A column on Tech Central Station

What are the state’s functions? The reader can easily detect that the pope’s ideas are close to the classical liberal conception of the state. Economic activity could not be effective without institutions. The main goal of the state is to guarantee laws and to secure individual property rights and liberty. Commentators underline that John Paul II allows a certain amount of intervention by the state, but the dialogue about liberalism is revolutionary in Roman Catholic social thought.

Since John Paul II became Pope, Catholic social thought has developed through an increased focus on the human person as a free and creative individual. There is a better understanding that self-realization is possible in society and that the best environment in which to act freely is the liberal market economy. The only limitation of liberty is conscience or morality.