Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

Authority must be guided by the moral law. All of its dignity derives from its being exercised within the context of the moral order,^{804Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 74: AAS 58 (1966), 1095-1097.} “which in turn has God for its first source and final end”.^{805John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), 270; cf. Pius XII, Christmas Radio Message of 24 December 1944: AAS 37 (1945), 15; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2235.} Because of its necessary reference to the moral order, which precedes it and is its basis, and because of its purpose and the people to whom it is directed, authority cannot be understood as a power determined by criteria of a solely sociological or historical character. “There are some indeed who go so far as to deny the existence of a moral order which is transcendent, absolute, universal and equally binding upon all. And where the same law of justice is not adhered to by all, men cannot hope to come to open and full agreement on vital issues”.^{806John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53 (1961), 449-450.} This order “has no existence except in God; cut off from God it must necessarily disintegrate”.^{807John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53 (1961), 450.} It is from the moral order that authority derives its power to impose obligations ^{808Cf. John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), 269-270.} and its moral legitimacy,^{809Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1902.} not from some arbitrary will or from the thirst for power,^{810Cf. John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), 258-259.} and it is to translate this order into concrete actions to achieve the common good.^{811Cf. Pius XII, Encyclical Letter Summi Pontificatus: AAS 31 (1939), 432-433.}

Authority must recognize, respect and promote essential human and moral values. These are innate and “flow from the very truth of the human being and express and safeguard the dignity of the person; values which no individual, no majority and no State can ever create, modify or destroy”.^{812John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, 71: AAS 87 (1995), 483.} These values do not have their foundation in provisional and changeable “majority” opinions, but must simply be recognized, respected and promoted as elements of an objective moral law, the natural law written in the human heart (cf. Rom 2:15), and as the normative point of reference for civil law itself.^{813Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, 70: AAS 87 (1995), 481- 483; John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), 258-259, 279-280.} If, as a result of the tragic clouding of the collective conscience, scepticism were to succeed in casting doubt on the basic principles of the moral law,^{814Cf. Pius XII, Encyclical Letter Summi Pontificatus: AAS 31 (1939), 423.} the legal structure of the State itself would be shaken to its very foundations, being reduced to nothing more than a mechanism for the pragmatic regulation of different and opposing interests.^{815Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, 70: AAS 87 (1995), 481- 483; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor, 97, 99: AAS 85 (1993), 1209- 1211; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life (24 November 2002), 5-6, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City 2002, pp. 11-14.}

Authority must enact just laws, that is, laws that correspond to the dignity of the human person and to what is required by right reason. “Human law is law insofar as it corresponds to right reason and therefore is derived from the eternal law. When, however, a law is contrary to reason, it is called an unjust law; in such a case it ceases to be law and becomes instead an act of violence”.^{816Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, I-II, q. 93, a. 3, ad 2um: Ed. Leon. 7, 164: “Lex humana intantum habet rationem legis, inquantum est secundum rationem rectam: et secundum hoc manifestum est quod a lege aeterna derivatur. Inquantum vero a ratione recedit, sic dicitur lex iniqua: et sic non habet rationem legis, sed magis violentiae cuiusdam”.} Authority that governs according to reason places citizens in a relationship not so much of subjection to another person as of obedience to the moral order and, therefore, to God himself who is its ultimate source.^{817Cf. John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), 270.} Whoever refuses to obey an authority that is acting in accordance with the moral order “resists what God has appointed” (Rom 13:2).^{818Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1899-1900.} Analogously, whenever public authority — which has its foundation in human nature and belongs to the order pre-ordained by God ^{819Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 74: AAS 58 (1966), 1095-1097; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1901.} — fails to seek the common good, it abandons its proper purpose and so delegitimizes itself.