| PAUL, BISHOP
SERVANT OF THE SERVANTS OF
GOD TOGETHER WITH THE
FATHERS OF THE SACRED
FOR EVERLASTING MEMORY
NOSTRA AETATE
DECLARATION
ON THE RELATION OF THE
CHURCH TO NON-CHRISTIAN
RELIGIONS
In our time, when day by day mankind is being drawn closer together, and the
ties between different peoples are becoming stronger, the Church examines
more closely her relationship to non-Christian religions. In her tasks of
promoting unity and love among men, indeed among nations, she considers
above all in this declaration what men have in common and what draws them to
fellowship.
One is the community of all peoples, one their origin, for God made the
whole human race to live over the face of the earth (1). One also is their
final goal, God. His providence, His manifestations of goodness, His saving
design extend to all men (2), until that time when the elect will be united
in the Holy City, the city ablaze with the glory of God, where the nations
will walk in His light (3).
Men expect from the various religions answers to the unsolved riddles of the
human condition, which today, even as in former times, deeply stir the
hearts of men: What is man? What is the meaning, the aim of our life? What
is moral good, what sin? Whence suffering and what purpose does it serve?
Which is the road to true happiness? What are death, judgement and
retribution after death? What, finally is the ultimate inexpressible mystery
which encompasses our existence: whence do we come, and where are we going?
2. From ancient times down to the present, there is found among various
peoples a certain perception of that hidden power which hovers over the
course of things and over the events of human history; at times some indeed
have come to the recognition of a Supreme Being, or even of a Father. This
perception and recognition penetrates their lives with a profound religious
sense.
Religions, however, that are bound up with an advanced culture have
struggled to answer the same questions by means of more refined concepts and
a more developed language. Thus in Hinduism, men contemplate the divine
mystery and express it through an inexhaustible abundance of myths and
through searching philosophical inquiry. They seek freedom from the anguish
of our human condition either through ascetical practices or profound
meditation or a flight to God with love and trust. Again, Buddhism, in its
various forms, realizes the radical insufficiency of this changeable world;
it teaches a way by which men, in a devout and confident spirit, may be able
either to acquire the state of perfect liberation, or attain, by their own
efforts or through higher help, supreme illumination. Likewise, other
religions found everywhere try to counter the restlessness of the human
heart, each in its own manner, by proposing "ways," comprising teachings,
rules of life, and sacred rites.
The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these
religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of
life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects
from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of
that Truth which enlightens all men. Indeed, she proclaims, and ever must
proclaim Christ, "the way the truth, and the life" (John 14, 6), in whom men
may find the fullness of religious life, in whom God has reconciled all
things to Himself (4).
The Church therefore, exhorts her sons, that through dialogue and
collaboration with the followers of other religions, carried out with
prudence and love and in witness to the Christian faith and life, they
recognize, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as
well as the socio-cultural values found among these men.
3. The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God,
living and subsisting in Himself, merciful and all-powerful, the Creator of
heaven and earth (5), who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit
wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom
the faith of Islam takes great pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God.
Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet.
They also honor Mary, His virgin mother; at times they even call on her with
devotion. In addition, they await the day of judgement when God will render
their deserts to all those who have been raised up from the dead. Finally,
they value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer,
almsgiving and fasting.
Since in the course of centuries not a few quarrels and hostilities have
arisen between Christians and Moslems, this Sacred Synod urges all to forget
the past and to work sincerely for mutual understanding and to preserve as
well as to promote together for the benefit of all mankind social justice
and moral welfare, as well as peace and freedom.
4. As the Sacred Synod searches into the mystery of the Church, it remembers
the bond that spiritually ties the people of the New Covenant to Abraham's
stock.
Thus the Church of Christ acknowledges that, according to God's saving
design, the beginnings of her faith and her election are found already among
the Patriarchs, Moses and the prophets. She professes that all who believe
in Christ -- Abraham's sons according to faith (6) -- are included in the
same Patriarch's call, and likewise that the salvation of the Church is
mysteriously foreshadowed by the chosen people's exodus from the land of
bondage. The Church, therefore, cannot forget that she received the
revelation of the Old Testament through the people with whom God in His
inexpressible mercy concluded the Ancient Covenant. Nor can she forget that
she draws sustenance from the root of that well-cultivated olive tree onto
which have been grafted the wild shoots, the Gentiles (7). Indeed, the
Church believes that by His cross Christ Our Peace reconciled Jews and
Gentiles, making both one in Himself (8).
