Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/5308

5308 The human being is responsible for the will....

February 2, 1952: Book 59

Whether good or evil comes to blossom in the human being is his own will, which cannot be forced from any side, even if the human being claims to have to act under a certain compulsion. His will can resist compulsion at any time, even if he is physically too weak to offer resistance. Yet he must always answer for his will, for it is and remains free, and a person's direction of will shapes him into a good or evil being, the direction of will determines his way of life, his attitude towards God and his fate one day in eternity, for what the human being does as such he does consciously as directed for or against divine order, and God judges this conscious will according to justice.

But for this reason He also takes care that the human being is informed of His will during his earthly life, to which the human will should submit if it wants to live in divine order. What goes against divine will is evil, and this is also perceived as bad by the human being, for he usually acts in secret as soon as he is surrounded by people who are concerned about divine will. And if he acts openly in front of them then his will is consciously directed against God, then he is undeniably recognizable as a representative of the one who is against God. And the effects of his actions will always be to the detriment of his fellow human beings, he obviously acts against love and causes suffering to his fellow human beings, he drives them into adversity and misery and thus abuses his free will to commit bad actions for which he will one day have to answer. Since he himself as a human being has the same feelings as his fellow human beings, he also knows that everything which harms his fellow human being is bad, and he can never portray his actions as right and conscientious, he can never absolve himself of guilt, although he does not want to acknowledge an eternal judge over him.... And if he believes to possess the right of the strong over the weak, he himself would also have to bow to a stronger person and approve of his bad deeds, which, however, is never the case but only drives him to increased uncharitable action.... His will is wrongly directed, of his own accord, despite recognition and knowledge of the laws of eternal order, which are constantly placed before his eyes by the conduct of good people who let him recognize his actions as through a mirror.... A bad person is always given the opportunity to reflect, his God-opposing way of life is always held up to him so that he will recognize himself and try to change.... But his free will must always be active, which can be good and need not be bad....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers