Father Paschal Corby

In Part I of this essay, I considered the eschatological orientation of morality as contained within John Paul II’s encyclical Veritatis splendor. Following the Pope’s own outline, I drew on the encounter between Christ and the rich young man, and the latter’s question to the Lord, “Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16). Now, in Part II, I will explore the necessity of this encounter for awakening the human subject to their moral agency, in orientating their lives toward their end in Christ.

This is the first article in a three-part series dealing with St John Paul II’s encyclical: Veritatis splendor. This encyclical was published in 1993 and is one of the most comprehensive teachings in the Church against the tyranny of moral relativism. One of the principal ideas of the encyclical was the knowability of moral truth and its connection to our relationship with Almighty God. Fr Paschal in this article explores the intrinsic connection between moral truth and eternal life.