I am reading Pope Leo XIII encyclical Libertas and have a question about paragraph 3.  Is anyone here well versed with Libertas?  Or able to refer me to a resource which explains it?

My question is about the use of the term "good".  About half way into the paragraph it reads:

"Reason sees that whatever things that are held to be good upon earth may exist or may not, and discerning that none of them are of necessity for us, it leaves the will free to choose what it pleases."

What does this mean?  What kind of "good" is he referring to?

further down it says:

"...so that, knowing the unchangeable and necessary reasons of what is true and good, it sees that no particular kind of good is necessary to us."

Unchangeable and necessary reasons?  What does this mean?  And again, what kind of "good" is he referring to?  Can anyone give me an example?

The last sentence reads:

When, therefore, it is established that man's soul is immortal and endowed with reason and not bound up with things material, the foundation of natural liberty is at once most firmly laid.

Why is this true?  I don't see the connection between the soul being immortal and how that fact lays the foundation for natural liberty.

Maybe studying encyclicals is over my head   :sad:

Marsha