10 - Realismo Moral de S. Alfonso

10.
El realismo moral de san Alfonso con respecto a la ley

TERENCE KENNEDY*
Los bigrafos presentan a Alfonso de Liguori como el santo que cambi las sedas del traje de abogado por la sotana sacerdotal. Como Leibniz que conquist su laurea a una edad similar, Alfonso fue un genio que obtuvo el doctorado in utroque iure a los diecisis aos. Sigui la carrera jurdica tal y como su padre lo haba planeado: como un primer paso para alcanzar los ms altos puestos del Reino de Npoles. Pero Alfonso, como los grandes Padres de la Iglesia Agustn y Crisstomo, utiliz esta educacin humanstica para un propsito ms alto, la salvacin de las almas. Formado retrica y jurdicamente, su actividad pastoral tuvo una cualidad especial. Su experiencia profesional le hizo darse cuenta de la cruda realidad de la naturaleza humana y lo prepar para dirigirse a sus oyentes con persuasin, incluso en cuestiones impopulares. Sobre todo comprendi la moralidad pblica de aquella manera que slo los mejores abogados pueden hacerlo, canalizando sus habilidades para el servicio de la Iglesia. Su predicacin toc las vidas de la gente, trasformndose en modelo de evangelizador de la cultura. Sin la educacin legal no hubiera tenido xito para introducir el Evangelio en las instituciones civiles de su tiempo. Con su comprensin de la ley, en el doble sentido de regla para guiar el comportamiento moral (lex) y de derecho (ius) u orden establecido en la
* * Profesor en la Academia Alfonsiana, Roma.
TERENCE KENNEDY
sociedad, san Alfonso se suma al grupo de abogados santos como Raimundo de Peafort, Toms Moro y Francisco de Sales. Su ideal fue siempre el de la caridad episcopal. Siguiendo el Vaticano II, en los ltimos decenios se ha criticado severamente el uso de principios legales en Teologa moral, y los moralistas han hecho un gran esfuerzo por purificar la casustica de esta debilidad. Esto no quiere decir que no quede lugar para una teologa de la ley y su funcin en la vida cristiana. En un esfuerzo por repensar las aportaciones positivas de la ley, se est produciendo actualmente un renacimiento del inters por el patrono de los telogos moralistas, poniendo de relieve cmo su educacin legal repercuti en su pensamiento moral 1. Entre los autores de la presente generacin que ms han trabajado por dar a conocer la Theologia moralis de san Alfonso figura sin duda Marciano Vidal 2. Ms que analizar su pensamiento legal, este ensayo quiere presentar, en primer lugar, la imagen de Alfonso como abogado, para estudiar en un segundo momento el papel que la ley jug en su vida. El anlisis del trasfondo sociolgico de la Theologia moralis nos ayudar a introducirnos en el examen directo del tema. Nuestro estudio trata de equilibrar la aproximacin inductiva y la deductiva. No pretende tanto ofrecer una aportacin de carcter histrico, cuanto abrir nuevos horizontes para que los telogos sistemticos puedan evaluar las ideas de Alfonso
I. EL
TOPOS HAGIOGRFICO DEL ABOGADO
Cf. sus bigrafos: F. JONES, Alphonsus de Liguori: The Saint of Bourbon Naples 1696-1787, Gill and Macmillan, Dublin 1992, 16-20, y T. REY-MERMET, La morale selon St. Alphonse de Liguori , Cerf, Paris 1987, 35-36. Entre los telogos moralistas ver: D. CAPONE, La Theologia moralis di S.Alfonso. Prudenzialit nella scienza casistica per la prudenza nella coscienza: Studia Moralia 25 (1987) 28-30; S. MAJORANO, Criterio-guida di S. Alfonso in teologia morale: Studia Moralia 9 (1971) 119-120; ID., S. Alfonso de Liguori moralista: significato storico e messaggio attuale : Studia Moralia 22 (1990) 366-367. Para un estudio de la ley en su Teologa moral, ver: L. VEREECKE, SantAlfonso giurista. La formazione giuridica e linflusso sulla morale : Studia Moralia 31 (1993) 265-282. La perspectiva de un jurista en: P. PERLINGIERI, Alfonso de Liguori giurista, Edizioni scientifiche italiane, Roma 1988. Cf. M. VIDAL, Frente al rigorismo moral, benignidad pastoral: Alfonso de Liguori (16961787), Perpetuo Socorro, Madrid 1986.
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Los autores espirituales se deleitan describiendo a los sacerdotes santos que santificaron a la Iglesia no slo como constructores de puentes hacia Dios, sino tambin como abogados del pueblo en su relacin con Dios. ste fue un topos claro que aprovecharon los bigrafos de Alfonso. En su caso, fue metfora y realidad a la vez. El crtico literario Giovanni Getto ha ilustrado cun profundo y polivalente era su poder persuasivo. Intuy que la tcnica de su apostolado3, como misionero, como escritor o como obispo, fue siempre la de un abogado defensor:
In tal modo santAlfonso era destinato a rimanere per sempre avvocato, ma ormai allarringatore degli interessi degli uomini contendenti fra loro, si era sostituto il defensore di una causa eterna, il sostenitore dellinteresse supremo di Dio4.
Alfonso defendi la causa de Dios con su pueblo para traerle la salvacin. La defendi particularmente en el momento de la muerte, cuando se sentan emplazados ante su destino eterno. A mitad de captulo, Getto cambia el papel de Alfonso, trasformndolo en un abogado de la causa de la humanidad ante Dios. Esto produce una imagen mucho ms humana y atractiva de Alfonso:
Questo avvocato della causa di Dio presso il popolo annuncia in termini di una estrema ed inflessibile gravit i diritti del suo Signore. E questo giustifica poi lumanissimo suo atteggiamento in sede di confessione. Allora lavvocato di Dio diventer lavvocato degli uomini presso Dio, e si ispirer a unequilibrata indulgenza, nata da una fraterna e direi persino, sotto certi aspetti, materna comprensione della fragilit dellumana natura, bisognosa di perdono e di speranza. Comunque, il santo appare attraverso la sua intensa e prolongata azione oratoria come un nobilissimo educatore del popolo napoletano5.
Getto resuelve la tensin entre la justicia trascendente y la compasin humana con la figura de la benignidad pastoral. Esto es lo mejor de la tradicin que nos ha sido trasmitida. A los telogos, sin embargo, les podra venir la sospecha de que tras la imagen se oculte un cierto antropomorfismo, como si los humanos pudieran promover una causa contra Dios.
3 4 5
Ver este captulo en: G. GETTO, Vita e scritti di Alfonso de Liguori , in: G. C. SANSONI (ed.) Letteratura religiosa dal due al novecento, Vol. I., Firenze 1967, 258-294. Ibdem, 259. Ibdem, 270.
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Aunque pueda parecer extrao, los autores no han advertido que en el relato que Alfonso hace de s mismo y de su papel sacerdotal, se presenta como abogado. Esto ocurre en un pasaje clave de su Selva di materie predicabili, donde este aspecto constituye el topos que arroja luz sobre otras concepciones del sacerdocio. Alfonso permanece habitualmente entre bastidores, mientras coloca en el escenario a los santos y a los Padres de la Iglesia como sus portavoces. El texto que sigue es muy discreto, pero nos descubre la persona de Alfonso dando testimonio de su propia conversin, como ejemplo para los Ejercicios espirituales:
Dice san Ambrogio: In foro Christi non reperitur. Almeno, io dico, che fondo mai di spirito pu avere un sacerdote che fa lavvocato? Che officio, che messa divota pu dire, quando gli affari delle cause glingombono tutta la mente e glimpediscono di pensare a Dio? Le cause che ha da difendere sono le cause dei poveri peccatori, per liberarli colle prediche, colle confessioni o almeno colle ammonizioni ed orazioni, dalle mani del demonio e della morte eterna. Il sacerdote non solo deve fuggire di assumere le liti degli altri, ma anche le liti
proprie per quanto si pu6. Estas palabras son la aplicacin de su espiritualidad del distacco y de la unione con Dio al lugar que el pensamiento legal puede ocupar en la vocacin sacerdotal. En esto transciende la imagen popular del Alfonso abogado, aceptada por Getto. Su actitud est basada en la mortificacin, por la cual ha muerto a su antigua profesin de abogado. sta es la condicin de su liberacin. Con esta libertad interior, fue capaz de dedicar toda su atencin a la liberacin de los poveri peccatori. En la prctica de la predicacin, la oracin y las confesiones, el sacerdote es ahora el abogado ante Dios de la eterna salvacin de los fieles. sta es la imagen de una humanidad llena de gracia que encuentra su origen y su fuerza en la bondad trascendente de Dios. Siendo enteramente humano, no es en ningn modo antropomrfico. Es una paradoja de la salvacin que un sacerdote pueda ser abogado de los pecadores slo renunciando a la profesin jurdica. Pero nada de la bondad y del realismo de la ley se pierde en esta opcin fundamental de amar a Dios sobre todas las cosas.
S. ALFONSO M. DE LIGUORI, Selva di materie predicabili, Parte II, Istruz. VIII, Marietti, Torino 1890, 152-153.
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Pero cmo debe entenderse aqu la trascendencia de Dios? No como la entienden los rigoristas de la moral, como si el da del juicio ya hubiera llegado y el pecador estuviera condenado. Alfonso predicaba que slo Dios, el juez trascendente, sin estar sometido a ningn tribunal, poda salir al encuentro de los pecadores, haciendo de este acontecimiento un momento de gracia. Cuando se percibe la misericordia como el atributo principal de Dios 7, la ley moral se convierte en camino de salvacin, ayuda al pecador a liberarse, dndole el poder de comportarse segn la verdad moral. Vivimos en el tiempo de la misericordia de Dios, no en el del juicio. Los testimonios citados de Alfonso tienen serias implicaciones. Primero, dan cuenta, en trminos retricos, de su propia auto-imagen, construida sobre su ruptura con la profesin legal. Segundo, su moralidad fluye de su experiencia de la gracia como conversin para servir a los pobres. Slo Dios, el supremo legislador, puede ver a los pobres en su necesidad y ponerse de su parte cuando nada estara a su favor. El realismo moral de Alfonso, por tanto, tiene su fundamento en cmo Dios se ha puesto de parte del pobre. Tercero, este realismo ha sido trasmitido en trminos retricos y sirve como base de sus escritos teolgicos y ascticos. Su conversin gener espiritualidad y ciencia. Encuadrar este pensamiento en un marco puramente artstico parece oscurecer su cualidad cientfica. Los estudiosos han tenido grandes problemas para llegar a esta experiencia originaria de la realidad, expresada en imgenes y figuras literarias. Alfonso emple estos recursos retricos como portadores de una ciencia precisa como es la teologa. Al final, la realidad salvfica de la relacin de Dios con Alfonso en el pasaje arriba citado proporciona el criterio para comprender al Alfonso abogado.
II. LA
LEY EN LA VIDA DE
ALFONSO
En el artculo Modernit di un antimoderno8, Nino Fasullo identifica otro obstculo para la comprensin histrica de Alfonso. Sus primeros bigrafos le veneraron de tal modo que nunca se atrevieron a pensar fuera del canon propio
7 8
Cf. Y. CONGAR, La misricorde, attribut souverain de Dieu, in: ID., Les voies du Dieu vivant, Cerf, Paris 1962, 61-74. Cf. Introduccin en: N. FASULLO, Alfonso de Liguori. Degli obblighi de giudici, avvocati, accusatori e rei, Setterio, Palermo 1998, 9-26.
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de la hagiografa. Tenan miedo a explorar cuestiones que pudieran ofrecer argumentos a los enemigos de la causa de Alfonso. El P. Ambrogio Freda super esta barrera en su estudio de 1940 sobre Alfonso en su poca de estudiante en la facultad de derecho en Npoles. Su conclusin se cita a menudo como el punto de partida para una nueva investigacin de su juventud y de su carrera:
La preparazione giuridica di Alfonso fu provvidenziale per la sua attivit scientifica... perch gli diede quella larga e profonda erudizione giuridica che corroborava le sue construzioni morali e lo educ a quella scuola di praticit che gli permisse di guardare alla realt dei fatti morali, di penetrare le intimit e di giudicare alla luce della prudenza cristiana9.
Freda contempla a Alfonso durante el tiempo de sus estudios legales, mientras maduraba su decisin vocacional de llevar el Evangelio a los pobres. Sus estudios proporcionaron a Alfonso el instrumental cientfico para comprender las situaciones concretas, de modo que su realismo moral corresponde precisamente a los resultados de la prudencia cristiana. Aprendi a juzgar con aequitas. Freda abri el camino para una investigacin de los aos de formacin de Alfonso y del papel de stos en su vida. Francesco Chiovaro10 ha puesto en primer plano la cuestin, que cambia los relatos tradicionales sobre la vida de Alfonso: cmo se justifica la fascinacin que sinti toda su vida por el estudio de la moral? Chiovaro apunta que, al oponerse al rigorismo, Alfonso se enfrent con la cosmovisin predominante de su siglo. Su inters por la moral se explica como algo surgido espontneamente de su experiencia en las misiones populares. Los prrocos le persuadieron de que el rigorismo de Genet, en el que haba sido educado, no funcionaba en la prctica. Al mismo tiempo, sus directores espirituales le estaban liberando de las estrecheces de su formacin seminarstica. As habra llegado a convencerse de la necesidad de una teologa slida para el apostolado. Fruto de esta conviccin sera su gran obra, la Theologia moralis, cuyo objetivo principal era el de ensear a sus estudiantes cmo escuchar las
9
A. FREDA, S. Alfonso universitario, in: D. CAPONE et AL. (eds.), S. Alfonso de Liguori: Contributi bio-bibliografici, Morcelliana, Milano 1940, 109-110, as como su disertacin: A. FREDA, De institutione e eruditione iuridica S. Alfonsi , Roma, mach. Dactyl. Scriptum, 1939; 40, XVI-132. Dissertatio Instituti Utriusque Iuris, Romae. Cf. F. CHIOVARO, Alfonso de Liguori avvocato, Segno, Palermo 1999, 16.
10
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confesiones en las misiones. Chiovaro argumenta que la conclusin sobre su conversin intelectual, a mitad de su vida, no se sigue necesariamente de los hechos. Muchos predicadores y confesores tuvieron la misma experiencia, y no siguieron el mismo camino. Necesitaba Alfonso ser convencido de la necesidad de una slida Teologa moral? No. l siempre tuvo esta forma mentis desde el comienzo de su sacerdocio. Como prueba de su competencia legal, Chiovaro cita algunos casos en los que tuvo que afrontar problemas prcticos importantes, como la amenaza de cierre de la fundacin en Sicilia o la supresin total de la Congregacin. Por otra parte, sabemos que haba un nmero desproporcionadamente alto de abogados en la primitiva Congregacin. En las bibliotecas de Pagani y Ciorani los libros de leyes eran tan numerosos como los de las disciplinas eclesisticas. En las misiones, adems del trabajo en los confesionarios, se asigna a un sacerdote para la reconciliacin entre familias y clanes enfrentados. Era un modo de llevar la fuerza de la ley a reas que caan fuera del control del gobierno civil. Alfonso aprob el trabajo de su compaero, el Beato Genaro Sarnelli, como modelo para el uso de la ley en el apostolado. La escuela de la ley ense a Sarnelli la compasin por aquellos que se desviaban, al tiempo que restringa la propagacin del mal. Su trabajo a favor de las prostitutas fue una original iniciativa pastoral y un salto adelante en la historia de la legislacin social. Dnde adquiri Alfonso esta forma mentis? En su educacin y formacin iniciales. Chiovaro hace aqu una sabia reflexin: la tarea ms arriesgada de un historiador es, probablemente, identificar una motivacin bsica a la que atribuir la capacidad de desvelar el significado global de la vida de una persona. La dificultad es que no existe documentacin hasta que la persona se hace famosa. No tenemos cartas de Alfonso antes de sus treinta aos. Lo que poseemos proviene del proceso de canonizacin. Para entonces los contemporneos de su juventud estaban muertos, salvo unos pocos, y sus testimonios versaban sobre su santidad, sin intencin alguna de ilustrarnos sobre su juventud, educacin o carrera en los tribunales. No vieron estos estadios de desarrollo como lo hacemos nosotros, sino ms bien como un periodo de maravillas que deban ser contadas como prueba de que Dios le haba elegido desde el vientre materno.
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Hay evidencia documental de los hechos siguientes:

