this conception of things, "particular acts . . . would constitute only partial and never definitive attempts to give.., expression to the so-called "fundamental option"; "they would only be its ‘signs’ or symptoms" (n. 65). But such a vision leads to a tearing which renders fragmentary and, in the end, meaningless man’s historical action; he is thereby, deprived of his capacity to express his deep adherence to the divine call. "To separate the fundamental option from concrete kinds of behavior means to contradict the substantial integrity or personal unity of the moral
CARDINAL PIO LAGHI
agent in his body and in his soul" (n. 67). Veritatis Splendor, therefore, affirms that the human person cannot be defrauded of the possibility conferred on him to enter, with all that is connected to his being historical, into the dialogue of love which God offers him. Individual human actions must in fact remain open to being the expression of the person’s adoration and his adherence to God’s call as well as of the tragedy of his refusal of it. Only in his way is there ultimately guaranteed the fullness of meaning which human freedom can assume.
In the same context of safeguarding the integral dignity of the human moral response should be placed the rejection of teleologism (proportionalism and consequentialism). If the moral act does not contain within itself the ultimate reason for its own goodness or evil, this implies that the human person does not bear in himself his own meaning, but receives it from an abstract superstructure made up of limited motivations and goals. The human person thus finds himself slave to a utilitarian vision of reality. For this reason, there must be "intrinsically evil" acts in order not to condemn man to the exclusive pursuit of relative goods, not to close him within the circle of his finitude, to save for him the possibility of opening himself up to the infinite by means of each one of his acts. To say that every human act has an object, the goodness of which does not derive from circumstances or consequences, means saying that human acts do not remain forcibly trapped in the net of limited temporal meanings but can in themselves "be ordered" to the ultimate end which is God (n. 79). This gives an infinite character to even the smallest action, guaranteeing the possibility of a greatness in man of which he on his own cannot conceive.
The central message of the Encyclical turns out then to be animated by a profound intention to keep open, in a theoretical reflection on morality, the full breadth of the vision of man of which the Church makes itself guarantor. Rather than closing the door to ethical reflection, Veritatis Splendor asks that this reflection not "dissolve" the Christian paradox with illusory solutions. "No absolution offered by beguiling doctrines, even in the areas of philosophy and theology, can make man truly happy:
THE IMPACT OF VERITATIS SPLENDOR 3
only the Cross and the glory of the Risen Christ can grant peace to [man’s] conscience and salvation to his life" (n. 120).
It is now time to see, in this light, what are the educational and formational consequences on the secondary and university levels.
III. THE CONSEQUENCES FOR TEACHING
A) Consequences for education in general
In the first place, it seems important to note how the "educational" concern of the Encyclical is in itself a reminder for all who teach. I think we can speak of a call to safeguard a certain "difference" in education.
In order to have dialogue, and above all educational dialogue, it is necessary to maintain a "difference." No fusion favors the growth of freedom. But perhaps it is precisely that which is happening in our time and which the Encyclical criticizes. The conflictual situation in which humanity lives today pushes ever further toward finding individualistic solutions to various problems which present themselves. The confrontation with the "other"— whoever he is—is excluded a priori by a mentality which justifies the creation of values by the individual conscience. The teacher and the educator, in these circumstances, have a difficult task in reaching their students. From this there derives on every level a disorientation, which, far from aiding the exercise of autonomy and freedom, renders the maturation of the students difficult.
A first and essential impact of Veritatis Splendor on the task of the teacher is, therefore, at this basic level, that of maintaining the essential "difference" of the educational dialogue, thanks to the proclaiming of a truth and of a concrete truth. In this regard it should be noted that it would be a grave error to think that in Veritatis Splendor there are two parallel discourses: on the one hand about an abstract truth, attainable by the light of reason beginning from created reality; on the other hand, about a personal truth who is Jesus Christ, Son of God, made flesh for our salvation. In reality, in the light of Encyclical, Catholic teaching is called to an awareness that only one truth can be liberating for the human person and that it is a truth at one and the
14 CARDINAL PIO LAGHI
same time universal and concrete. In the final analysis, the traditional expression "natural law" means nothing other than this. It says that truth is a concrete possibility for the heart of every human creature, not a particular concept or idea, but a living Light, accessible to all in every circumstance, the "image of God" in man, the light of the Word "who illuminates every man" Jn 1:9) and which the faith of the Church sees resplendent in the face of Jesus of Nazareth.