The Church keeps ever in mind the words of the Apostle about his kinsmen:
"There is the sonship and the glory and the covenants and the law and the
worship and the promises; theirs are the fathers and from them is the Christ
according to the flesh" (Rom. 8, 4-5), the Son of the Virgin Mary. She also
recalls that the Apostles, the Church's main-stay and pillars, as well as
most of the early disciples who proclaimed Christ's Gospel to the world,
sprang from the Jewish people.
As Holy Scripture testifies, Jerusalem did not recognize the time of her
visitation (9), nor did the Jews, in large number, accept the Gospel; indeed
not a few opposed its spreading (10). Nevertheless God holds the Jews most
dear for the sake of their Fathers; He does not repent of the gifts He makes
or of the calls He issues -- such is the witness of the Apostle (11). In
company with the Prophets and the same Apostle, the Church awaits that day,
known to God alone, on which all peoples will address the Lord in a single
voice and "serve him shoulder to shoulder" (Soph. 3, 9) (12).
Since the spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews is thus so
great, this Sacred Synod wants to foster and recommend that mutual
understanding and respect which is the fruit, above all, of biblical and
theological studies as well as fraternal dialogues.
True, the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for
the death of Christ (13); still, what happened in His passion cannot be
charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against
the Jews of today. Although the Church is the new People of God, the Jews
should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed
from the Holy Scriptures. All should see to it, then, that in catechetical
work or in the preaching of the Word of God they do not teach anything that
does not conform to the truth of the Gospel and the spirit of Christ.
Furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any man, the
Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by
political reasons but by the Gospel's spiritual love, decries hatred,
persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time
and by anyone.
Besides, as the Church has always held and holds now, Christ underwent His
passion and death freely, because of the sins of men and out of infinite
love, in order that all may reach salvation. It is, therefore, the burden of
the Church's preaching to proclaim the cross of Christ as the sign of God's
all-embracing love and as the fountain from which every grace flows.
5. We cannot truly call on God, the Father of all, if we refuse to treat in
a brotherly way any man, created as he is in the image of God. Man's
relation to God the Father and his relation to men his brothers are so
linked together that Scripture says: "He who does not love does not know
God" (1 John 4, 8).
No foundation therefore remains for any theory or practice that leads to
discrimination between man and the man or people and people, so far as their
human dignity and the rights flowing from it are concerned.
The Church reproves, as foreign to the mind of Christ, any discrimination
against men or harassment of them because of their race, color, condition of
life, or religion. On the contrary, following in the footsteps of the holy
Apostles Peter and Paul, this Sacred Synod ardently implores the Christian
faithful to "maintain good fellowship among the nations" (1 Peter 2, 12),
and, if possible to live for their part in peace with all men (14), so that
they many truly be sons of the Father who is in heaven (15).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The entire text and all the individual elements which have been set forth in
this Declaration have pleased the Fathers. And by the Apostolic power
conferred on us by Christ, we, together with the Venerable Fathers, in the
Holy Spirit, approve, decree and enact them; and we order that what has been
thus enacted in Council be promulgated, to the glory of God.
Rome, at St. Peter's, 28 October, 1965.
I, PAUL, Bishop of the Catholic Church
There follow the signatures of the Fathers.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes:
(1) Cf. Acts 17, 26
(2) Cf. Wis. 8, 1; Acts 14, 17; Rom. 2, 6-7; 1 Tim 2, 4.
(3) Cf. Apoc. 21, 23f.
(4) Cf 2 Cor. 5, 18-19.
(5) Cf St. Gregory VII, Letter XXI to Anzir (Nacir), King of Mauritania
(PL 148, col 450 f.)
(6) Cf. Gal. 3, 7.
(7) Cf. Rom. 11, 17-24.
(8) Cf. Eph. 2, 14-16.
(9) Cf. Luke 19, 44.
(10) Cf. Rom. 11, 28.