1708: Admisin y matrcula en la facultad de derecho. 1708-1713: Estudios de leyes en la universidad de Npoles. 1713: Doctorado in utroque iure. 1713-1715: Pasante con la firma de Perrone y luego con Caravita. 1715-1723: Prctica legal como abogado. 1718: Es nombrado juez de distrito, durante un ao, en un barrio de Npoles.
Chiovaro lleva ahora el argumento a su cenit con un hecho claro, an no mencionado. A la edad de veintisiete aos, cuando Alfonso vivi su conversin, su forma mentis estaba ya fijada y completada. Durante quince aos, desde los doce, cada etapa de su educacin y carrera profesional le haba hecho penetrar en los intrincados cauces de la ciencia jurdica y del arte del abogado defensor. Toda su cosmovisin era ponerse del lado de su cliente y asegurar todos sus derechos. La clave hermenutica ( Vorbild) que Alfonso llev al estudio de la Teologa moral fue su talante de abogado Chiovaro no pasa por alto la motivacin espiritual, que resulta evidente, segn un documento escrito por Alfonso mismo de su tiempo de trabajo como jurista. Podramos llamarlo cdigo tico para la profesin legal. Sus doce puntos constituyen una tica centrada en el cliente como lo atestiguan estos principios: 3. Non si deve aggravare il cliente di spese indoverose. Altrimenti resta allavvocato lobbligo della restituzione. 4. Le cause dei clienti si devono trattare con quellimpegno, con qui si trattano le cause proprie. 6. La dilazione e trascuratenza degli avvocati spesso dannifica i clienti, e si deve rifare i danni, altrimenti si pecca contra la giustizia. 10. Un avvocato, che perde una causa per la sua negligenza si carica dellobbligazione di refar tutt i danni al suo cliente. Alfonso canaliz su energa en defender al acusado. Chiovaro insiste en que esto no cambi il giorno della mia conversione 29 de Agosto de 1723. La psicologa profunda demuestra que una conversin no destruye la estructura 220
psicolgica formada en la edad temprana. Su rechazo del rigorismo a mitad de la vida no fue una nueva conversin sino una reelaboracin de su opcin fundamental, que le hizo integrar ms profundamente su conocimiento legal en el plan de Dios para su vida. De aqu en adelante su conocimiento legal se convirti en un instrumento fructfero, aunque crtico, para su Teologa moral. El resultado fue que Alfonso aport un nuevo realismo moral para la solucin de casos. Tota ad praxim est dirigenda 11, fue su lema y el de los primeros redentoristas. Este realismo se arraigaba en la scuola pratica, apuntada por Freda, y en la jurisprudencia histrica introducida en Npoles por DAndrea. Esta aproximacin no era hipottica o tendente a experimentos mentales. Miraba al presente como el momento de la misericordia de Dios en el cual descubrir el verdadero perfil de la praxis de la vida cristiana. Se ha creado la impresin de que Alfonso no nos dej ningn relato de primera mano sobre s mismo como el Avvocato dei poveri 12. Freda afirma: Dei suoi studi da laico, non parla mai 13. Chiovaro recuerda slo que, en una crisis, Alfonso confes al Padre de Paula: Per grazia di Dio non sono morto ancora, n ho perso il cervello; allincontro son stato avvocato, son stato vescovo: e tali affari ho dovuto trattare pi volte 14. Hay aqu un punto oscuro, pues estos autores han olvidado la importancia de la Selva donde Alfonso explica su motivacin bsica en el pasaje arriba citado; exactamente lo que Chiovaro estaba buscando. El realismo moral de Alfonso reforz su certeza de que Dios quiere que todos se salven y lleguen al conocimiento de la verdad.
III. LA
LEY EN LA
TEOLOGA
MORAL DE SAN
ALFONSO
Alfonso escribi sus tres manuales de moral para llegar, con su enseanza moral, a todo tipo de clrigos. Las nueve ediciones de la Theologia moralis
11 12 13 14
A. DE LIGUORI, Theologia moralis, II, (ed. crtica L. GAUD), Tipografia Vaticana, Roma 1907, 689. D. CAPONE, Primi incontri di S. Alfonso con la filosofia, in: D. CAPONE et AL. (eds.), o. c., 168. A. FREDA, l. c.,101. Lettere di SantAlfonso M. de Liguori, II, Descle, Roma 1887, 495.
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fueron producciones cientficas, dirigidas a la comunidad internacional de moralistas catlicos. Este trabajo fue sintetizado en un manual de referencia para sacerdotes activos pastoralmente: Istruzione e pratica (1757), donde se relaciona la enseanza moral con la prctica pastoral. Alfonso lo consideraba adecuado para los seminarios, al igual que el Homo apostolicus. Es, sin duda, la obra ms perfecta, ms personal del moralista, dice Rey-Mermet 15. En esta lnea se puede citar tambin Il confessore diretto per le confessioni della gente di campagna (1764), un tratado ms sencillo, destinado a los sacerdotes rurales con pocos conocimientos de latn. Alfonso combin finamente retrica y erudicin para que su Teologa moral pudiera alcanzar a todo el pueblo a travs de sus pastores. Los aspectos legales entran en sus manuales de tres maneras:

