From: kriz@skat.usc.edu (KRIZ)
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
Subject: Cath. Christianity 101 - CDFs 1986 Christian Freedom and Liberation - 1
Date: 16 Aug 1992 19:44:07 -0700
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: skat.usc.edu

The following is a portion of the CDF's 1986 "Instruction on
Christian Freedom and Liberation."  The document is organized in
the following manner:

-->  Introduction.
     Chpt 1. The State of Freedom in the World Today.
     Chpt 2. Man's Vocation to Freedom and the Tragedy of Sin.    
     Chpt 3. Liberation and Christian Freedom.
     Chpt 4. The Liberating Mission of the Church.
     Chpt 5. The Social Doctrine of the Church: For a Christian   
            Practice of Liberation.
     Conclusion.

Note: (-->) indicates the section of the document contained herein.

In Christ,

Dennis
kriz@skat.usc.edu

-------------------------------------------------------------------
CDF's 1986 Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation - Intro


         INSTRUCTION ON CHRISTIAN FREEDOM AND LIBERATION
                    "The truth makes us free"

           Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
                         March 22, 1986

 
INTRODUCTION


The Yearning for Liberation
---------------------------

 1. Awareness of man's freedom and dignity, together with the
affirmation of the inalienable rights of individuals and peoples,
is one of the major characteristics of our time. But freedom
demands conditions of an economic, social, political and cultural
kind which make possible its full exercise. A clear perception of
the obstacles which hinder its development and which offend human
dignity is at the source of the powerful aspirations to liberation
which are at work in our world.

 The Church of Christ makes these aspirations her own, while
exercising discernment in the light of the Gospel which is by its
very nature a message of freedom and liberation. Indeed, on both
the theoretical and practical levels, these aspirations sometimes
assume expressions which are not always in conformity with the
truth concerning man as it is manifested in the light of his
creation and redemption. For this reason the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith has considered it necessary to draw attention
to "deviation, or risks of deviation, damaging to the faith and to
Christian living" [1]. Far rom being outmoded, these warnings
appear ever more timely and relevant.


Purpose of the Instruction
--------------------------

 2. The Instruction "LIBERTATIUS NUNTIUS" ON CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE
THEOLOGY OF LIBERATION stated the intention of the Congregation to
publish a second document which would highlight the main elements
of the Christian doctrine on freedom and liberation. The present
Instruction responds to that intention. Between the two documents
there exists an organic relationship. They are to be read in the
light of each other.

 With regard to their theme, which is at the heart of the Gospel
message, the Church's magisterium has expressed itself on many
occasions [2]. The present document limits itself to indicating its
principal *theoretical* and *practical* aspects. As regards
applications to different local situations, it is for the local
Churches, in communion with one another and with the See of Peter,
to make direct provision to them [3].

 The theme of freedom and liberation has an obvious ecumenical
dimension. It belongs in fact to the traditional patrimony of the 
Churches and ecclesial communities. Thus the present document can
assist the testimony and action of all Christ's disciples, called
to respond to the great challenges of our times.


The truth that makes us free
----------------------------

 3. The words of jesus: "The truth will make you free" (Jn. 8:32)
must enlighten and guide all theological reflection and all
pastoral decisions in this area.

 This truth which comes from God has its centre in Jesus Christ,
the Saviour of the World [4]. From him, who is "the way, and the
truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6), the Church receives all that she
has to offer to mankind. Through the mystery of the Incarnate Word
and Redeemer of the world, she possesses the truth regarding the
Father and his love for us, and also the truth concerning man and
his freedom.

 Through his Cross and Resurrection, Christ has brought about our
Redemption, which is liberation in the strongest sense of the word,
since it has freed us from the most radical evil, namely sin and
the power of death. When the Church, taught by her Lord, raises to
the Father her prayer: "Deliver us from evil", she asks that the
mystery of salvation may act with power in our daily lives. The
Church knows that the redeeming Cross is truly the source of light
and life and the centre of history. The charity which burns in her
impels her to proclaim the Good News and to distribute its life-
giving fruits through the sacraments. it is from Christ the
Redeemer that her thought and action originate when, as she
contemplates the tragedies affecting the world, she reflects on the
meaning of liberation and true freedom and on the paths leading to
them.

 Truth beginning with the truth about redemption, which is at the
heart of the mystery of faith, is thus the root and the rule of
freedom, the foundation and the measure of all liberating action.


Truth, the condition for freedom
--------------------------------

 4. Man's moral conscience is under an obligation to be open to the
fullness of truth; he must seek it out and readily accept it when
it presents itself to him.

 According to the command of Christ the Lord [5], the truth of the
Gospel must be presented to all people, and they have a right to
have it presented to them. its proclamation, in the power of the
Spirit, includes full respect for the freedom of each individual
and the exclusion of every form of constraint or pressure [6].

 The Holy Spirit guides the Church and the disciples of Jesus
Christ "into the full truth" (Jn. 16:13). The Spirit directs the
course of the centuries and "renews the face of the earth" (Ps
104:30). it is he who is present in the maturing of a more
respectful awareness of the dignity of the human person [7]. The
Holy Spirit is at the root of courage, boldness and heroism: "Where
the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Cor. 3:17).

------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes:

[1] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, INSTRUCTION ON
CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE "THEOLOGY OF LIBERATION" (LIBERTATIS
NUNTIUS) Introduction: AAS 76 (1984), pp. 867-877.

[2] Cf. Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World
GAUDIUM ET SPES and the Declaration on Religious Freedom DIGNITATIS
HUMANAE of the Second Vatican Council; the Encyclicals MATER ET
MAGISTRA, PACEM IN TERRIS, POPULORUM PROGRESSIO, REDEMPTOR HOMINIS
and LABOREM EXERCENS; the Apostolic Exhortations EVANGELII
NUNTIANDI and RECONCILIATO ET PAENITENTIA; the Apostolic Letter
OCTOGESIMA ADVENIENS. Pope John Paul II dealt with this theme in
his OPENING ADDRESS OF THE THRID GENERAL CONFERENCE OF THE
LATIN_AMERICAN EPISCOPATE AT PUEBLA: AAS 71 (1979), pp. 187-205. He
has returned to it on numerous other occasions. The theme has also
been dealt with at the Synod of Bishops in 1971 and 1974. The Latin
American Episcopal Conferences have made it the immediate object of
their reflections. It hs also attracted the attention of other
Episcopal Conferences, as for example the French: LIBERATION DES
HOMMES ET SALUT EN JESUS CHRIST, 1975.

[3] Paul VI, Apostolic Letter OCTOGESIMA ADVENIENS, 1-4: AAS 63
(1971), pp. 401-404.

[4] Cf. Jn. 4:42; 1 Jn 4:14.

[5] Cf. Mt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15.

[6] Cf. DIGNITATIS HUMANAE, 10.

[7] Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation EVANGELII NUNTIANDI, 78-80: AAS
68 (1976), pp. 70-75; DIGNITATIS HUMANAE, 3; John Paul II,
Encyclical REDEMPTOR HOMINIS, 12: AAS 71 (1979), pp. 278-281. -----
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc