What is Truth?

by CAPP-USA

What is truth? Truth is God, revealed in Jesus Christ and taught by the Catholic Church.

What is truth? It is God, revealed in Christ.

What is the Truth?

Knowing, Understanding, and Living it

The Catholic Church has a rich and nuanced understanding of truth, which is deeply intertwined with its theology, philosophy, anthropology and teachings.

These principles reflect the Church’s belief that truth is a central aspect of human life and spirituality, guiding individuals toward a deeper relationship with God and a more just and moral society.

Here are some key aspects of what the Church says about truth:

Divine and Absolute: The Catholic Church teaches that truth is ultimately grounded in God, who is the ultimate source of all truth. God is understood as the “truth” itself—”I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). This divine truth is absolute and unchanging.
Objective Reality: Truth is objective, meaning it is independent of human opinions and perceptions. There are objective truths about the nature of reality that can be known through reason and revelation.
Revelation and Reason: Truth is revealed through sacred Scripture and Tradition, as well as through the natural world and human reason. Both faith and reason are complementary paths to understanding truth. Faith and reason cannot be in conflict because both ultimately come from God.
Moral: There are moral truths which are universal and applicable to all people. These moral truths are grounded in natural law, which is accessible through human reason and reflects divine order.
Search: The Church encourages the pursuit of truth through honest inquiry and dialogue. It recognizes the importance of seeking truth with humility and openness. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that all men are called to seek and live the truth. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2466, 2467)
Freedom: True freedom is found in knowing and living according to the truth. The Church teaches that freedom is not merely the ability to choose but the capacity to choose the good, which is rooted in truth.
Respect – in Context: The Church emphasizes the importance of respecting truth in communication. This includes honesty and integrity in speech and the avoidance of falsehood and deception. The Catechism underscores that “the duty of making known the truth” must be balanced with respect for others’ rights to privacy and the common good. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2488)

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Three circles containing symbols of the three principles of catholic social teaching: human dignity, subsidiarity, and solidarity.

Three Key Principles

Catholic social teaching is built on three foundational principles - Human Dignity, Solidarity and Subsidiarity. Human Dignity, embodied in a correct understanding of the human person, is the greatest. The others flow from it. Good governments and good economic systems find ways of fostering the three principles.

Human Dignity

This means a correct understanding of the human person and of each person’s unique value. All Catholic social teaching flows from this: the inherent dignity of every person that comes from being made in God’s image.

Solidarity

Solidarity is not “a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of others. It is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good”. (Pope St. John Paul II, 38) Love of God and love of neighbor are, in fact, linked and form one, single commandment.

Subsidiarity

Subsidiarity “is a fundamental principle of social philosophy, fixed and unchangeable, that one should not withdraw from individuals and commit to the community what they can accomplish by their own enterprise and industry. So, too, it is an injustice and at the same time a grave evil and a disturbance of right order to transfer to the larger and higher collectivity functions which can be performed and provided for by the lesser and subordinate bodies”. (Pope Pius XI)

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