El uso de fuentes jurdicas; El tratamiento sistemtico de la ley; y El modo de razonar, propio de un abogado.
Las fuentes de la Teologa moral incluyen todo lo concerniente a la conducta humana: Escritura, Concilios, patrstica, liturgia, historia, literatura, medicina y todas las ciencias. El ltimo volumen de Gaud hace una lista de los manuales citados por Alfonso, directa o indirectamente. Hay autores que aparecen solamente en Busembaum; algunos consultados directamente por Alfonso, otros provenientes de varias fuentes. Es posible hacer un esquema de la estructura legal que subyace a la Theologia moralis. De los 885 autores citados, 205 son juristas civiles o cannicos. Casi un cuarto de las referencias de Alfonso son de juristas. Hay autores preferidos, por ejemplo, Surez sobre la ley, o Snchez sobre sexo y matrimonio. La lista de Gaud revela que el material legal est diseminado a travs de toda la obra. Vereecke dice que la clasificacin que hace de las leyes refleja los cursos de sus das de estudiante. Una mentalidad de abogado se hace visible en rasgos que quedan encubiertos con manuales de leyes civiles; por ejemplo, los principios de responsabilidad y de culpabilidad y los actos
15
T. REY-MERMET, El santo del siglo de las luces, BAC, Madrid 1985, 517ss.
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humanos. En el tratado sobre contratos en De justitia et iure estn bien igualados moralistas y juristas civiles. Cul era la razn de tanto material legal en su bibliografa? Este dato manifiesta, por un lado, la dependencia de Alfonso de la ley, y por otro, el hecho de que, hasta el Vaticano II, el derecho cannico era la preparacin por excelencia para el estudio de la moral. Los siete Libri de Alfonso modificaron la estructura de Busembaum, pero slo ligeramente. Su contenido era:

