ABSTRACT
In 2005 Joseph Ratzinger was elected as the new pope. From 1981 he had led the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Pope Benedict's theological profile came to expression above all in the three encyclicals: Deus caritas est, Spe Salvi, and Caritas in Veritate. Pope Benedict criticizes the integration of freedom, reason and the will of the majority. The relationship between the Catholic Church and liberal democracy became tense, both under Pope Paul VI and John Paul II. The democratic liberal constitutional state is an institution the purpose of which is to secure the freedom of all citizens. When these participate as citizens in the process of government, they are regarded as free. A political system that purports to realize the Kingdom of God and in so doing subjugates the faith under a comprehensive political primacy leads to slavery. The result is a mythologically determined political system.
