George Weigel On A Crisis of Liberty

December 25, 2011 | Zenit.org

ROME, DEC. 23, 2011 (Zenit.org).- At a time when the debate over the true nature of human freedom is rife with controversy and emotion, Catholics must seek to restore society to an understanding of what it means to be truly free.

It was on this theme of freedom that George Weigel, friend and renowned biographer of Blessed John Paul II, spoke earlier this month at a conference in Rome on “Blessed John Paul II and the Crisis of Liberty.”

ZENIT talked to Weigel about freedom and Catholic social teaching, and its application to today’s social and political concerns.

ZENIT: Catholic social thought can seem abstract to the average Catholic. In what ways can the person in the pew apply it? Or is it not applicable to everyday life?

Weigel: Catholics in everyday life can honor the dignity of every human being; Catholics in everyday life can live in service to the common good; Catholics in everyday life can help build and sustain the institutions of civil society, like the family, a free press, free business and labor associations, and the Church; Catholics in everyday life can live in solidarity with others — which means that Catholics in everyday life can live the four bedrock principles of Catholic social doctrine.

Read More: http://www.zenit.org/article-34048?l=english