Kupczak, Jarosław (Papieski Fakultet Teologiczny we Wrocławiu, 2002)
John Paul II provides in his papal teaching a coherent vision of realistic, Christian anthropology. Some of the fundamental statements of this anthropology are clearly expressed in John Paul II’ theory of God’s mercy, especially in his encyclical Dives in Misericordia written in 1980. Papal theory of mercy reveals that every human person is susceptible to evil and sin but also has always a chance to rise from the fall. In the process of conversion, a sinner returns to the truth about himself while discovering the borders of his autonomy, the limits of freedom and the fact of total dependence on God who is not a rival of man but a source of life and love. Mercy has also an important social dimension because, unlike strict justice, it is able to transcend the hostility and insensibility between people and build true community. The article provides also some examples (taken from the papal teaching) of the importance of mercy in the political and economic life.
