EXPLORE THE LINK BETWEEN TRUTH, GOOD AND FREEDOM

VATICAN CITY, SEP 27, 2003 (VIS) - Made public today was a Message from the Holy Father to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on the occasion of the symposium organized by the same dicastery on the theme "The anthropology of moral theology according to the Encyclical 'Veritatis splendor'."

"Ten years since its publication," writes the Pope in the Message dated September 24, "the doctrinal value of the encyclical is more current than ever."

John Paul II says that "the teachings that 'Veritatis splendor' continues to propose to us are: begin again with Christ, contemplate His face, persevere in following Him. Beyond all the ephemeral cultural changes, there are basic realities that do not change, but find their ultimate foundation in Christ who is the same, yesterday, today and always."

"Certainly, today it seems even harder for the pastors of the Church, for scholars and teachers of Christian morality, to guide the faithful in formulating judgements according to the truth in a climate of challenging the saving truth and of widespread relativism in the face of moral law. Therefore, I urge all participants in the symposium to explore the essential link between truth, good and freedom. Such a relationship, in addition to being in the nature of the human being, has its ontological foundation in the Incarnation and is renewed and put into light in the historical-salvation event of Our Redeemer's cross."

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