Vatican City, 13 March, 2024 / 11:55 am (ACI Africa).
Pope Francis on Wednesday opened a new chapter in his ongoing catechetical series on vices and virtues, shifting his reflection to the origins and nature of virtue itself and underscoring its value for human formation.
“Virtue is a ‘habitus’ of freedom. If we are free in every act, and every time we are required to choose between good and evil, virtue is what enables us to have a tendency towards the right choice,” the pope observed in his weekly general audience held in St. Peter’s Square.
The pope did not read Wednesday’s address, instead relying on an aide to deliver the remarks on his behalf. The Holy Father has been assisted in his public remarks since late February when the Vatican announced he was suffering from “mild flu” symptoms.
Building upon the notion of virtue as an integral, and innate, characteristic that enables humans to differentiate between good and evil, the pope noted that “it is not an improvised or somewhat random good that falls from heaven sporadically” but “a goodness that stems from a slow maturation of the person, to the point of becoming an inner characteristic.”