(11) Cf. Rom 11, 28-29; cf Dogmatic Constitution, Lumen Gentium (Light of
Nations), AAS, 55 (1965), p. 20.
(12) Cf Is. 66, 23; Ps 65, 4: Rom. 11, 11-32.
(13) Cf. John 19, 6.
(14) Cf. Rom. 12, 18.
(15) Cf. Matt. 5, 45.
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|
| DECLARATION ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
DIGNITATIS HUMANAE
Proclaimed By His Holiness, Pope Paul VI on December 7, 1965.
1. A sense of the dignity of the human person has been impressing itself
more and more deeply on the consciousness of contemporary man,[1] and the
demand is increasingly made that men should act on their own judgment,
enjoying and making use of a responsible freedom, not driven by coercion but
motivated by a sense of duty. The demand is likewise made that
constitutional limits should be set to the powers of government, in order
that there may be no encroachment on the rightful freedom of the person and
of associations. This demand for freedom in human society chiefly regards
the quest for the values proper to the human spirit. It regards, in the
first place, the free exercise of religion in society. This Vatican Council
takes careful note of these desires in the minds of men. It proposes to
declare them to be greatly in accord with truth and justice. To this end, it
searches into the sacred tradition and doctrine of the Church--the treasury
out of which the Church continually brings forth new things that are in
harmony with the things that are old.
First, the council professes its belief that God Himself has made known to
mankind the way in which men are to serve Him, and thus be saved in Christ
and come to blessedness. We believe that this one true religion subsists in
the Catholic and Apostolic Church, to which the Lord Jesus committed the
duty of spreading it abroad among all men. Thus He spoke to the Apostles:
"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I have enjoined upon you" (Matt. 28: 19-20).
On their part, all men are bound to seek the truth, especially in what
concerns God and His Church, and to embrace the truth they come to know, and
to hold fast to it.
This Vatican Council likewise professes its belief that it is upon the human
conscience that these obligations fall and exert their binding force. The
truth cannot impose itself except by virtue of its own truth, as it makes
its entrance into the mind at once quietly and with power.
Religious freedom, in turn, which men demand as necessary to fulfill their
duty to worship God, has to do with immunity from coercion in civil society.
Therefore it leaves untouched traditional Catholic doctrine on the moral
duty of men and societies toward the true religion and toward the one Church
of Christ.
Over and above all this, the council intends to develop the doctrine of
recent popes on the inviolable rights of the human person and the
constitutional order of society.
2. This Vatican Council declares that the human person has a right to
religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from
coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human
power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary
to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in
association with others within due limits.
The council further declares that the right to religious freedom has its
foundation in the very dignity of the human person as this dignity is known
through the revealed word of God and by reason itself.[2] This right of the
human person to religious freedom is to be recognized in the constitutional
law whereby society is governed and thus it is to become a civil right.
It is in accordance with their dignity as persons--that is, beings endowed
with reason and free will and therefore privileged to bear personal
responsibility--that all men should be at once impelled by nature and also
bound by a moral obligation to seek the truth, especially religious truth.
They are also bound to adhere to the truth, once it is known, and to order
their whole lives in accord with the demands of truth. However, men cannot
discharge these obligations in a manner in keeping with their own nature
unless they enjoy immunity from external coercion as well as psychological
freedom. Therefore the right to religious freedom has its foundation not in
the subjective disposition of the person, but in his very nature. In
consequence, the right to this immunity continues to exist even in those who
do not live up to their obligation of seeking the truth and adhering to it
and the exercise of this right is not to be impeded, provided that just
public order be observed.
3. Further light is shed on the subject if one considers that the highest
norm of human life is the divine law--eternal, objective and
universal--whereby God orders, directs and governs the entire universe and
all the ways of the human community by a plan conceived in wisdom and love.
Man has been made by God to participate in this law, with the result that,
under the gentle disposition of divine Providence, he can come to perceive
ever more fully the truth that is unchanging. Wherefore every man has the
duty, and therefore the right, to seek the truth in matters religious in
order that he may with prudence form for himself right and true judgments of
conscience, under use of all suitable means.
