On Liberty and Guilt . . .

"Humanity is a marvel," wrote Henri de Lubac, "wounded yet indestructible, which finds the meaning of its liberty in the confession of its guilt." Alas, however, he elsewhere observes:

Following another avenue of escape, which seeks its justification in a grandiose theory, there are those who wish to recognize only collective sin, "objectivized" sin, "social" sin, i.e. the sin committed by others. A universe is constructed where evil is everywhere denounced, but now where admitted; where it is always endured, never committed. By thus "transferring the evil which is in man to the evil in the structures" -- called "structures of sin" -- one is led, in addition, to the idea that man is essentially good, and that it is only society which corrupts him, and that he has no need of conversion of heart.