"Tolerance, freedom and dialogue" are "important values", which must "be rightly defended", but "a tolerance that makes no distinction between good and evil becomes chaotic and self-destructive, a freedom that does not respect other people’s freedom and our common measure of humanity becomes anarchy and destroys authority, a dialogue that does not know what to talk about any more becomes an empty chat". This is the strong warning made by the Pope today, during the general audience before about 14 thousand devotees , entirely focussed on the figure of Saint Maximus the Confessor, "a brave witness of his faith in Christ, true God and true man, the Saviour of the world", born in Palestine around 580 and died in exile on 13 August 662. "Tolerance, freedom and dialogue went on the Holy Father are great, fundamental values, but they can remain such insofar as they retain the grounds that unite them". These "grounds", as testified by Saint Maximus, are "the synthesis between God and the cosmos in the figure of Christ, in which we learn the truth about ourselves and how to place the other values, because we have their right meaning". The Pontiff ended today’s catechesis quoting Saint Maximus’ words: "we worship one Son, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit, as we did before the time, so we do now, and we will do for all the time, and for the time after the time". (continued)
