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The misunderstanding of "natural rights" as arbitrary, man-given "civil rights" rests on a misunderstanding of human nature. A proper under- standing of human nature considers man's fallen nature and his commu- nal nature. The American founders understood both. In Federalist 51, James Madison wrote, "What is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary." Because man is fallen, government is necessary. But government also has an opportunity to bring fallen men together and help form habits of virtue that lead to happiness, which is directed to the good. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, every human action is motivated by a desire for happiness directed by intrinsic human incli- nations to the natural law. Some of these inclinations are shared with all animals (life, freedom, happiness), but man also has a natural inclination for the good, Aquinas says: "Thus man has a natural inclination to know the truth about God, and to live in society." 9 It is in society that man finds his deepest happiness, because he is a commu- nal creature, created in the imago Dei ("image of God"), who himself is a communion of persons in the Trinity. This is what is means to pursue hap- piness as a Christian – a point that was not lost on many of the American founders who ecumenically shared faith in God. 9 Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae I-II, art. 2. The American founders may not all have been theologians, but they did recognize human nature as fallen, inherently communal and possessing certain unalienable rights endowed by God. Because of these realities, Constitutional government is needed to secure and protect man's natural rights – the blessings of liberty enshrined in the Declaration of Inde- pendence and protected by the Con- stitution. There was no "wall of sep- aration" between the founders' faith and the work of government, other than to protect religious freedom from government encroachment. Faith directs moral action and it is an obligation for Catholics to engage in public discourse from the vantage point of their faith. As Pope Pius XI stated in his address Quadragesimo Anno (1931): "There resides in [the Church] the right and dut y to pronounce with supreme authorit y upon social and economic matters. Certainly the Church was not given the commis- sion to guide men to an only f leeting and perishable happiness but to that which is eternal " (41). All three of the blessings of liberty, natural rights self-evident in man, are most fulfilled in God. Because of Christ, man has life (Gen 2:7, Jn 10:10); because of Christ, man is free (2 Cor 3:17); because of Christ, man can pursue happiness in his ultimate end in him (Jn 3:16). And, as faithful Cath- olics, we are called to defend these natural rights in public discourse for the common good of all. The bless- ings of liberty provide a just frame- work of government, but they do not point man to his ultimate end in God. That is the work of the Church and her duty to engage with the faithful in public discourse and point man toward "that which is eternal." 15 DENVER CATHOLIC | OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2024 Human Nature The Blessings of Liberty and the Church Thus man has a natural inclination to know the truth about God, and to live in society." ST. THOMAS AQUINAS