In the document of the Second Vatican Council entitled Gaudium et Spes, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, in article 51, one finds a reference to the concept of the human person adequately considered. The Latin translation is ex personae eiusdemque actuum natura desumptis.

Although the official translation reads that "the moral aspects of any procedure do not depend solely on sincere intentions or on an evaluation of motives, but must be determined by objective standards. These based on the nature of the human person and his acts", there is some loss in translation from Latin to English with regards to the real meaning of the term eiusdemque.

The translation should actually read something like 'the acts of the very same person' meaning that these acts should not just consider the material physical acts but also the intentionally motivated and practical personal decisions. The official commentary (EM, 104, Acta Synodalia, 4, VII, p. 502) in fact says that "the acts being spoken about here are not reducible to their mere biological aspects but actually refer to those activities of the human person integrally and adequately considered" that is the entire domain of human activity.

Whereas up till then the moral object of the act was determined on biological aspects of natural law, it became necessary now to look not only at the material object (finis operis) of the act but also the formal intention (finis operantis) of the actor and also the circumstances surrounding the act so that the finis operis is ultimately transformed into the finis operantis.

Henry Bergson states that "Being is becoming", not only are we changed from being the same persons through our life by the fourth dimension of space, which is time (vide Lorentz Transformations) which gives sense to Pope Francis' favourite saying that "time is greater than space", but also how we are transformed by our relationships to other people, the natural environment and of course God as a person. Essentially it is the basic inter-relational goods between our physical environment, other persons and God which determine the dynamics of our personhood. Man is created in the image of God, not only in so far as rationality and self-consciousness, but also in the inter-relationality of our being as reflected in the three Persons of the Trinity.

Man is historically situated and one must move from the interpretation of natural law based on the purely physical and biological point of view to one which is seen in the rational capacity of human persons, the so-called personalist interpretation or the dignity of the human person or human rights. After all, if natural law is our rational grasp of eternal law, we cannot ever be vainly satisfied that we can ever fully grasp the wholeness of eternal law! Morality should not only be a matter of tradition, but also be open to the everyday subjective experiences of people living together in everyday life where the objective criteria in fact become the dignity of the human person.

In furtherance to this aim, moral theology must be ready to dialogue with the new developments of the human sciences. It must be a dynamic morality if it is to be faithful to the new discoveries and evolution of the human sciences and the new situations of life.  Ultimately there is the role of conscience in the determining of moral truth. Conscience cannot be done individualistically but must be accomplished within community life, so that one comes to a process of learning in contact with others. Conscience presupposes a freedom where the individual's intellect, will, feelings and passion are distilled in the inner experience of the person where in complete freedom, one stands face to face with God as explained in Dignitatis Humanae, the Second Vatican Council's declaration on human freedom.

Pope Francis was a Pope who put all this into effect, he opened up the Church to everyone focusing on the concept of mercy and he showed that he truly believed in the human person adequately considered as the integral and adequate starting point of the moral act. His encyclicals and Apostolic Exhortations such as Laudatio Si on our responsibility to the natural environment, Amoris Laetitia on the pastoral care of families and human marital relationships, and Fratelli Tutti, on creating social relationships and fraternity through dialogue, are but a few examples of how he valued the concept of the dignity of the human person even in his insistence on synodality in the Church and creating more spaces for women, lay people and tolerance in general.

Soon, the Cardinals will file into the conclave imploring the Litany of the Saints and the Holy Spirit to guide their choices. These cardinals ought to consider what was said in Gaudium and Spes sixty years ago, as we cannot go back to a Church that imposes a rigid morality without listening and learning but one which promotes the concept of the dynamic of the human person and the new ways science shows us how best to deal with evolution of new things. There can be no space for a return to static concepts of morality based on a strictly biological concept of human nature.

I have no idea who the learned cardinals will choose to lead the Church forward. Although of course I have my personal favourites, it is not for me to do the biding of the Holy Spirit. The legacy that Francis left however needs to be considered in the next choice. To continue to probe the peripheries, to shun pomp and privilege, to look for and live with simplicity. There are a number of challenges that the new Pope must be able to tackle. The countering of the tendency of this current excessive individuality in politics. Just as Rerum Novarum of Leo XIII countered the political issues of Socialism and Capitalism in favour of the politics of the common good, so the modern fixation with populism and extreme individualism needs correcting in favour of an inter-relational politics which considers the ever-expanding global relationality and communication of human beings.

The second question one needs to deal with, is the problems of migration in a way that respects true human dignity and tolerance for everyone. Another issue is the true quest for peace between nations. Arrogant nations which still dream of using force to bully their neighbours into submission must be shown that this does not respect human dignity nor the basic concepts of justice, nor the dignity of true integral human development. Peace is not the absence of war but real integral human development and justice is.

Finally, it must be a Pope who constantly turns our attention to the abusive corrosion of God's creation and that nations must consider carefully not to abuse of this gift and common heritage of all.