Truth, however, is to be sought after in a manner proper to the dignity of
the human person and his social nature. The inquiry is to be free, carried
on with the aid of teaching or instruction, communication and dialogue, in
the course of which men explain to one another the truth they have
discovered, or think they have discovered, in order thus to assist one
another in the quest for truth.
Moreover, as the truth is discovered, it is by a personal assent that men
are to adhere to it.
On his part, man perceives and acknowledges the imperatives of the divine
law through the mediation of conscience. In all his activity a man is bound
to follow his conscience in order that he may come to God, the end and
purpose of life. It follows that he is not to be forced to act in a manner
contrary to his conscience. Nor, on the other hand, is he to be restrained
from acting in accordance with his conscience, especially in matters
religious. The reason is that the exeise of religion, of its very nature,
consists before all else in those internal, voluntary and free acts whereby
man sets the course of his life directly toward God. No merely human power
can either command or prohibit acts of this kind.[3] The social nature of
man, however, itself requires that he should give external expression to his
internal acts of religion: that he should share with others in matters
religious; that he should profess his religion in community. Injury
therefore is done to the human person and to the very order established by
God for human life, if the free exercise of religion is denied in society,
provided just public order is observed.
There is a further consideration. The religious acts whereby men, in private
and in public and out of a sense of personal conviction, direct their lives
to God transcend by their very nature the order of terrestrial and temporal
affairs. Government therefore ought indeed to take account of the religious
life of the citizenry and show it favor, since the function of government is
to make provision for the common welfare. However, it would clearly
transgress the limits set to its power, were it to presume to command or
inhibit acts that are religious.
4. The freedom or immunity from coercion in matters religious which is the
endowment of persons as individuals is also to be recognized as their right
when they act in community. Religious communities are a requirement of the
social nature both of man and of religion itself.
Provided the just demands of public order are observed, religious
communities rightfully claim freedom in order that they may govern
themselves according to their own norms, honor the Supreme Being in public
worship, assist their members in the practice of the religious life,
strengthen them by instruction, and promote institutions in which they may
join together for the purpose of ordering their own lives in accordance with
their religious principles.
Religious communities also have the right not to be hindered, either by
legal measures or by administrative action on the part of government, in the
selection, training, appointment, and transferal of their own ministers, in
communicating with religious authorities and communities abroad, in erecting
buildings for religious purposes, and in the acquisition and use of suitable
funds or properties.
Religious communities also have the right not to be hindered in their public
teaching and witness to their faith, whether by the spoken or by the written
word. However, in spreading religious faith and in introducing religious
practices everyone ought at all times to refrain from any manner of action
which might seem to carry a hint of coercion or of a kind of persuasion that
would be dishonorable or unworthy, especially when dealing with poor or
uneducated people. Such a manner of action would have to be considered an
abuse of one's right and a violation of the right of others.
In addition, it comes within the meaning of religious freedom that religious
communities should not be prohibited from. freely undertaking to show the
special value of their doctrine in what concerns the organization of society
and the inspiration of the whole of human activity. Finally, the social
nature of man and the very nature of religion afford the foundation of the
right of men freely to hold meetings and to establish educational, cultural,
charitable and social organizations, under the impulse of their own
religious sense.
5. The family, since it is a society in its own original right, has the
right freely to live its own domestic religious life under the guidance of
parents. Parents, moreover, have the right to determine, in accordance with
their own religious beliefs, the kind of religious education that their
children are to receive. Government, in consequence, must acknowledge the
right of parents to make a genuinely free choice of schools and of other
means of education, and the use of this freedom of choice is not to be made
a reason for imposing unjust burdens on parents, whether directly or
indirectly. Besides, the right of parents are violated, if their children
are forced to attend lessons or instructions which are not in agreement with
their religious beliefs, or if a single system of education, from which all
religious formation is excluded, is imposed upon all.
6. Since the common welfare of society consists in the entirety of those
conditions of social life under which men enjoy the possibility of achieving
their own perfection in a certain fullness of measure and also with some
relative ease, it chiefly consists in the protection of the rights, and in
the performance of the duties, of the human person.[4] Therefore the care of
the right to religious freedom devolves upon the whole citizenry, upon
social groups, upon government, and upon the Church and other religious
communities, in virtue of the duty of all toward the common welfare, and in
the manner proper to each.