La norma para actos humanos; Preceptos para las virtudes teologales; Preceptos del Declogo y de la Iglesia; Preceptos para estados particulares de vida; Criterios para juzgar actos humanos, particularmente pecados; Preceptos para administrar los sacramentos; Censuras eclesisticas e irregularidades.
Sean ORiordan examin la Theologia moralis desde la perspectiva de la sociologa de la religin. Esta ciencia es til porque enfoca la presencia y operatividad de sistemas sociales en el mundo humano, que san Alfonso confront en su Teologa moral y su modo de pensar sobre ese mundo 16. ORiordan concluye que la mentalidad de Alfonso estaba penetrada por la aproximacin preceptiva a toda la vida moral del hombre cristiano, tal como se daba en los sistemas sociales del tiempo 17. En forma muy acentuada identifica a Alfonso con su contexto sociocultural. Funda su argumentacin en el hecho de que la idea preceptiva de ley que es la idea de una orden desde arriba, no la formulacin del bien intrnseco de las cosas a nivel moral era la sociolgicamente establecida en su tiempo18. ORiordan nos ayuda a valorar la profunda insercin de Alfonso en la visin sacral de la sociedad, anterior a la revolucin francesa. Alfonso no habra podido escapar completamente ni del racionalismo dominante, ni del autoritarismo jerrquico-estructural. ORiordan
16 17 18
S. ORIORDAN, The Sociology of Moral Theology: Studia Moralia 9 (1971) 171. Ibdem, 173. Ibdem, 172.
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parece, en este caso, infravalorar la alternativa objetivista que naci para la tica de la nueva fsica de Newton. As, uniendo la idea preceptiva de ley con un orden desde arriba, sita la Teologa moral de Alfonso bajo el arco de una divine command theory19. El santo habra estado tan inmerso en la cultura de su tiempo que impona la moral con todo el peso de la autoridad de lo alto que no le era posible reconocer adecuadamente el bien intrnseco de las cosas a nivel moral. sta es una vieja acusacin contra la casustica, que no tiene aplicacin en el caso de san Alfonso. Su insistencia en subrayar las razones intrnsecas del juicio moral no podan menos de llevarlo a un juicio valorativo-crtico de los esquemas sociolgicos del tiempo, en vez de dejarse superar por ellos. Naturalmente, la posicin del santo sobre el argumento se haca explcita cuando abordaba directamente la cuestin. Estamos de acuerdo con ORiordan en que la moralidad transciende la sociologa. La sociologa puede descubrir los puntos oscuros y las preconcepciones condicionadas de su pensamiento, pero no puede establecer su verdad o falsedad moral. La sociologa muestra los lmites de la accin social, no sus fines ltimos. Pero tenemos que recordar, a la vez, que Alfonso afirm con claridad y constancia (tanto en sus tratados sobre la conciencia, como en las primeras secciones sobre la ley) que la verdad es el primer principio de la Teologa moral. El precio pagado por inculturar la moralidad del Evangelio en el siglo dieciocho fue una revisin continua de sus opiniones. Su opcin fundamental se enraizaba en el orden de la ley en el mundo real, creado y redimido por Cristo. Aqu es donde el bien intrnseco de las cosas a nivel moral abre nuestras mentes a un orden desde arriba, esto es, desde Dios. Su primera publicacin profesional de moral en 1746, sobre la cuestin de maldecir a los muertos, le puso frente a frente con la cultura popular, produciendo a la vez un cambio tectnico en la postura de la Iglesia, porque esta prctica haba sido un pecado reservado en muchas dicesis. Su razonamiento puede ser resumido as: (1) Los confesores deben impedir los pecados; (2) deben comprender qu cosa entiende la gente y (3) seguir aquello que es conforme a la razn. Una persona no puede ser tenida como
19
Cf. PH. L. QUINN, Divine Command Theory, in: H. LAFALLETTE (ed.), Ethical Theory, Blackwelll, Oxford 2000, 53-73.
224
verdaderamente culpable de pecados que no reconoce en conciencia como tales. En 1748, su comentario sobre Busembaum le situ en el centro de los grandes debates de la Teologa moral. Busc modos de salir de situaciones de duda prctica, de modo que los creyentes pudieran vivir su vocacin como Dios quera. Se sale de los lmites de este trabajo una discusin sobre su equiprobabilismo. Baste subrayar tres principios que Vereecke seal como caractersticos de su sistema: (1) La verdad moral; (2) La libertad del agente moral; (3) El valor de la persona humana20. Alfonso nunca ces de insistir en que la Teologa moral era la ms difcil de las ciencias y que el solo conocimiento de los principios morales no es suficiente, pues no es posible la formulacin de juicios morales verdaderos sin la previa comprensin de su aplicabilidad concreta de acuerdo con las diversas circunstancias. Su Teologa moral entendi las situaciones en su verdadero significado para la persona actuante, al percibir qu principios conducan a una decisin responsable. El equiprobabilismo era una manera de articular juicios difciles tomados con prudencia. Su apelacin a los principios reflejos ha suscitado una fuerte crtica, por cuanto ello facilitara la juridizacin de la Teologa moral socavando su realismo. Alfonso, sin embargo, vio valores morales encarnados en la prctica de la jurisprudencia y us los principios reflejos para descubrir las razones intrnsecas que subyacen en los casos a resolver. Su realismo moral brotaba de un casuismo anclado en el mundo en el que haba entrado a travs de la conversin. Situando el razonamiento tico en el flujo de la gracia de Dios, la accin moral quedaba impregnada de bondad hasta en sus detalles ms concretos. Esto abri las puertas de la salvacin a los abandonados, a aquellos que caan fuera de la atencin ordinaria de la Iglesia y de su ministerio. Como repeta a menudo Domenico Capone, su Teologa moral creci a partir de su unin con Cristo. M.-M. Labourdette deca con gran intuicin que era el fruto de decisiones scrupuleusement peses par la conscience dun saint21.
IV. EL
TRATADO DE LA
LEY
DE UN
UOMO
DELLA TRADIZIONE
20 21
Cf. L. VEREECKE, La coscienza nel pensiero di S. Alfonso de Liguori , in: L. LVAREZ VERDES - S. MAJORANO (eds.), Morale e redenzione, EDALCAF, Roma 1983, 183. M. M. LABOURDETTE, Revue Thomiste 48 (1950) 230.
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El tratado alfonsiano sobre la ley describe este mundo lleno de gracia y su articulacin por la ley segn su doble significado de lex (norma de accin) y de ius (el orden correcto en la comunidad). La unin de estos dos aspectos establece las condiciones para la integracin de la conciencia individual en la comunidad. Sus cuatro captulos abarcan: (1) la naturaleza de la ley y su obligacin, tipos y costumbres, con una disertacin sobre la infalibilidad papal, y otra sobre los pecados contra la ley; (2) el sujeto de la ley; (3) el modo correcto de observar la ley; (4) las excepciones en la trasgresin de la ley, que incluye la dispensa de la ley natural por ignorancia invencible. Este tratado pone de relieve la profunda armona que Alfonso establece entre conciencia y ley. A pesar de esta aparente claridad cartesiana del plan, no se puede hablar de un sistema en el sentido moderno del trmino, dada su marcada fragmentacin y las numerosas tensiones internas. De hecho, cada una de las partes mantiene su independencia. Se explica as que, hasta el presente, no se hayan realizado ms que exploraciones parciales de su contenido. Vereecke, por ejemplo, acepta la separacin de la disertacin sobre la infalibilidad del pensamiento jurdico de Alfonso propiamente dicho. Esta disertacin suscit cuestiones dogmticas, solucionadas en el Concilio Vaticano I, al que se atribuye su perspectiva alfonsiana. En cuanto a la colocacin de la disertacin en la Theologia moralis, algunos estudiosos reconocen que se benefici de la prctica editorial dieciochesca de darlo a conocer al pblico ms amplio posible. Creemos, sin embargo, que el lugar donde ha sido colocado es totalmente correcto, dado que su razonamiento de constitutione ecclesiae es plenamente jurdico. Eran necesarios instrumentos legales para desenredar, primero, los nudos institucionales dejados por la disputa sobre el conciliarismo, y luego modelar la estructura social de la Iglesia segn los principios dogmticos; particularmente, el fundamento de la Iglesia en Cristo. El tema se complica an ms por nuestra costumbre de ver el derecho cannico y el civil como esferas separadas. En tiempos de Alfonso stos se interferan y eran tratados como fuerzas distintas pero unidas en la confeccin del tejido social de la Europa pre-revolucionaria. Su perspectiva fue proftica. Al afirmar la libertad de la Iglesia, socav los principios del regalismo
226
y las iglesias nacionales, presagiando la necesidad de una mayor autonoma de la Iglesia respecto al Estado. Nos es imposible aqu analizar en profundidad este tratado. La inquietud y la crtica que provoca a menudo estn bien justificadas, particularmente desde un punto de vista moderno. Para percibir todo su impacto habra que sumergirse en los debates de aquel momento. Su manera de afrontar la tradicin revela que Alfonso era claramente un telogo del realismo moral. Los puntos siguientes pueden arrojar algo de luz sobre el tema. En la filosofa contempornea, el realismo moral consista en la afirmacin de que las sentencias morales son verdaderas 22. Niega tanto el relativismo como el emotivismo ticos. Aunque Alfonso no posea el aparato filosfico asociado al realismo moral de hoy, ciertamente crey que la Teologa moral tena que ver supremamente con la verdad moral. En su da, los tradicionalistas religiosos y los reformadores seculares lucharon por devolver a las costumbres morales su pureza primitiva, bien por el retorno a un ethos cristiano, bien limitndose a los dictados de la pura razn. Ambos favorecieron el rigorismo en tica23. Ahora bien, como dice Chiovaro, la tradicin era lo que ms conformaba la mente de Alfonso. Sin embargo, al mismo tiempo afirmaba la fe de la Ilustracin en la razn como el nico tribunal capaz de juzgar la cualidad moral de los actos humanos. Su sistema funcionaba de este modo. Permaneci irrevocablemente unido a los valores trasmitidos por la tradicin, hasta que la razn probaba lo contrario con evidencia clara. Ante la presencia de una razn intrnseca, contraria a una opinin autorizada, la tradicin tena que ceder y los moralistas podan reinterpretarla a la luz de la nueva verdad. Chiovaro reprocha a Alfonso no haber llevado sus intuiciones hasta las ltimas conclusiones. Su tratado sobre la ley demuestra la dificultad de escapar de las fuerzas de la tradicin. Pero Alfonso es original en su postura sobre los derechos de la conciencia ante la ley, y al introducir la costumbre como ley no escrita, seala la llegada de la mentalidad histrico-romntica. Alfonso comparte con Vico una importante caracterstica: cada seccin de su tratado sigue un plan articulado en forma de axiomas cartesianos probados silogsticamente. Esto llevara a esperar una exposicin sistemtica en
22 23
Cf. M. SMITH, Moral Realism, in: H. LAFALLETTE (ed.), o. c., 15-37. Cf. J. L. QUANTIN, Il rigorismo cristiano, Jaca Book, Milano 2001.
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trminos universales; pero, en su lugar, encontramos un conglomerado de opiniones detalladas, ordenadas como lo hara un abogado para establecer la verdad sobre el caso. En ambos casos se utiliza la dialctica retrica con preferencia a la ciencia lgica especulativa. Pinsese en el uso flexible que Alfonso hace de Busembaum. A veces, incorpora su opinin como propia, otras veces la comenta, y otras va ms lejos. Escogi los gneros literarios adaptndolos a su propsito: preguntas, dudas, tesis, disertaciones, anotaciones y apndices componen su tratado sobre la ley. Dos factores nos permiten tener una visin de esta construccin tan diversificada. Capone subraya que, aunque poda apelar a la moral general de la Summa de santo Toms, Alfonso no tuvo una teologa fundamental con la cual justificar sus principios crtica y sistemticamente 24. Permaneci ligado a las categoras de Busembaum. Capone dice que insufl el espritu del Evangelio en ellas: Quindi voleva enucleare e proporre la norma morale allo stato di tensione di salvezza e perci di forte interiorit, dovette assumere le forme casistiche-giuridiche del suo tempo... e in queste forme soffiare uno spirito nuovo25. El instrumento que escogi, la dimensin artstica, era la forma jurdica del razonamiento retrico. No intent establecer una teora filosfica de la accin humana, sino descubrir cmo las circunstancias cambiaban la vida de una persona y cul era entonces la accin correcta a realizar. Su uso de la retrica sobrepasa nuestras expectativas ordinarias. Ernesto Grasso 26 ha redescubierto su importancia para la formacin intelectual y la cultura. Sin duda, Alfonso, como Vico, fue educado y perteneci a la tradicin renacentista. Con ella, Vico elabor teoras de la historia y Alfonso explic la importancia de la accin presente para la salvacin. Sin el aprecio de la mentalidad retrica, es muy difcil entenderles. Que una intencin deliberada informa el tratado de la ley, es evidente a partir de la lectura de la Istruzione e pratica. La ley necesita, ciertamente, la legitimacin de la autoridad. Pero en cuanto sta entra en el plan salvfico de Dios, es de ese plan de donde recibe su plena justificacin.
24 25 26
Cf. D. CAPONE, Realismo umano-cristiano della teologia morale di S. Alfonso : Studia Moralia 9 (1971) 63. Ibdem. Cf. E. GRASSO, Rhetoric as Philosophy: The Humanistic Tradition, Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park PA 1980.
228
Alfonso teje en un nico texto una variedad de consideraciones, que muestra lo que es necesario en la prctica para cumplir con el propsito de Dios. Cada seccin del tratado es un locus retrico que hace inteligible el mensaje de la Iglesia para su tiempo. Esto no significa que Alfonso renunciara al rigor cientfico. Al contrario, consigui plasmar su ciencia en un lenguaje vlido no slo para los crculos eclesisticos sino para toda la sociedad. Todo lo que podemos ofrecer aqu es una indicacin de algunos de estos loci. A diferencia de la exposicin de Alfonso, stos se simplificarn en frmulas sintticas que juntas forman un esquema estructural de sus posiciones sobre la ley. 1. Cristo es el fundamento del orden jurdico-moral en la Iglesia . La misin de la Iglesia en el mundo depende primero de la autoridad de la Iglesia misma y luego de la del Papa y los obispos en comunin con el sucesor de Pedro. La infalibilidad garantiza la verdad de la enseanza de la Iglesia y es concedida como don especial al oficio del Papa. Irnicamente, aqu el gran escndalo puede ser descubrir a Cristo como el fundamento del mensaje moral de la Iglesia en el tratado sobre la ley. 2. Alfonso defendi la importancia del principio dogmtico en un tiempo en el que revelacin y moralidad estaban siendo forzadas a separarse. Afirm la libertad de la Iglesia y su derecho a realizar su misin en un momento en que la sociedad ya estaba en proceso de secularizacin. Ciertamente hay restos de la apelacin al brazo secular para hacer cumplir la moralidad, como aparece, por ejemplo, en sus discusiones sobre los libros prohibidos ( Index). Vivi en una sociedad inspirada an por el ideal de cristiandad, pero quiso ir ms all. Resistiendo a la reivindicacin del regalismo que reclamaba jurisdiccin sobre la promulgacin de leyes eclesisticas dentro de un territorio, estaba dando un primer paso hacia una mejor distincin de los poderes estatal y eclesistico. Alfonso era consciente de que sin el apoyo del dogma creacin, encarnacin y redencin, la moralidad pblica quedara vaciada de su contenido cristiano. La revelacin comportaba valores formativos no slo para la vida eclesial sino tambin para una sociedad genuinamente humana27.
27
Cf. G. CACCIATORE, S. Alfonso de Liguori e il giansenismo , Editrice fiorentina, Firenze 1942, especialmente los captulos V y VI sobre cmo la Teologa moral alfonsiana est conectada histricamente con la fortuna de su enseanza dogmtica.
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3. La ley natural era percibida desde la perspectiva de la enseanza cristiana sobre la creacin. Se apoy en la idea de santo Toms sobre la razn natural, concebida como un compartir la luz misma de Dios, una participacin en la ley eterna. Alfonso no se deja distraer por el iusnaturalismo y las nuevas teoras de los racionalistas sobre ley natural, a las cuales se opone en sus escritos apologticos. La ley civil est fundada en la ley natural y debera seguir el orden querido por el Creador 28. Su intuicin sobre la costumbre, como ley no escrita, abri el camino de la conciencia histrica como desarrollo de la ley natural y positiva. 4. Us el principio jurdico de la promulgacin de la ley para demostrar cmo la conciencia tiene que conocer y asimilar la ley personal y activamente. Usando sus propios trminos, la ley deba ser promulgada a la conciencia. Slo as la ley puede ser un principio efectivo de organizacin de la sociedad. La conciencia es, por tanto, reconocida no solamente como una realidad individual sino tambin social. Esto no debe confundirse con la actual privatizacin de la moralidad. Al contrario, usa la conciencia para humanizar la ley, de modo que la sociedad y sus valores sean juzgados en relacin con la persona como un ser social con un destino comunitario 29. Esto origina una profunda dinmica en la que ley y conciencia interactan positivamente para construir las instituciones sociales segn principios morales. Alfonso pertenece a la tradicin del derecho romano, donde despus de Dios, la primera fuente de la ley es la naturaleza humana30. Hay muchos otros valores que se podran retomar. La cuestin ms difcil es la relacin que debera darse entre ley y moralidad. Vereecke afirma al respecto: Dobbiamo capire la differenza che esiste tra giurisprudenza e morale. La dottrina dei grandi giuristi non soltanto interpretativa, ma crea il diritto: fa giurisprudenza. Ma i testi dei moralisti apporta soltanto la presunzione della validit dei principi intrinsici31. Alfonso fue un realista moral, porque sostuvo que es necesario atender primero a los argumentos racionales antes
28 29 30 31
Cf. P. PERLINGIERI, Alfonso de Liguori giurista, Edizioni scientifiche italiane, Roma 1988, 2530. Gaudium et spes, n.16, expresa la concepcin alfonsiana de la fuerza social de la conciencia. M. VILLEY, La formazione del pensiero giuridico moderno, Jaka Book, Milano 1985, 61. L. VEREECKE, SantAlfonso giurista. La formazione giuridica e linflusso sulla morale : Studia Moralia 31 (1993) 277.
230
de recurrir a la autoridad: Bisogna attendere principalmente alla forza degli argumenti intrinseci32. Incluso la apelacin a la autoridad no es un acto ciego de confianza, sino que debe ser juzgada por su valor inherente. El realismo moral de Alfonso le permiti tratar la trascendencia de Dios situndola en medio de la vida. Su punto de partida era su propia experiencia de la abrumadora misericordia de Dios, que le llamaba a defender le cause dei poveri peccatori. Su forma mentis era la de un abogado defensor que busca la verdad moral en el corazn de las situaciones humanas. Su sentido de la equidad de Dios hacia los pecadores inform su Teologa moral de modo que todo su razonamiento estaba al servicio de la salvacin en Cristo. Su logro puede ser estudiado en su tratado sobre la ley, donde demuestra los fundamentos morales del orden legal y el perfil jurdico que la vida de la Iglesia debera asumir en la historia para llegar a ser comunidad de salvacin.
V. CONCLUSIN
La Iglesia recurre hoy a su memoria histrica para dilucidar su poltica y sus tcticas en la evangelizacin de la cultura contempornea. Mira a la historia como magistra vitae. Se han dado razones varias de su xito en el pasado. En particular, el haber superado las concepciones paganas de naturaleza, hombre, Dios y religin del Imperio Romano. El evangelio ech races porque satisfaca a la mente humana. Estas explicaciones, sin embargo, para ser completas, deben hacer referencia necesariamente al papel desarrollado por el derecho; como afirma el cardenal Eyt33: en todos los aspectos, la ley es una nocin central tanto en la antigedad romana como en el cristianismo primitivo. Olvidarse de la ley, aade, sera perder contacto con la realidad presente de nuestro mundo y sus instituciones. Sin la ley, los cristianos no podrn encontrar soluciones reales a los problemas del mundo. San Alfonso uni la reivindicacin de la verdad de la ley y su poder para trasformar la sociedad. Su realismo moral es una inspiracin y un reto a usar la ley positivamente, teniendo en cuenta la salvacin de las almas, que debe ser siempre la ley suprema en la Iglesia (Can. 1752).
32 33
Lettere di SantAlfonso M. de Liguori, I, Descle, Roma 1887, 176. Cf. P. EYT, The Churchs Response to Contemporary Problems: Origins 29 (2000) 606.
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ST. ALPHONSUSS MORAL REALISM REGARDING LAW

