The profound meaning of civil and political life does not arise immediately from the list of personal rights and duties. Life in society takes on all its significance when it is based on civil friendship and on fraternity.790Cf. Saint Thomas Aquinas, Sententiae Octavi Libri Ethicorum, VIII, lect. 1: Ed. Leon. 47, 443: “Est enim naturalis amicitia inter eos qui sunt unius gentis ad invicem, inquantum communicant in moribus et convictu. Quartam rationem ponit ibi: Videtur autem et civitates continere amicitia. Et dicit quod per amicitiam videntur conservari civitates. Unde legislatores magis student ad amicitiam conservandam inter cives quam etiam ad iustitiam, quam quandoque intermittunt, puta in poenis inferendis, ne dissensio oriatur. Et hoc patet per hoc quod concordia assimulatur amicitiae, quam quidem, scilicet concordiam, legislatores maxime appetunt, contentionem autem civium maxime expellunt, quasi inimicam salutis civitatis. Et quia tota moralis philosophia videtur ordinari ad bonum civile, ut in principio dictum est, pertinet ad moralem considerare de amicitia”. The sphere of rights, in fact, is that of safeguarded interests, external respect, the protection of material goods and their distribution according to established rules. The sphere of friendship, on the other hand, is that selflessness, detachment from material goods, giving freely and inner acceptance of the needs of others.791Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2212-2213. Civil friendship 792Cf. Saint Thomas Aquinas, De Regno. Ad Regem Cypri, I, 10: Ed. Leon. 42, 461: “omnis autem amicitia super aliqua communione firmatur: eos enim qui conueniunt uel per nature originem uel per morum similitudinem uel per cuiuscumque communionem, uidemus amicitia coniungi... Non enim conseruatur amore, cum parua uel nulla sit amicitia subiecte multitudinis ad tyrannum, ut prehabitis patet”. understood in this way is the most genuine actualization of the principle of fraternity, which is inseparable from that of freedom and equality.793”Liberty, equality, fraternity” was the motto of the French Revolution. “In the final analysis, these are Christian ideas”, John Paul II affirmed during his first visit to France: Homily at Le Bourget (1 June 1980), 5: AAS 72 (1980), 720. In large part, this principle has not been put into practice in the concrete circumstances of modern political society, above all because of the influence of individualistic and collectivistic ideologies.
A community has solid foundations when it tends toward the integral promotion of the person and of the common good. In such cases, law is defined, respected and lived according to the manner of solidarity and dedication towards one's neighbour. Justice requires that everyone should be able to enjoy their own goods and rights; this can be considered the minimum measure of love.794Cf. Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, I-II, q. 99: Ed. Leon. 7, 199- 205; Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 23, ad 1um: Ed. Leon. 8, 168. Social life becomes more human the more it is characterized by efforts to bring about a more mature awareness of the ideal towards which it should be oriented, which is the “civilization of love”.795Paul VI, Message for the 1977 World Day of Peace: AAS 68 (1976), 709. The human being is a person, not just an individual.796Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2212. The term “person” indicates “a nature endowed with intelligence and free will”: 797John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), 259. he is therefore a reality that is far superior to that of a subject defined by the needs arising solely from his material dimension. The human person, in fact, although participating actively in projects designed to satisfy his needs within the family and within civil and political society, does not find complete self-fulfilment until he moves beyond the mentality of needs and enters into that of gratuitousness and gift, which fully corresponds to his essence and community vocation.
The gospel precept of charity enlightens Christians as to the deepest meaning of political life. In order to make it truly human, “no better way exists ... than by fostering an inner sense of justice, benevolence and service for the common good, and by strengthening basic beliefs about the true nature of the political community and about the proper exercise and limits of public authority”.798Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 73: AAS 58 (1966), 1095. The goal which believers must put before themselves is that of establishing community relationships among people. The Christian vision of political society places paramount importance on the value of community, both as a model for organizing life in society and as a style of everyday living. III. POLITICAL AUTHORITY