At the end of World War II, a number of Nazi leaders were put on trial in Nuremberg, Germany, for what Pope Pius XII called crimes against humanity. Such crimes do not need to be written down in a code of civil law because they are already written in the hearts of human beings. Those who violate such laws are held accountable. The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that The moral law is the work of divine Wisdom. St. Paul in writing to the Romans points out that when the Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law for themselves even though they do not have the law.
Goodness comes from within as does evil.
Some things seem so clear that they defy questioning. One of these realities is the universal moral law or, as it is sometimes called, the natural law. Our common human nature is the foundation for this self-evident manifestation of human experience. We may differ in skin color, weight, height and language, but there is a common reality we all share human nature. Since we all are one in our human nature, it is not surprising that we share the same aspirations, nurture the same dreams and harbor the same fears.