Alphonsus de Liguoris biographers proudly present him as the saint who put off a barristers silks for a priestly cassock. By obtaining a doctorate in utroque iure at sixteen he was a genius like Leibniz who won his laurea at a similar age. Alphonsus became involved in law because his father planned it as a steppingstone to the highest offices in the Kingdom of Naples. But Alphonsus like the great Church fathers Augustine and Chrysostom turned this humanistic education to a higher purpose, the salvation of souls. Trained in rhetoric and law their pastoral activity had a special quality. Professional experience made them aware of the raw facts of human nature and prepared them to address audiences persuasively even on unpopular topics. Above all they understood public morality in a way only the finest lawyers can and channelled this ability into the service of the Church. Their preaching touched peoples lives interiorly, making them model evangelisers of culture. Without a legal education they could not have succeeded in planting the Gospel in the civil institutions of their times. They comprehended law in its double Latin meaning, as lex, the rule guiding moral behaviour, and as ius, right order established in society. St. Alphonsus joins the company of saintly lawyers like Raymond of Penefort, Sir Thomas More, and Francis de Sales his ideal of episcopal charity. Following Vatican II there was severe criticism of employing legal principles within moral theology and moralists sought to purify casuistry of this obvious weakness. This does not mean that there is no place for a theology of law and its function in Christian life. In an effort to rethink laws positive contributions there is at present a reawakening of interest in the patron of moral theologians
TERENCE KENNEDY
and how his legal education impinged on his moral thinking. 34 Nobody in the present generation has done more to make the Theologia moralis known that Father Marciano Vidal to whom this essay is dedicated. 35 Rather than analyse Alphonsuss legal thought directly this essay begins with the popular image of Alphonsus the lawyer, and moves to the part law played in his life. An analysis of the Theologia moraliss sociological background introduces an examination of the law tract. This essay tries to balance an inductive and deductive approach. It will not add to our historical knowledge as such but should open some new horizons for systematic theologians to assess Alphonsuss ideas. I. The hagiographical Topos of Advocate. Spiritual writers delight in describing saintly priests who sanctified the Church not only as bridge builders to God but as the peoples advocate with him. This was an obvious locus for Alphonsuss biographers to exploit. In his case, it is both a metaphor and a reality. Giovanni Getto, the literary critic, has illustrated magisterially how deep and multivalent its persuasive power can be. He intuited that the Tecnica di un apostolato, 36 whether as missionary, writer or bishop was always that of a defence lawyer. In tal modo santAlfonso era destinato a remanere per sempre avvocato, ma ormai allarringatore degli interessi degli uomini contendenti fra loro, si era sostituto il defensore di una causa eterna, il sostenitore dellinteresse supremo di Dio.37
34 . See his biographers; F. Jones Alphonsus de Liguori: The Saint of Bourbon Naples 1696-
1787, Dublin 1992, 16-20, and T. Rey-Mermet, La morale selon St. Alphonse de Liguori , Cerf, Paris 1987, 35-36. Among moral theologians see D. Capone, La Theologia moralis di S.Alfonso. Prudenzialit nella scienza casistica per la prudenza nella coscienza, in S.M., XXV(1987)2, 28-30; S. Majorano, Criterio-guida di S. Alfonso in teologia morale, in S.M., IX(1971), 119-120; and, S. Alfonso de Liguori moralista: significato storico e messaggio attuale, in S.M., XXII(1990)2, 366-367. For a study of law in his moral theology L. Vereecke, SantAlfonso giurista. La formazione giuridica e linflusso sulla morale, in S.M., XXXI(1993)2, 265-282. For a jurists approach, P. Perlingieri, Alfonso de Liguori giurista, edizioni scientifiche italiane, Roma 1988. The author would like to thank Father M. Ceschini for alerting him to this topics importance.
35 . See his Frente al rigorismo moral, benignidad pastoral: Alfonso de Liguori (1696-1787) ,
PS Editorial, Madrid 1986.

36 . See this chapter in Vita e scritti di Alfonso de Liguori , in Letteratura religiosa dal due al
novecento, Vol. I., G. C. Sansoni Editore, Firenze 1967, 258-294.

37 . Ibid. 259.
St. Alphonsuss moral realism regarding law
Alphonsus pleaded Gods cause with his people to bring them to salvation. He hinged his case on the moment of death when they were placed before their eternal destiny with or without God. In mid-chapter Getto reverses Alphonsuss role transforming him into an advocate of humanitys cause with God. This yields a much more human and attractive picture of Alphonsus. Questo avvocato della causa di Dio presso il popolo annuncia in termini di una estrema ed inflessibile gravit i diritti del suo Signore. E questo giustifica poi lumanissimo suo atteggiamento in sede di confessione. Allora lavvocato di Dio diventer lavvocato degli uomini presso Dio, e si ispirer a unequilibrata indulgenza, nata da una fraterna e direi persino, sotto certi aspetti, materna comprensione della fragilit dellumana natura, bisognosa di perdono e di speranza. Comunque, il santo appare attraverso la sua intensa e prolongata azione oratoria come un nobilissimo educatore del popolo napoletano. 38 Getto resolves the tension between transcendent justice and human compassion in the figure of pastoral benignity. This is the best that tradition has transmitted to us. However, theologians might suspect a lingering anthropomorphism if this image might ever suggest that humans could bring a case against God. Strange as it may seem, authors have not adverted to Alphonsuss own account of himself and his priestly role imaged as an advocate. 39 It occurs as the key passage in his Selva di materie predicabili as the topos that throws light on every other conception of the priesthood. Alphonsus habitually stays backstage while projecting the saints and Church Fathers forward as his spokesmen. The present passage is very discrete, but everyone who knew his lifes story recognised that Alphonsus was witnessing to his own conversion as a model for the Spiritual Exercises. Dice s. Ambrosio: In foro Christi non reperitur. Almeno, io dico, che fondo mai di spirito pu avere un sacerdote che fa lavvocato? Che officio, che messa
38 . Ibid. 270. 39 . Father L. Petrosino noted the importance of the Selva and in particular the image of
advocate for understanding Alphonsuss whole apostolic effort. I would like to thank him for making available to me his tesina entitled La Selva al servizio del sacerdozio nel 700 , Accademia Alfonsiana 1985.
TERENCE KENNEDY
divota pu dire, quando gli affari delle cause glingombono tutta la mente e glimpediscono di pensare a Dio? Le cause che ha da defendere sone le cause dei poveri peccatori, per liberarli colle prediche, colle confessioni o almeno colle ammonizioni ed orazioni, dalle mani del demonio e della morte eterna. Il sacerdote non solo dee fuggire di assumere le liti degli altri, ma anche le liti proprie per quanto si pu.40 These are strong words that apply his spirituality of distacco and unione con Dio to the place legal thought can occupy in a priestly calling. In this he transcends Gettos popularly accepted image of Alphonsus the advocate. His attitude is based on mortification, whereby he died to his old profession as advocate. This is the condition of his liberation, of his being totally taken up by and dedicated to God. With this inner freedom in his heart, he was able to turn his whole attention to the liberation of poveri peccatori. In the pratica of preaching, praying and hearing confessions, the priest is now the advocate of their eternal salvation with God. Here is an image of humanity filled with grace, a Christian humanism that finds its origin and strength in Gods transcendent goodness. While integrally human, it is in no way anthropomorphic. It is a paradox of salvation that a priest can only be the sinners advocate by renouncing the profession of law. But nothing of laws goodness and realism is lost in this fundamental option to love God above all things. But how is Gods transcendence to be understood here? Not as the rigorists presented the moral law as if the day of judgement had already arrived and the sinner stood condemned. Alphonsus preached that only God, the transcendence judge, bound by nobody and by no tribunal, could bend down to meet sinners in their misery, turning this event into a moment of grace. When mercy is perceived as Gods chief attribute, 41 moral law points the way to salvation, helping set sinners free, empowering them to behave according to the standard of moral truth. We are living in the time of Gods mercy and not of judgement.
40 . S. Alfonso M. de Liguori, Selva di materie predicabili, Giacinto Marietti, Torino1890, Parte
II., Istruz. VIII., 152-153.