The protection and promotion of the inviolable rights of man ranks among the
essential duties of government.[5] Therefore government is to assume the
safeguard of the religious freedom of all its citizens, in an effective
manner, by just laws and by other appropriate means.
Government is also to help create conditions favorable to the fostering of
religious life, in order that the people may be truly enabled to exercise
their religious rights and to fulfill their religious duties, and also in
order that society itself may profit by the moral qualities of justice and
peace which have their origin in men's faithfulness to God and to His holy
will.[6]
If, in view of peculiar circumstances obtaining among peoples, special civil
recognition is given to one religious community in the constitutional order
of society, it is at the same time imperative that the right of all citizens
and religious communities to religious freedom should be recognized and made
effective in practice.
Finally, government is to see to it that equality of citizens before the
law, which is itself an element of the common good, is never violated,
whether openly or covertly, for religious reasons. Nor is there to be
discrimination among citizens.
It follows that a wrong is done when government imposes upon its people, by
force or fear or other means, the profession or repudiation of any religion,
or when it hinders men from joining or leaving a religious community. All
the more is it a violation of the will of God and of the sacred rights of
the person and the family of nations when force is brought to bear in any
way in order to destroy or repress religion, either in the whole of mankind
or in a particular country or in a definite community.
7. The right to religious freedom is exercised in human society: hence its
exercise is subject to certain regulatory norms. In the use of all freedoms
the moral principle of personal and social responsibility is to be observed.
In the exercise of their rights, individual men and social groups are bound
by the moral law to have respect both for the rights of others and for their
own duties toward others and for the common welfare of all. Men are to deal
with their fellows in justice and civility.
Furthermore, society has the right to defend itself against possible abuses
committed on the pretext of freedom of religion. It is the special duty of
government to provide this protection. However, government is not to act in
an arbitrary fashion or in an unfair spirit of partisanship. Its action is
to be controlled by juridical norms which are in conformity with the
objective moral order. These norms arise out of the need for the effective
safeguard of the rights of all citizens and for the peaceful settlement of
conflicts of rights, also out of the need for an adequate care of genuine
public peace, which comes about when men live together in good order and in
true justice, and finally out of the need for a proper guardianship of
public morality.
These matters constitute the basic component of the common welfare: they are
what is meant by public order. For the rest, the usages of society are to be
the usages of freedom in their full range: that is, the freedom of man is to
be respected as far as possible and is not to be curtailed except when and
insofar as necessary.
8. Many pressures are brought to bear upon the men of our day, to the point
where the danger arises lest they lose the possibility of acting on their
own judgment. On the other hand, not a few can be found who seem inclined to
use the name of freedom as the pretext for refusing to submit to authority
and for making light of the duty of obedience. Wherefore this Vatican
Council urges everyone, especially those who are charged with the task of
educating others, to do their utmost to form men who, on the one hand, will
respect the moral order and be obedient to lawful authority, and, on the
other hand, will be lovers of true freedom--men, in other words, who will
come to decisions on their own judgment and in the light of truth, govern
their activities with a sense of responsibility, and strive after what is
true and right, willing always to join with others in cooperative effort.
Religious freedom therefore ought to have this further purpose and aim,
namely, that men may come to act with greater responsibility in fulfilling
their duties in community life.
9. The declaration of this Vatican Council on the right of man to religious
freedom has its foundation in the dignity of the person, whose exigencies
have come to be more fully known to human reason through centuries of
experience. What is more, this doctrine of freedom has roots in divine
revelation, and for this reason Christians are bound to respect it all the
more conscientiously. Revelation does not indeed affirm in so many words the
right- of man to immunity from external coercion in matters religious. It
does, however, disclose the dignity of the human person in its full
dimensions. It gives evidence of the respect which Christ showed toward the
freedom with which man is to fulfill his duty of belief in the word of God
and it gives us lessons in the spirit which disciples of such a Master ought
to adopt and continually follow. Thus further light is cast upon the general
principles upon which the doctrine of this declaration on religious freedom
is based. In particular, religious freedom in society is entirely consonant
with the freedom of the act of Christian faith.
