1. Coons and Brennan note that the post-Vatican II Catechism of the Catholic Church, as well as Pope John Paul II's encyclical Veritatis splendor, “adopt[] a posture less warm to the premises of equality than that of Vatican II.” (210) Both say that a morally good act requires “the goodness of its object, of the intention with which it is performed, and of the circumstance.” (209) But what about the goodness of the person? Does that too depend on the objective goodness of the object of his act, or only on the goodness of the intention with which he acts? On this question, Coons and Brennan claim, the Catechism is silent, and Veritas splendor is equivocal.