41 . See Y. Congar, la misricorde, attribut souverain de Dieu, in Les voies du Dieu vivant,
Cerf, Paris 1962, 61-74.
Alphonsuss above cited testimonial has serious implications. First, it gives his account of his own self-image encoded in rhetorical terms. This image is built on his definitive break with the legal profession. Second, his morality flows out of his grace experience as a conversion to serve the poor. Only God, the supreme lawgiver, can consider the poor in their need and take their part when nothing stands in their favour. Alphonsuss moral realism therefor has its foundation in how God has taken the side of the poor. Third, this realism has been encoded and communicated in rhetorical terms that serve as the basis for both his ascetical and theological writings. His conversion generated both spirituality and science. But putting his thought into a framework of art that conceals art seems to obscure its scientific quality. Scholars have great trouble penetrating to this originating experience of reality appropriately expressed in images and literary figures. Alphonsus employed these rhetorical devices as carriers of a precise science such as moral theology. In the end, the salvific reality of Gods dealing with Alphonsus in the above passage provides the criterion for understanding Alphonsus the lawyer. II. Law in Alphonsuss Life-story Nino Fascullos Modernit di un antimoderno42 identifies another barrier to a genuine historical understanding of Alphonsus. His earlier biographers so venerated him that they never dared to think outside of the established canon for hagiography. They were too terrified to explore issues apt to provide ammunition to his many enemies. Father Ambrogio Freda broke through this barrier in his 1940 study of Alphonsus as a student in the faculty of law in Naples. His conclusion is oft quoted as the starting-point for new research into his early life and career. La preparazione giuridica di Alfonso fu provvidenziale per la sua attivit scientifica...perch gli diede quella larga e profunda erudizione giuridica che colloborava le sue construzioni morali e lo educ a quella scuola di praticit che gli permisse di guardare alla realt dei fatti morali, di penetrare le intim e di guidicare alla luce della prudenza cristiana.43
42 . Introduction to Alfonso de Liguoris , Degli obbligi de giudici, avvocati, accusatori e rei ,
Setterio, Palermo 1998, 9-26.
TERENCE KENNEDY
Freda saw God working through his legal studies, preparing his vocational decision to bring the Gospel to the poor. His studies furnished the scientific instrument for understanding concrete situations so that his moral realism corresponds precisely with the deliveries of Christian prudence. He learnt to judge with aequitas. Freda opened the way to investigate his formative years and their role in his life story. Francesco Chiorvaro44 has brought the issue to a head by putting the question likely to upset accepted accounts of how Alphonsuss life unfolded: how is his life-long fascination with studying morality to be justified? Choiorvaro notes that, by opposing rigorism, he pitted himself against the predominant moral world-view of his century. His interest in morals is usually explained as arising spontaneously from his experience on parish missions. Parish priests persuaded him that Genets rigorism in which he had been educated just did not work in practice. At the same time his spiritual directors were weaning him from the strictures of his seminary formation. Because he became aware of the need for sound theology in the apostolate he composed his Theologia moralis for his students in view of their hearing confessions on the missions. Chiorvaro argues that the conclusion about an intellectual conversion in mid-life does not follow necessarily from the facts. Many preachers and confessors had the very same experience without ever contemplating a life-long study of morality as a result. Did Alphonsus need to be convinced of the necessity of a sound moral theology? No. He always had this forma mentis, this perspective on the apostolate from the beginning of his priesthood. Chiorvaro cites his approach to practical problems, especially how he negotiated the threat to close the foundation in Sicily or to suppress the Congregation totally in Naples as evidence of his legal competence. Besides, there was a disproportionately high number of lawyers in the early Congregation. In the Pagani and Ciorani, libraries law books are as numerous as any of the ecclesiastical disciplines. On missions, besides work in the confessional a priest was assigned to the reconciliation of feuds between families and clans. This was a way of bringing
43 . S. Alfonso universitario, in D. Capone et al. (eds), S. Alfonso de Liguori: Contributi bio-
bibliografici, Morcelliana, Milano 1940, 109-110, as well as Father Fredas dissertation, De institutione e eruditione iuridica S. Alfonsi, Roma, mach. Dactyl. Scriptum, 1939; 4o, XVI132 pp. Dissertatio Instituti Utriusque Iuris, Romae.
44 . Alfonso de Liguori avvocato, Segno, Palermo 1999, 16.
the rule of law to areas that sometimes fell outside the civil governments effective control. Alphonsus approved the work of his companion Blessed Genaro Sarnelli as a model for the use of law in the apostolate. Law school taught Sarnelli compassion for those who strayed while restricting the spread of social evil. His work for prostitutes was both an original pastoral initiative and a breakthrough in the history of social legislation. Where did Alphonsus acquire this forma mentis? It must have come from his original education and training. Here, Chiorvaro wisely sounds a word of warning. Perhaps the most perilous task for an historian is to attribute a basic motivation that unlocks the global meaning of a persons life. The difficulty is that documentation is usually lacking till a person becomes famous. We have no letters from Alphonsus before his thirtieth birthday. What we do possess comes from the canonisation process. By then the contemporaries of his youth were, but for a few, all dead.. And their testimonies were to his sanctity without any intent to enlighten us about his youth, education or career at the bar. They saw these stages of psychological development not as we do, but rather as a period of wonders to be recounted in a second nocturne as proof that God had chosen him from the womb. There is documentary evidence for the following events: i. 1708: Admission and matriculation in the law faculty. ii. 1708-1713: Law studies at the university of Naples. iii. 1713: Doctorate in utroque iure. iv. 1713-1715: Apprenticeship with Perrones firm and then with the Cravitas. v. 1715-1723: Legal practice as an advocate. In 1718 he was appointed district judge for a year in one of the quarters of Naples. Chiorvaro now brings his argument to a climax with the one obvious fact not yet mentioned. At age twenty seven, when Alphonsus underwent his conversion his forma mentis was already fixed and complete. Every stage of his education and professional career for fifteen years from age twelve had drilled into him the intricacies of juridic science and the art of a defence lawyer. His whole worldview was to take his clients side and to secure his every right. The hermeneutic 7
TERENCE KENNEDY
key or Vorbild that Alphonsus brought to the study of moral theology was his character as an advocate. Chiorvaro does not overlook his spiritual motivation. This is evident from the one document written by Alphonsus himself and still extant from his time practising the law. We would call it an ethical code for the legal profession composed for his own guidance in conscience. Its twelve points constitute a client-centred ethic as can be seen from these principles: 3. Non si deve agggravare il cliente di spese indovinose. Altrimenti resta allavvocato lobbligo della restituzione. 4. Le cause dei clienti si devono trattare con quellimpegno, con qui si trattono le cause proprie. 6. La dilazione e trascuratenza degli avvocati spesso dannifica i clienti, e si deve rifare i danni, alrimenti si pecca contra la giustizia. 10. Un avvocato, che perde una causa per la sua negligenza si carica dellobbligazione di refar tutt i dani al suo cliente. Alphonsus channelled his energy into defending the accused. Chiorvaro insists, quite correctly, that this did not change, il giorno della mia conversione, August 29th 1723 at the Hospital of the Incurables. Depth psychology demonstrates that a conversion does not destroy the psychological structure formed early in life. His mid-life rejection of rigorism was not a new conversion but a reworking of his fundamental choice that more deeply integrated his legal knowledge into Gods design for his life. From here on his legal knowledge became a very fruitful but critical instrument in his moral theology. The result was that Alphonsus brought a new moral realism to the solution of cases. Tota ad praxim est dirigenda45 became his trademark and that of the first Redemptorists. This realism drew on the scuola pratica noted by Freda and the historical jurisprudence introduced to Naples by DAndrea. This approach was not hypothetic or given to thought experiments carried out in an ivory tower. It looked to the present as the moment of Gods mercy in which to discover the true shape of the Christian life in practice.
45 . Gaud, II. 689.
An impression had grown over time that Alphonsus gave us no first-hand account of himself as the Avvocato dei poveri. 46 Freda asserts, Dei suoi studi da laico, non parla mai.47 Chiavaro records only that, in a crisis, the aged Alphonsus reproached Father de Paula, Per grazia di Dio non sono morto ancora, n ho perso il cervello; allincontro son stato avvocato, son stato vescovo: e tali affari ho dovuto trattare pi volte. 48 There is a blindspot here, for these authors have missed the importance of the Selva where Alphonsus explains his basic motivation in the passage cited above, the very thing Chiorvaro was seeking. Alphonsuss moral realism reinforced his certainty that God wants all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. III. Law in St. Alphonsuss Moral Theology Alphonsuss wrote his three moral manuals as a unified project to reach clergy of every type and class with his moral teaching. The nine editions of the Theologia moralis were scientific productions addressed to the international community of Catholic moralists. It was concentrated into a reference manual for pastorally active priests; Istruzione e pratica (1757) that related moral teaching to pastoral practice, while as the Homo apostolicus Alphonsus condidered it suited for seminary use. This certainly was the moralists most perfect and most personal work, say ReyMermet.49 Il confessore diretto per le confessioni della gente di compagna (1764) was simpler still, for country priests with little Latin. Alphonsus shrewdly combined rhetoric with scholarship so that his moral theology might reach the whole people through their pastors. Legal matter enters his manuals in three ways: (i). The use of juridic sources; (ii). The systematic treatment of law; and (iii). A lawyers mode of reasoning. Moral theologys sources embrace everything concerning human conduct: Scripture, Councils, patristics, liturgy, history, literature, medicine and
46 . D. Capone, Primi incontri di S. Alfonso con la filosofia, in D. Capone et al. (eds), S.
Alfonso de Liguori: Contributi bio-bibliografici, Morcelliana, Milano 1940, 168.

