Online text: “On the Relationship between Faith and Reason”, by St. John Paul II

See this online text:

1. Encyclical Letter “Fides et Ratio” on the Relationship between Faith and Reason, by Pope St. John Paul II (14 September 1998). May be read online (on this page) at the Holy See, and on this page of the University of Notre Dame; and available in PDF format (on this page) at Catholic Pages.
2. A summary of the encyclical by John E. Fagan may be read at the Catholic Education Resource Center. The Pope’s own own synopsis of the encyclical may be read at the Athenaeum of Ohio. Professor Alfred J. Freddoso of the University of Notre Dame provided study notes with excerpts.
3. Many valuable reflections on the encyclical may be read online through this page of the EWTN Library. In addition:
   • Father Romanus Cessario, O.P. applies the encyclical in contemporary debate in his essay “The Reason for Reason: Fides et Ratio” on Crisis Magazine. In that essay, Father Cessario also relates the encyclical to the life and thought of the philosopher-saint Edith Stein, as do Mette Lebech, in “Why does John Paul II refer to Edith Stein in Fides et Ratio?”, and Catherine Jack Deavel, in “Edith Stein on Faith and Reason for the Christian Philosopher” at the University of Saint Thomas.
   • Professor Alfred J. Freddoso provides a review of the encyclical, “Fides et Ratio: A ‘Radical’ Vision of Intellectual Inquiry”,  on his webpage.
   • Avery Cardinal Dulles compares the encyclical with earlier magisterial applications of the Thomist position in his essay “Faith and Reason: From Vatican I to John Paul II”, online at the Seton Hall University.
   • Angelo Cardinal Scola discusses the encyclical’s key concepts in his article “Human Freedom and Truth According to the Encyclical Fides et Ratio”, translated by Margaret Harper McCarthy, Communio, Vol. 26 (Fall 1999), 486-509, which is available in PDF format (through this page) at Communio: International Catholic Review. [This article is a challenging read–in part because it is written and/or translated with greater regard for substance than form–, but one of profit for true seekers of wisdom.]
   • Stratford Caldecott relates the encyclical’s teachings to issues of human reproduction in his essay “The Obstetrical Implications of Fides et Ratio”, available at MaterCare International.

On the Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite. For other legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

O God, our refuge and our strength, look down with mercy upon the people who cry to Thee; and by the intercession of the glorious and immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Saint Joseph her spouse, of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and of all the saints, in Thy mercy and goodness hear our prayers for the conversion of sinners, and for the liberty and exaltation of the Holy Mother the Church. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen. (From Sancta Missa)