How are we to understand the notion of ‘freedom’ through the lens of our Catholic faith?
History is filled with stories of individuals and groups striving for true freedom, and today we are blessed with many freedoms that people of the past could only dream of. The paradox is that many people today, even the most affluent, still struggle to comprehend what freedom truly means on a deeper level. For many of us as children, we dreamed of freedom as being able to do what we wanted, when we wanted and without any restrictions. As we grow up, we realize that the realities of life aren’t that simple, and there are always repercussions for our actions, or lack of action. Our faith provides us with a path to come to a deeper understanding of what true freedom is, and St. John Paul II provided some great teachings regarding this topic.
St. John Paul II is remembered as one of the most compelling voices of the modern Church on human freedom. Throughout his long pontificate, he consistently returned to this theme, offering a vision of freedom profoundly rooted in the Gospel and human dignity.
He understood that modern culture often interprets freedom as the ability to choose anything at all without external constraint. He believed this view deeply misunderstands the human heart. For him, freedom was not simply the absence of restriction but the presence of moral purpose. True freedom, he insisted, is the ability to choose the good, to align one’s life with truth, and to live in a way that reflects the love of God. “Freedom consists not in doing what we like,” he wrote, “but in having the right to do what we ought.”
This understanding of freedom begins with the Christian belief that every person is created in the image and likeness of God. Human beings are made for truth, goodness and communion. Because of this, freedom is not morally neutral; it is ordered toward flourishing. When divorced from truth, freedom doesn’t elevate the human person but rather, it diminishes them. In his encyclical “Veritatis Splendor” (“The Splendor of Truth”), St. John Paul II argued that moral truth is not a limitation on freedom but the very path to its fulfillment. God’s commandments, far from restricting authentic human living, protect and promote the conditions in which love can grow.
A central aspect of St. John Paul II’s teaching is that freedom is inseparable from responsibility. Choices have consequences that shape the moral character of the individual and the society in which they live. He warned that a culture which celebrates choice while ignoring responsibility inevitably drifts into moral confusion. When freedom becomes disconnected from truth, it risks becoming self-indulgence or even oppression — a counterfeit freedom that can’t satisfy our heart.
For St. John Paul II, the highest expression of freedom is self-giving love. He frequently pointed to Christ on the cross as the perfect revelation of what it means to be free: the voluntary gift of oneself for the sake of others. Love, sacrifice, fidelity and service are the actions that reveal the deepest capacity of human freedom. Freedom is ultimately a spiritual reality. It is rooted in the heart’s openness to God, who alone can make the human person fully alive.
This truth has become very apparent to me in my priesthood through the witness of many people that I have been blessed to minister to, who through old age or illness show me that despite their physical challenges and limitations, they too experience true freedom in their hearts through the help of God’s grace.
St. John Paul II’s reflections on freedom continue to challenge a culture that equates liberty with limitless choice. He invites the world to rediscover freedom as a moral and spiritual vocation: a vocation grounded in truth, shaped by responsibility, and fulfilled in love.
Father Dan Kavanagh is director of the Catholic Deaf Ministry in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