47 .Op. cit. 101. 48 . Lettere, II. 495. 49 . St. Alphonsus Liguori: Tireless Worker for the Most Abandoned , New York, New City
1989, 479.
TERENCE KENNEDY
all the sciences. Gauds last volume lists the manuals Alphonsus directly or indirectly cited. There are authors who appear only in Busembaum, some were actually consulted by Alphonsus, and others come from various sources. It is possible to sketch the legal substructure supporting the Theologia moralis. Out of 885 authors cited, 205 are civil or canon lawyers. Nearly a quarter of Alphonsuss references are to lawyers. There are preferred authors, e.g. Suarez on law, or Sanchez on sex and marriage. Gauds list reveals that legal material is scattered throughout the whole work. Vereecke says that his classification of law and its types accurately reflects courses offered in his student days. A lawyers mentality comes out in tracts that overlap with civil law manuals, e.g., the principles of responsibility and culpability regarding conscience and human acts. The treatise on contracts in De justitia et iure is well nigh the same among moralists and civilians. What was the reason for the presence of so much legal material in his bibliography? It manifests both Alphonsuss dependence on law and the fact that canon law was the preparation par excellence for studying morality until Vatican II. Alphonsus seven Libri modified Busembaums structure but slightly. Their content was: I. The norm for human acts; II. Precepts for the theologal virtues; III. Precepts of the Decalogue and of the Church; IV. Precepts for particular states of life; V. Criteria for judging human acts, particularly sins; VI. Precepts for administering the Sacraments; VII. Ecclesiastical censures and irregularities. Sean ORiordan examined the Theologia moralis from the perspective of a sociology of religion. His essay focuses on the presence and operation of social systems in the human world that St. Alphonsus confronted in his moral theology and in his way of thinking about that world. 50 ORiordan tries to delineate the impact social systems had on the mental world Alphonsus inhabited by surveying the seven Libri of the Theologia moralis. He concluded that Alphonsuss mentality was permeated by the preceptive approach to the entire moral life of the Christian man as he existed in the social systems of the time.51 Alphonsus tacitly affirmed the preceptive idea of law -- that is the idea of law as an order from above, not as the formulation of the intrinsic good of things
50 . The Sociology of Moral Theology in S.M., IX(1971), 171. 51 . Ibid. 173.
10
at the moral level -- was the sociologically established one in his time. 52 ORiordan helps us appreciate just how deeply Alphonsus was embedded in a pre-French revolution sacral society. He could not completely escape either its predominant rationalism or its hierarchical class structure. If ORiordans contention is right then it seems to undermine any acceptable sense of moral realism which was disallowed by the philosophies then in vogue. This reechoes the classic objection to casuistry which presumes that Alphonsus was in fact subjectively trapped within his moral system without any anchor in an objective moral world beyond it. ORiordan brings out the ambiguity and tension working in his mind forcefully. On one hand societys acceptance of an imposed order from on high that denied the intrinsic good of things at the moral level. Despite this, ORiordan alerts us to the fact, on the other side, that morality transcends sociology. Sociology can uncover the blind-spots and conditioned preconception in his thinking; it cannot establish its moral truth or falsity. Sociology shows the limits of social action, not its ultimate goals. Alphonsus firmly asserted that truth was the first principle of moral theology, both in his tracts on conscience and in the early sections on law. The price paid for inculturating Gospel morality in eighteenth century culture was a continuous revision of his opinions. Christs radiant love was burning away the cancers of false ways of thinking and actingin his mind, thereby purifying culture at its very root. His fundamental option rooted laws order in the real world created and redeemed in Christ. Here the intrinsic good of things at the moral level opens our minds to an order from above, that is, from God. His first professional publication in morals in 1746, on the subject of cursing the dead, brought him face to face with the peoples culture. It led to a tectonic change in the Churchs approach because this practice had been a reserved sin in many dioceses. His reasoning can be summarised as: (i). I confessori devono impedire i peccati. (ii). devono intendere cosa intende la gente. and (iii). They have to follow cio che conforme alla ragione. A person cannot be held truly guilty of sins not recognise as such in conscience. In 1748 his annotated commentary on Busembaum put him at the very centre of the great debates in moral theology. He sought ways to exit from situations of practical doubt so that believers could live their vocation as God wanted. Space does not
52 . Ibid. 172.
11
TERENCE KENNEDY
allow a discussion of his equiprobabilism here. Suffice it to underline three principles that Vereecke found characterised his system: (i). Moral truth; (ii). The moral agents freedom; (iii). The worth of the human person 53. Alphonsus never ceased insisting that moral theology was the most difficult of all sciences. Learned knowledge of moral principles alone was not enough. Without understanding their application in various circumstances true moral judgements cannot be reached. His moral theology grasped situations in their meaning for the acting person by perceiving which principles lead to a responsible decision. Equiprobabilism was a way of articulating difficult judgements taken in prudence. Its appeal to reflex principles has drawn strong criticism for facilitating a juridicising of moral theology that undermines its realism. Alphonsus, however, saw moral values incarnated in the practice of jurisprudence and used reflex principles to discover where the intrinsic reasons lay in cases to be resolved. His moral realism sprung from anchoring casuistry in the world he had entered through conversion. By situating ethical reasoning in the flow of Gods grace, moral action was saturated with goodness down to its most concrete details. This opened the gates of salvation to the abandoned, to those fallen outside the Churchs ordinary care and ministry. As Domenico Capone often repeated, his moral theology grew from his union with Christ. Father M.-M Labourdette said insightfully that it was the fruit of decisions scrupuleusement peses par la conscience dun saint. 54 IV: The Law Tract of a Uomo della tradizione55 Alphonsuss law tract describes the articulation of this grace-filled world, and how law orders it according to its double meaning of lex (norm of action) and ius (right order in the community). Bringing these two together establishes the conditions for integrating individual conscience into the community indwelt by persons as social beings. Its four chapters embrace (i). Laws nature and obligation, types, customs, the dissertation on Papal infallibility, and sins against law; (ii). The subject of law; (iii). The correct way of observing law; (iv) Excuses
53 . See L. Vereecke, La coscienza nel pensiero di S. Alfonso de Liguri, in Morale e
redenzione, a cura di L. Alvarez Verdes e S. Majorano, EDACALF, Roma 1983, 183.

54 . Revue Thomistse, XXXXVIII(1950)1, 230. 55 . Chiorvaro, 26.
12
from transgressions of law including dispensation and the dissertation on invincible ignorance of natural law. This dissertation brings out the profound harmony Alphonsus establishes between coscience and law. There is an appendix on prohibited books. Despite this plans apparent Cartesian clarity, it proposes no system in the modern sense. What prevents us reading it that way is the fact that it is fragmented and full of internal tensions, with each part standing on its own. Consequently only partial explorations of its content have ordinarily been ventured. Vereeecke, for example, accepts the separation of Alphonsuss dissertation on infallibility from his juridic thought proper. This dissertation raised dogmatic questions that were only settled by the First Vatican Council which was usually considered to have vindicated much of Alphonsuss approach. As regards the dissertation being placed in the Theologia moralis some scholars reckon that he benefited from an eighteenth century publishing practice to make it known to the widest possible audience. It is in its proper context here, however, because his reasoning on de constitutione ecclesiae is through and through juridic. Legal instruments were needed first to untangle the institutional knots left by the dispute on Conciliarism, and then to fashion the Churchs social structure according to dogmatic principles, particularly, her foundation on Christ. The scene is further complicated by our accustomed way of seeing canon and civil law as separate spheres of influence. In Alphonsuss society they overlapped so that he treated them as distinct forces united in weaving the social fabric of pre-revolutionary Europe. His approach was prophetic. By asserting the Churchs freedom to preach the Gospel everywhere in the world he undermined the legal principles supporting regalism and national churches. He foresaw that the Church in the future would need greater autonomy in society. In the space available here an in-depth examination of this tract is quite impossible. The disquiet and criticism it evokes are often well justified, particularly from a modern stand-point. To catch its full impact one would have to be immersed in the debates of the period. His way of addressing tradition reveals how deeply Alphonsus was a moral realist. The following points may throw some light on this. In contemporary philosophy moral realism is the
13
TERENCE KENNEDY
contention that moral statements are true.56 It denies both relativism and emotivism in ethics. Although Alphonsus did not have the philosophical apparatus associated with todays moral realism, he certainly believed moral theology had supremely to do with moral truth. In his day religious traditionalists and secular reformers both fought to bring social mores back to their primitive purity either by returning to a primitive Christian ethos or by limiting them within the dictates of pure reason. Both favoured rigorism in ethics. 57 Now, as Chiorvaro says, tradition was at the centre of the gravitational field forming Alphonsuss mind. But at the same time he affirmed the Enlightenments faith in reason as the only tribunal capable of judging the moral quality of human acts. His moral system functioned this way. He remained irrevocably attached to the values transmitted by tradition, faithful till reason proved the opposite with clear, overwhelming evidence. In the presence of an intrinsic reason contrary to an authoritatively accepted opinion, tradition had to yield and moralists could reinterpret it in the light of new found truth. Chiorvaro reproves Alphonsus for not pushing his insights to their logical conclusions. His law tract demonstrates how hard it was to escape traditions many-faceted field of forces. Yet he is original in his stance on consciences rights before the law, and by introducing custom as unwritten law he signals the arrival of the historical-romanticist mind. Alphonsus shares an important characteristic with Giovanni Battista Vico in that each section of his tract has a plan articulated like Cartesian axioms that are to be proven syllogistically. This leads one to expect a systematic exposition in universal terms. Instead we find him sifting through a conglomorate of detailed opinions, sorting them out the way a lawyer does to establish the truth at the centre of a case. Both utilise the dialects of rhetoric in preference to the logic of speculative science. Consider Alphonsuss flexible use of Busembaum. Sometimes he incorporates his opinion as his own, sometimes he comments on it, and at others utterly moves beyond it. He chose literary genres to fit his purpose, e.g., questions, doubts, theses, dissertations, annotations and appendices together compose his law tract.
56 . See Michael Smith, Moral Realism, in H. LaFollette (ed), Ethical Theory, Blackwell,
Oxford 2000, 15-37.