As John Paul II has himself observed recently in his talk to the Bishops of Brazil during their ad limina visit (18 October 1995): "it will not be by weakening moral truth and neglecting true values that the Church will accomplish its mission on behalf of man. The Church, obedient to the Lord, who came not to judge but to save, must show mercy towards people without, however, giving up the principle of the truth and of a consistency according to which one cannot call good evil and evil good. It is an eminent form of charity towards souls not to reduce to nothing the redemptive doctrine of Christ" (n. 6).
B) Consequences for the teaching of moral theology
In this light too should be seen the consequences specifically concerned with moral theology indicated in nn. 109-113 of the document. Outside of the perception of a concrete Truth, unique and unchangeable, there remains only the banality of utilitarian thought, which makes the human being a slave of a finite purpose and finally of an abstract system, intolerant and tyrannical, which humiliates the person and does not recognize his vocation to the infinite and the eternal. This type of thought certainly cannot find a place in moral theology if this latter intends to take its part in the Church’s mission of evangelization. Veritatis Splendor addresses this with the following points:
i. the ecclesial character of moral theology and the relationship with the Magisterium
The Encyclical’s first point about the task or role of moral theology is its necessarily ecclesial character. Moral theology participates with full credentials in the description proper to all the-
THE IMPACT OF VERITATIS SPLENDOR 15
ology, which "by its very nature and procedures.. . can flourish and develop only through a committed and responsible participation in and ‘belonging’ to the Church as a ‘community of faith’ "(n. 109).
But the ecclesial character proper to moral theology has its specificity in a peculiar relationship with the Magisteriun of the Church, which "in proclaiming the commandments of God and the charity of Christ . . . teaches the faithful specific particular precepts" and "carries out an important work of vigilance" (n. 110) in service to the faithful. In the face of this teaching of the Magisterium, the task of moral theology is, certainly, in the first place, that of having the faithful, especially future pastors, come to know the teaching of the Magisterium. Even more there is a necessity of deepening this knowledge. "Working together in cooperation with the hierarchical Magisterium, theologians will be deeply concerned to clarify ever more fully the biblical foundations, the ethical significance and the anthropological concerns which underlie the moral doctrine and the vision of man set forth by the Church" (n. 110).
Along these lines, it is necessary to develop a precise ecclesial consciousness, a consciousness which will welcome, not just in a negative way, the discernment which the Magisterium will effect with regard to individual problems. More than closing off certain areas of theological research, interventions of the Magisterium must be seen to be indicative of certain fixed points which are capable of marking the area of fruitful and productive theological reflection.
ii. service to the Church, society, and culture
In this way too one sees the contribution which moral theology offers not only to the growth of the Christian community, but also to society and culture. The scholarly reflection of moral theologians is essential for setting forth the dynamic and unifying aspect of Christian living. Because it cannot "be reduced to a body of knowledge worked out purely in the context of the socalled behavioral sciences," moral theology must always keep in mind the question which dwells in man" "What is good or evil?
