CNS STORY: Laws are just only if they protect human life, pope says

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A law is just only if it protects human life, Pope Benedict XVI said.

The only laws that can be considered just "are those laws that safeguard the sacredness of human life and reject the acceptance of abortion, euthanasia and unrestrained genetic experiments (and) those laws that respect the dignity of marriage between one man and one woman," the pope said Dec. 16 during his weekly general audience at the Vatican.

Pope Benedict dedicated his audience talk to the writings of the 12th-century British philosopher and theologian, John of Salisbury. A close associate of St. Thomas Becket, John went into exile with him when, as the pope said, King Henry II tried "to affirm his authority over the internal life of the church, limiting its freedom."

John of Salisbury recognized the limits of human reason, given the fact that human beings are finite, but he insisted that through the use of reason, people can come to understand that certain actions are always right or always wrong and that human laws must reflect natural law in order to promote the common good, the pope said.

"John's insights are most timely today in light of the threats to human life and dignity posed by legislation inspired more by the 'dictatorship of relativism' than by the sober use of right reason and concern for the principles of truth and justice inscribed in the natural law," he said.

In addition to protecting the sacredness of human life and the dignity of marriage, Pope Benedict said just laws must respect the separation between church and state in a way that protects religious freedom, must allow local issues to be handled locally and must promote solidarity with the poor "on a national and international level."

The pope also said John of Salisbury believed strongly that truth and beauty, not simply fancy rhetoric, was the measure of culture and that those who had the means to communicate truth and beauty were obliged to do so.

While the means for communicating have multiplied beyond what the 12th-century philosopher could have imagined, the pope said, " there remains an urgent need to communicate messages endowed with wisdom, that is, inspired by truth, by goodness and beauty. This is a great responsibility, which particularly regards people who work in the complex sphere of culture, communications and the media. This is an environment where the Gospel can be proclaimed with missionary vigor."

At the end of the audience, Pope Benedict blessed a new Nativity scene and Christmas tree decorations for the Vatican audience hall. Mexican artists created the handmade decorations.

The pope received another gift at the end of the audience: a Vatican flag that had been carried into space by crew members of the Space Shuttle Atlantis May 11-24, 2009. After five NASA astronauts greeted the pope, one of them, Michael J. Massimino, used his Twitter account to tell his friends and fans: “Just met Pope Benedict, gave him a Vatican flag and photo that we flew in space for him on my spaceflight, it was a great honor to meet him.”

After the audience, Pope Benedict was formally presented with a certificate of honorary citizenship from Introd, the city in the northern Italian Alps where he has spent several July vacations.

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Editor's Note: The text of the pope's audience remarks in English will be posted online at: www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2009/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20091216_en.html.

The text of the pope's audience remarks in Spanish will be posted online at: www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2009/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20091216_sp.html.

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