57 . See J-L Quantin, Il rirorismo cristiano, Jaca Book, Milano 2001.
14
Two factors give us an insight into this tremendously diversified construction. Domenico Capone emphasises that, while he could appeal to St. Thomass general moral in the Summa, Alphonsus had no fundamental theology with which to justify his principles critically and systematically. 58 He remained tied to Busembaums categories. Capone says he breathed a Gospel spirit into them: Quindi voleva enucleare e proporre la norma morale allo stato di tensione di salvezza e perci di forte interiorit, dovette assumere le forme casistichegiuidiche del suo tempo...e in queste forme soffire uno spirito nuovo. 59 The instrument that he chose, the art concealing art, was the juridic form of rhetorical reasoning. He was not aiming to establish a philosophical theory of human action, but at discovering how circumstances change a persons life and what was then the right action to perform. His use of rhetoric surpasses our ordinary expectations. Ernesto Grasso has retrieved its importance for intellectual formation and culture in his book Rhetoric as Philosophy: The Humanistic Tradition.60 Without a doubt Alphonsus like Vico was brought up in, and belonged to, this Renaissance tradition which has been largely suppressed over the last two centuries. With it Vico invented theories of history and Alphonsus explained the importance of present action for salvation. Without appreciating the rhetorical mind-set, it is very difficulty to understand them. That one deliberate intention informs the law tract from beginning to end is evident from the Istruzione e pratica. Law is based on legitimate authority. It is essentially Gods plan for our salvation, a plan that we have to work out with the help of his grace. Alphonsus weaves together a manifold of diverse considerations as a sort of extended enthymeme that shows what is needed in practice to fulfill Gods purpose for human existence. Each section of the tract is a rhetorical locus that makes the Churchs message intelligible for his time. This does not mean that Alphonsus renounced scientific rigour in his moral and legal reasoning. Rather, he managed to encode his science in such language that it became a cultural force to transform society. It was public discourse valid not only within Church circles but for the broad society as well. For that reason, it was a successful means of
58 . See D. Capone, Realismo umano-cristiano della teologia morale di S. Alfonso, in S.M.,
IX(1971), 63.
59 . Ibid. 60 . Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park PA 1980.
15
TERENCE KENNEDY
evangelisation. All that can be offered here is but an indication of some of these loci. Unlike Alphonsus exposition, these will be simplified into short synthetic formulae that together form an outline sketch of his positions on law. 1. Christ is the foundation of the juridic-moral order in the Church . Her mission in the world depends first on the authority of the Church itself and then on that of the Pope and the bishops in communion with Peters successor. Infallibility guarantees the truth of the Churchs teaching and is given as a special gift of office to the Pope. Ironically, the great scandal here may be to discover Christ as the foundation of the Churchs moral message in a tract on law. 2. Alphonsus defended the importance of the dogmatic principle at a time when revelation and morality where being forced apart. He asserted the Churchs liberty and right to carry out her mission of activating Gospel values in society that was already being secularised. Certainly there are remnants of the appeal to the secular arm to enforce morality, e.g. as regards the Index. He lived in a society that was still inspired by the ideal of Christendom but also wanted to move beyond its limits. By withstanding regalisms claim to state jurisdiction over the promulgation of ecclesiastical laws within its territory, he was taking a first wise step toward a better distinguishing of state and ecclesiastical powers based on the freedom of the Gospel. Alphonsus remained acutely aware that without the support of dogma, e.g., creation, incarnation and redemption, public morality would be emptied of its Christian content. Revelation carried values formative not only of Church life, but of a genuinely human society as well.61 3. Natural law was perceived from the perspective of the Christian teaching on creation. He relied on St. Thomass idea of natural reason as a share in Gods own light, a participation in the eternal law. He is not distracted by giusnaturaralismo and the rationalists new theories of natural law, which he opposed in his apologetic writings. Civil law is founded on natural law and should follow the order willed by the Creator. It is to be applied prudently to the
61 . See G. Cacciatore, S. Alfonso de Liguori e il giasenismo , Editrice firorentina, Firenze
1942, especially chapters V and VI for how St. Alphonsuss moral theology was historically connected with the fortunes of his dogmatic teaching.
16
relevant circumstances.62 His insight into custom as unwritten law opened the way for the historical awareness of the development the of natural and positive law. 4. He used the juridic principle of the promulgation of law to demonstrate how conscience has to know and assimilate law personally and actively. His term was that law had to be promulgated to conscience. This is necessary for it to become an effective organising principle in society, obliging those subject to it. Conscience, as described in his first tract, is thereby acknowledged as not merely an individual but a social reality. This should not be confused with the privatisation of morality afoot today. He uses conscience, instead, to humanise law so that society and its values must be judged in relation to the person as a social being with a communal destiny. 63 This furnishes a profound dynamic whereby law and conscience interact positively to construct social institutions according to moral principle. There are many other moral values that could fruitfully be retrieved. The most difficult question is the relation that should obtain between law and morality. Vereecke has summed up the practical difference involved by highlighting how Alphonsuss moral realism provided a stable point of reference when treating of jurists and their work in positive law. Dobbiamo capire la differenza he says,che esiste tra giurisprudenza e morale. La dottrina dei grandi giuristi non soltanto interpretiva, ma crea il diritto: fa giurisprudenza. Ma i tesi dei moralisti apporta soltanto le presunzione della validit dei principi intrinsici. 64 Alphonsus was a moral realist because he held it is necessary first to attend to rational arguments before having recourse to authority to settle a case. And even the appeal to authority is no blind act of confidence but has to be judged by its inherent worth. He wrote, Bisogna attendere principalmente alla forza degli argumenti intrinsici.65 Alphonsuss moral realism allowed him to deal with Gods transcendence encountered in the midst of life. His staring-point was his own experience of
62 . See P. Perlingieri, Alfonso de Liguri giurista, Edizioni scientifiche italiane, Roma 1988,
25-30.
63 . Vatican II G.S. no.16 expresses Alphonsuss conception of consciences social force. 64 . L. Vereecke,SantAlfonso giurista. La formazione giuridica e linflusso sulla morale, in
S.M., XXXI(1993)2, 277.

65 . Lettere, I.. 176.
17
TERENCE KENNEDY
Gods overwhelming mercy calling him to defend le cause dei poveri peccatori. His forma mentis was that of a defence lawyer forever seeking the moral truth at the heart of human situations. His sense of Gods equity towards sinners informed his moral theology so that all his reasoning was at the service of salvation in Christ. His achievement can be gleaned from his tract on law where he demonstrates the moral foundations of the legal order, and the juridic shape the Churchs life should assume in history to become the community of salvation. Conclusion The Church is presently examining her historical memory to see what her policy and tactics in evangelising contemporary culture should be. She looks to history as a maestra vitae. Several reasons have been cited for her success in the past. In particular, she overcame the pagan conceptions of nature, man, God and religion in the Roman empire. Her claims convinced people of the truth of the Christian religion. The Gospel took hold because it satisfied the human mind. Cardinal Eyt,66 however, has criticised the above list as an inadequate basis for such a programme. What is lacking is law. Now in all respects, law is a central notion in Roman antiquity as in primitive Christianity. He further asserts that to forget law is to lose contact with the present reality of our world and its institutions. Without law Christians will be unable to find real solutions to the worlds problems. St. Alphonsus joined laws truth claims with its power to transform society. His moral realism is an inspiration and a challenge for us to use law positively, always keeping in mind the salvation of souls, which in the Church must always be the supreme law. (Can. 1752) Terence Kennedy, C.SS.R.
66 . The Churchs Response to Contemporary Problems, in Origins, Vol. 29, no. 37, (March
2, 2000) 606.
18

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El realismo moral de san Alfonso con respecto a la ley

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El realismo moral de san Alfonso con respecto a la ley

El realismo moral de san Alfonso con respecto a la ley

El realismo moral de san Alfonso con respecto a la ley

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El realismo moral de san Alfonso con respecto a la ley

El realismo moral de san Alfonso con respecto a la ley

El realismo moral de san Alfonso con respecto a la ley

El realismo moral de san Alfonso con respecto a la ley

El realismo moral de san Alfonso con respecto a la ley

El realismo moral de san Alfonso con respecto a la ley

ST. ALPHONSUSS MORAL REALISM REGARDING LAW

PS Editorial, Madrid 1986.

novecento, Vol. I., G. C. Sansoni Editore, Firenze 1967, 258-294.

St. Alphonsuss moral realism regarding law

40 . S. Alfonso M. de Liguori, Selva di materie predicabili, Giacinto Marietti, Torino1890, Parte

II., Istruz. VIII., 152-153.

Cerf, Paris 1962, 61-74.

St. Alphonsuss moral realism regarding law

42 . Introduction to Alfonso de Liguoris , Degli obbligi de giudici, avvocati, accusatori e rei ,

Setterio, Palermo 1998, 9-26.

St. Alphonsuss moral realism regarding law

45 . Gaud, II. 689.

St. Alphonsuss moral realism regarding law

Alfonso de Liguori: Contributi bio-bibliografici, Morcelliana, Milano 1940, 168.

50 . The Sociology of Moral Theology in S.M., IX(1971), 171. 51 . Ibid. 173.

St. Alphonsuss moral realism regarding law

redenzione, a cura di L. Alvarez Verdes e S. Majorano, EDACALF, Roma 1983, 183.

St. Alphonsuss moral realism regarding law

Oxford 2000, 15-37.

St. Alphonsuss moral realism regarding law

61 . See G. Cacciatore, S. Alfonso de Liguori e il giasenismo , Editrice firorentina, Firenze

St. Alphonsuss moral realism regarding law

S.M., XXXI(1993)2, 277.

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