10. It is one of the major tenets of Catholic doctrine that man's response
to God in faith must be free: no one therefore is to be forced to embrace
the Christian faith against his own will.[8] This doctrine is contained in
the word of God and it was constantly proclaimed by the Fathers of the
Church.[7] The act of faith is of its very nature a free act. Man, redeemed
by Christ the Savior and through Christ Jesus called to be God's adopted
son,[9] cannot give his adherence to God revealing Himself unless, under the
drawing of the Father,[10] he offers to God the reasonable and free
submission of faith. It is therefore completely in accord with the nature of
faith that in matters religious every manner of coercion on the part of men
should be excluded. In consequence, the principle of religious freedom makes
no small contribution to the creation of an environment in which men can
without hindrance be invited to the Christian faith, embrace it of their own
free will, and profess it effectively in their whole manner of life.
11. God calls men to serve Him in spirit and in truth, hence they are bound
in conscience but they stand under no compulsion. God has regard for the
dignity of the human person whom He Himself created and man is to be guided
by his own judgment and he is to enjoy freedom. This truth appears at its
height in Christ Jesus, in whom God manifested Himself and His ways with
men. Christ is at once our Master and our Lord[11] and also meek and humble
of heart.[12] In attracting and inviting His disciples He used patience.[13]
He wrought miracles to illuminate His teaching and to establish its truth,
but His intention was to rouse faith in His hearers and to confirm them in
faith, not to exert coercion upon them.[14] He did indeed denounce the
unbelief of some who listened to Him, but He left vengeance to God in
expectation of the day of judgment.[15] When He sent His Apostles into the
world, He said to them: "He who believes and is baptized will be saved. He
who does not believe will be condemned" (Mark 16:16). But He Himself, noting
that the cockle had been sown amid the wheat, gave orders that both should
be allowed to grow until the harvest time, which will come at the end of the
world.[16] He refused to be a political messiah, ruling by force:[17] He
preferred to call Himself the Son of Man, who came "to serve and to give his
life as a ransom for the many" (Mark 10:45). He showed Himself the perfect
servant of God,[18] who "does not break the bruised reed nor extinguish the
smoking flax" (Matt. 12:20).
He acknowledged the power of government and its rights, when He commanded
that tribute be given to Caesar: but He gave clear warning that the higher
rights of God are to be kept inviolate: "Render to Caesar the things that
are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's" (Matt. 22:21). In the
end, when He completed on the cross the work of redemption whereby He
achieved salvation and true freedom for men,
He brought His revelation to completion. For He bore witness to the
truth,[19] but He refused to impose the truth by force on those who spoke
against it. Not by force of blows does His will assert its claims.[20] It is
established by witnessing to the truth and by hearing the truth, and it
extends its dominion by the love whereby Christ, lifted up on the cross,
draws all men to Himself.[21]
Taught by the word and example of Christ, the Apostles followed the same
way. From the very origins of the Church the disciples of Christ strove to
convert men to faith in Christ as the Lord; not, however, by the use of
coercion or of devices unworthy of the Gospel, but by the power, above all,
of the word of God.[22] Steadfastly they proclaimed to all the plan of God
our Savior, "who wills that all men should be saved and come to the
acknowledgment of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4). At the same time, however, they
showed respect for those of weaker stuff, even though they were in error,
and thus they made it plain that "each one of us is to render to God an
account of himself' (Romans 14:12),[23] and for that reason is bound to obey
his conscience. Like Christ Himself, the Apostles were unceasingly bent upon
bearing witness to the truth of God, and they showed the fullest measure of
boldness in "speaking the word with confidence" (Acts 4:31)[24] before the
people and their rulers. With a firm faith they held that the Gospel is
indeed the power of God unto salvation for all who believe.[25] Therefore
they rejected all "carnal weapons"[26] they followed the example of the
gentleness and respectfulness of Christ and they preached the word of God in
the full confidence that there was resident in this word itself a divine
power able to destroy all the forces arrayed against God[27] and bring men
to faith in Christ and to His service.[28] As the Master, so too the
Apostles recognized legitimate civil authority. "For there is no power
except from God," the Apostle teaches, and thereafter commands: "Let
everyone be subject to higher authorities.... He who resists authority
resists God's ordinance" (Romans 13:1-5).[29] At the same time, however,
they did not hesitate to speak out against governing powers which set
themselves in opposition to the holy will of God: "It is necessary to obey
God rather than men" (Acts 5:29).[30] This is the way along which the
martyrs and other faithful have walked through all ages and over all the
earth.