16 CARDINAL PIO LAGHI
What must be done to have eternal life?" (n. 111). These are the questions—already present in every human heart, even though often not explicitly and consciously—which make up the human person’s concrete and operative point of reference for living.
iii. discernment
The third element which Veritatis Splendor calls to the attention of moral theologians is that of discernment with regard to modern culture. It is a question of a focusing better on the critical function to be exercised with respect to relativism, pragmatism, and positivism, to which so often the contemporary mentality is exposed. In the face of the tendency to obtain by empirical methods even moral principles for the ordering of human action, moral theology must strengthen its role as guarantor of "the spiritual dimension of the human heart and its vocation to divine love. . . . It is the gospel which reveals the full truth about man and his moral journey, and thus enlightens and admonishes sinners; it proclaims to them God’s mercy, which is constantly at work to preserve them both from despair at their inability to know and keep God’s law fully and from the presumption that they can be saved without merit" (n. 112).
iv. ecclesial responsibility
Finally, the invitation of Veritatis Splendor to moral theologians is synthesized in a call to assume responsibility. It is important that the person dedicated to teaching in Catholic institutions of learning grasp this aspect of the document well and not let himself be taken in by partial or reductive visions of his function within the Church and the world. The horizon indicated by the Encyclical is vast, I dare say, planetary. It is a question ultimately of the defense of man in his wholeness. For that reason, courage is needed to enter fully into this dynamic, avoiding secondary aspects of polemics or dissent. Moral reflection is not simply the fruit of the comparison of opinions and respect for the democratic procedures of discussion. If it were thus, instead of aiding, it would obstruct the bursting forth of that Word which from deep within every human being calls upon his conscience. The educational dialogue, the possibility of teaching and of help-
THE IMPACT OF VERITATIS SPLENDOR 7
ing others to grow in freedom, would be cut at its roots. Within this framework should be placed the impact of Veritatis Splendor on Catholic teaching which we have been seeking to describe in these remarks.
CONCLUSION
Now, as a concluding word, I should like to recall an image which could almost be emblematic of Veritatis Splendor, an image which John Paul II gave to the Church during the sixteenth year of his pontificate. It is the image of the Pope who, looking forward to the beginning of the Third Christian Millennium, speaks to five hundred thousand young people gathered in Cherry Creek State Park in Denver, the fourteenth and fifteenth of August 1993. In the words he spoke on that occasion we grasp in synthesis the Church’s passion for education and the universal horizon within which it unfolds. The Holy Father said:
On many questions, especially those of moral theology, the doctrine of the Church is today in a cultural and social situation which makes it at one and the same time more difficult to understand and more urgent and irreplaceable for promoting the true good of men and women. In a technological culture in which people are used to dominating matter, discovering its laws and mechanisms in order to transform it according to their wishes, the danger arises of also wanting to manipulate conscience and its demands. In a culture which holds that no universally valid truths are possible, nothing is absolute. Therefore, in the end— they say—objective goodness and evil no longer really matter. Good comes to mean what is pleasing or useful in a particular moment. Evil means what contradicts our subjective wishes. Each person can build a private system of values. . . . In the depths of his conscience man detects a law which he does not impose upon himself, but which holds him to obedience. That law is not an external human law, but the voice of God, calling us to free ourselves from the grip of evil desires and sin, and stimulating us to seek what is good and true.
It is truly to be hoped that this voice will be heard by each of us and that it will be able to inspire every Catholic teacher to do his share to make that voice audible in the hearts of all.
I end with a brief "story": a certain gentleman, at a very late hour of the night, is about to enter his house, but has lost the key
18 CARDINAL PIO LAGHI
that opens the door. He bends down under a street light and begins to search for it breathlessly. At this moment a passer-by stops, wishing to help the man who lost his key. He too bends down and begins to search for the key.
They do not find it. After a while the passer-by turns to the man without his key and asks him: Are you sure you lost the key here? No, he replies, I lost it some distance from here, but where the key is, it is dark. I am looking for it here because I am underneath the light.
How many moral theologians bring people under an artificial light and ask them to find there the key to the truth, when instead it is to be found elsewhere, even if in a place where it is dark. Let us not be tricked by artificial lights; the Pope has indicated to us where we must search for the key to the truth, even where it is laborious to find it, because the search requires effort and sacrifice: under "the shadow of the cross."