The Archives

Human Liberty

The Church cannot approve of that liberty which begets a contempt of the the most sacred laws of God, and casts off the obedience due to lawful authority, for this is not liberty so much as license, and is most correctly styled by St. Augustine the "liberty of self-ruin," and by the Apostle St. Peter the "cloak of malice".

- Leo XIII, Immortale Dei, November 1, 1885

Those, therefore, who claim their own rights, yet altogether forget or neglect to carry out their respective duties, are people who build with one hand and destroy with the other.

- John XXIII, Pacem in Terris, April 11, 1963

When freedom is detached from objective truth it becomes impossible to establish personal rights on a firm rational basis; and the ground is laid for society to be at the mercy of the unrestrained will of individuals or the oppressive totalitarianism of public authority.

- John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, March 25, 1995

The eternal law of God is the sole standard and rule of human liberty.

- Leo XIII, Libertas, June 20, 1888

Individual liberty, freed from all bonds and all laws, all objective and social values, is in reality only a death-dealing anarchy.

- Pius XII, Address to the World Federal Government Movement, April 6, 1651

For every fundamental human right draws its indestructible moral force from the natural law, which in granting it imposes a corresponding obligation.

- John XXIII, Pacem in Terris, April 11, 1963