12. In faithfulness therefore to the truth of the Gospel, the Church is
following the way of Christ and the apostles when she recognizes and gives
support to the principle of religious freedom as befitting the dignity of
man and as being in accord with divine revelation. Throughout the ages the
Church has kept safe and handed on the doctrine received from the Master and
from the apostles. In the life of the People of God, as it has made its
pilgrim way through the vicissitudes of human history, there has at times
appeared a way of acting that was hardly in accord with the spirit of the
Gospel or even opposed to it. Nevertheless, the doctrine of the Church that
no one is to be coerced into faith has always stood firm.
Thus the leaven of the Gospel has long been about its quiet work in the
minds of men, and to it is due in great measure the fact that in the course
of time men have come more widely to recognize their dignity as persons, and
the conviction has grown stronger that the person in society is to be kept
free from all manner of coercion in matters religious.
13. Among the things that concern the good of the Church and indeed the
welfare of society here on earth-- things therefore that are always and
everywhere to be kept secure and defended against all injury--this certainly
is preeminent, namely, that the Church should enjoy that full measure of
freedom which her care for the salvation of men requires.[31] This is a
sacred freedom, because the only-begotten Son endowed with it the Church
which He purchased with His blood. Indeed it is so much the property of the
Church that to act against it is to act against the will of God. The freedom
of the Church is the fundamental principle in what concerns the relations
between the Church and governments and the whole civil order.
In human society and in the face of government the Church claims freedom for
herself in her character as a spiritual authority, established by Christ the
Lord, upon which there rests, by divine mandate, the duty of going out into
the whole world and preaching the Gospel to every creature.[32] The Church
also claims freedom for herself in her character as a society of man who
have the right to live in society in accordance with the precepts of
Christian faith.[33]
In turn, where the principle of religious freedom is not only proclaimed in
words or simply incorporated in law but also given sincere and practical
application, there the Church succeeds in achieving a stable situation of
right as well as of fact and the independence which is necessary for the
fulfillment of her divine mission.
This independence is precisely what the authorities of the Church claim in
society.[34] At the same time, the Christian faithful, in common with all
other men, possess the civil right not to be hindered in leading their lives
in accordance with their consciences. Therefore, a harmony exists between
the freedom of the Church and the religious freedom which is to be
recognized as the right of all men and communities and sanctioned by
constitutional law.
14. In order to be faithful to the divine command, "teach all nations"
(Matt. 28:19-20), the Catholic Church must work with all urgency and concern
"that the word of God be spread abroad and glorified" (2 Thess. 3:1). Hence
the Church earnestly begs of its children that, "first of all,
supplications, prayers, petitions, acts of thanksgiving be made for all
men.... For this is good and agreeable in the sight of God our Savior, who
wills that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim.
2:1-4). In the formation of their consciences, the Christian faithful ought
carefully to attend to the sacred and certain doctrine of the Church.[35]
For the Church is, by the will of Christ, the teacher of the truth. It is
her duty to give utterance to, and authoritatively to teach, that truth
which is Christ Himself, and also to declare and confirm by her authority
those principles of the moral order which have their origins in human nature
itself. Furthermore, let Christians walk in wisdom in the face of those
outside, "in the Holy Spirit, in unaffected love, in the word of truth" (2
Cor. 6:6-7), and let them be about their task of spreading the light of life
with all confidence [36] and apostolic courage, even to the shedding of
their blood.
The disciple is bound by a grave obligation toward Christ, his Master, ever
more fully to understand the truth received from Him, faithfully to proclaim
it, and vigorously to defend it, never--be it understood--having recourse to
means that are incompatible with the spirit of the Gospel. At the same time,
the charity of Christ urges him to love and have prudence and patience in
his dealings with those who are in error or in ignorance with regard to the
faith.[37] All is to be taken into account--the Christian duty to Christ,
the life-giving word which must be proclaimed, the rights of the human
person, and the measure of grace granted by God through Christ to men who
are invited freely to accept and profess the faith.
