In my last column, I explored what the Second Vatican Council taught regarding ecumenism. 

Here, I reflect on Dignitatis Humanae, the Council’s Declaration on Religious Liberty, promulgated on December 7, 1965. 

Religious freedom

Critics of this document, including the Society of Saint Pius X, would assert that religious freedom creates a culture of relativism or indifferentism, the idea that all religions are essentially the same and therefore whatever religious faith one embraces does not matter. 

In other words, if everyone has freedom of religion, then the centrality of revealed truth disappears. 

Dignitatis Humanae declares that the human person has a right to religious freedom . . . a right based on the very dignity of the human person. 

No one can be coerced to believe or to violate conscience. This fundamental principle must be enshrined in the civil law of every nation. 

Seeking the truth . . .

Coupled with this freedom from coercion is the equal principle that people are “both impelled by their nature and bound by a moral obligation to seek the truth, especially religious truth. They are also bound to adhere to the truth once they come to know it and direct their whole lives in accordance with the demands of truth” (#2). 

Governments, political leaders, and cultural institutions should give freedom, space, and encouragement to the practice of authentic religion within every community.

. . . leads to seeking God

The human person is a spiritual being, innately wired to seek God and to go beyond himself. 

This religious quest is the drama of every human life, but one that can only be realized in freedom and conscience. 

Just as God never imposes Himself on anyone, only freely inviting every person He created to seek Him, so too neither the Church nor the state can coerce religious adherence or belief. 

The Church proposes, never imposes. “From the very beginnings of the Church the disciples of Christ strove to convert men to confess Christ the Lord, not however by applying coercion or with the use of techniques unworthy of the Gospel, but above all, by the power of the word of God” (#11).  

These convictions do not suggest a relativism or indifferentism on the part of the Church, but simply an acknowledgment of human dignity and freedom.

Religious liberty

In many public conversations today, religious liberty is reduced to the freedom of worship. Such an understanding is woefully inadequate. 

Churches, religious schools, hospitals, and charities, as well as individuals, have the right to live out their faith, its consequences, and its teachings in the public square. 

Recent examples abound in our country of how the government sought to coerce Catholic institutions to provide health coverage for abortion, artificial contraception, and euthanasia. 

Such attempts are grave violations of religious freedom and must be resisted by all people of goodwill.

From a document issued by the Unites States Conference of Catholic Bishops Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, I quote the following: “As the title of the Declaration suggests, human dignity is central to Dignitatis Humanae. A most precious aspect of being human is the two-fold capacity to exercise reason and to respond to found truth. It is natural to ask, ‘How do I live a good life?’ ‘Who created this wonderful world, and how should I respond to this Creator?’ ‘Why is there suffering, and how should I alleviate it?’ Religious traditions offer answers to these deeply human questions. It is imperative for the sake of human dignity that people are free to pursue these questions. The pursuit of truth involves an ability to listen, for God has made us with a capacity to hear His Word. Religious freedom is the cornerstone of a society that promotes human dignity. It is a fundamental human right, for it follows on the duty of all people to seek the truth about God.”

Union or separation of Church and state?

In our Catholic history, the union of the Church and state reached its apex in medieval Europe, producing some good fruit — the creation of a Catholic culture; the understanding that political rulers are subject to the authority of God and the moral law; support for the rights (limited as they may have been) and the dignity of serfs; and a unified, effective support for schools, hospitals, and charitable operations. 

Together, the Church and secular rulers accomplished much good.

This union, however, also had deleterious effects on the life of the Church. 

Corrupt men, more interested in political power and material wealth than in the Gospel and the service of God’s people, became popes and bishops.  

The Church often was caught up in the political and military struggles of the day. 

Kings and governments had undue influence over the appointment of bishops and the election of popes. 

In more modern times, some bishops hesitated to criticize the unjust actions of government leaders because of inappropriately fused common interests.  

Ideally, the separation of Church and state, combined with religious liberty, gives the Church the freedom and space to accomplish Her mission in the world unhindered. 

Catholics seek to contribute to the common good, joining with other believers and people of good will to build a just, humane, and loving society.  

We propose the Gospel to the world, as Jesus did, joyfully inviting every person to make a free and determined decision to accept the salvation which the Lord offers us through the Church.