Before:
And as to tolerance, it is surprising how far removed
from the equity and prudence of the Church are those who profess what is called
liberalism. For, in allowing that boundless license of which We have spoken,
they exceed all limits, and end at last by making no apparent distinction
between truth and error, honesty and dishonesty. And because the Church, the
pillar and ground of truth, and the unerring teacher of morals, is forced
utterly to reprobate and condemn tolerance of such an abandoned and criminal
character, they calumniate her as being wanting in patience and gentleness, and
thus fail to see that, in so doing, they impute to her as a fault what is in
reality a matter for commendation. But, in spite of all this show of tolerance,
it very often happens that, while they profess themselves ready to lavish
liberty on all in the greatest profusion, they are utterly intolerant toward
the Catholic Church, by refusing to allow her the liberty of being herself
free. ~ Pope Leo XIII, Libertas, ENCYCLICAL ON THE NATURE OF HUMAN LIBERTY, 20
June 1888
After:
For all its new hopes and possibilities, our world is at
the same time troubled by the sense that moral consensus is collapsing,
consensus without which juridical and political structures cannot function.
Consequently the forces mobilized for the defence of such structures seem
doomed to failure. ~ Pope Benedict XVI, ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI ON
THE OCCASION OF CHRISTMAS GREETINGS TO THE ROMAN CURIA, 20 December 2010
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