15. The fact is that men of the present day want to be able freely to
profess their religion in private and in public. Indeed, religious freedom
has already been declared to be a civil right in most constitutions, and it
is solemnly recognized in international documents.[38] The further fact is
that forms of government still exist under which, even though freedom of
religious worship receives constitutional recognition, the powers of
government are engaged in the effort to deter citizens from the profession
of religion and to make life very difficult and dangerous for religious
communities.
This council greets with joy the first of these two facts as among the signs
of the times. With sorrow, however, it denounces the other fact, as only to
be deplored. The council exhorts Catholics, and it directs a plea to all
men, most carefully to consider how greatly necessary religious freedom is,
especially in the present condition of the human family. All nations are
coming into even closer unity. Men of different cultures and religions are
being brought together in closer relationships. There is a growing
consciousness of the personal responsibility that every man has. All this is
evident. Consequently, in order that relationships of peace and harmony be
established and maintained within the whole of mankind, it is necessary that
religious freedom be everywhere provided with an effective constitutional
guarantee and that respect be shown for the high duty and right of man
freely to lead his religious life in society.
May the God and Father of all grant that the human family, through careful
observance of the principle of religious freedom in society, may be brought
by the grace of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to the sublime and
unending and "glorious freedom of the sons of God" (Rom. 8:21).
Endnotes
1. Cf. John XXIII, encycl. "Pacem in Terris," April 11, 1963: AAS 55
(1963) p. 279; ibid., p. 265; Pius XII, radio message, Dec. 24, 1944:
AAS 37 (1945),pg. 14.
2. Cf. John XXIII, encycl. "Pacem in Terris," April 11, 1963: AAS 55
(1963), pp. 260-261; Pius XII, radio message, Dec. 24, 1942: AAS 35
(1943) p. 19; Pius XI, encycl. "Mit Brennender Sorge," March 14, 193i:
AAS 29 (1937), p. 160- Leo XIII, encycl. "Libertas Praestantissimum,"
June 20, 1888: Acts of Leo XIII 8 (1888), pp. 237-238.
3. Cf. John XXIII, encycl. "Pacem in Terris," April 11, 1963: AAS 55
(1963), p. 270- Paul VI, radio message, Dec. 22, 1964: AAS 57 (1965),
Pp. 181-182.
4. Cf. John XXIII, encycl. "Mater et Magistra," May 15, 1961: AAS 53
(1961), p. 417; idem, encycl. "Pacem in Terris," April 11, 1963: AAS 55
(1963), p. 273.
5. Cf. John XXIII, encycl. "Pacem in Terris," April 11, 1963: AAS 55
(1963) pp. 273-274; Pius XII, radio message, June 1, 1941: AAS 33
(1941),pg. 200.
6. Cf. Leo XIII, encycl. "Immortale Dei," Nov. 1, 1885: AAS 18 (1885) n.
161.
7. Cf. Lactantius "Divinarum Institutionum," Book V, 19: CSEL 19, pp.
463464, 465: PL 6, 614 and 616 (ch. 20); St. Ambrose, "Epistola ad
Valentianum Imp.," Letter 21: PL 16, 1005; St. Augustine, "Contra
Litteras Petiliani," Book II, ch. 83: CSEL 52 p. 112: PL 43, 315; cf.
C. 23, q. 5, c. 33, (ed. Friedberg, col. 939); idem, Letter 23: PL 33,
98; idem, Letter 34: PL 33, 132; idem, Letter 35: PL 33, 135; St.
Gregory the Great, "Epistola ad Virgilium et Theodorum Episcopos
Massiliae Galliarum," Register of Letters I, 45: MGH Ep. 1, p. 72: PL
77, 510-511 (Book I, ep. 47 ); idem, "Epistola ad Johannem Episcopum
Constantinopolitanum," Register of Letters, III, 52: MGH Letter 1, p.
210: PL 77, 649 (Book III, Letter 53), cf. D. 45, c. 1 (ed. Friedberg,
col. 160); Council of Toledo IV, c. 57: Mansi 10, 633; cf. D. 45, c. 5
(ed. Friedberg, col. 161-162); Clement III: X., V, 6, 9: ed. Friedberg,
col. 774; Innocent III, "Epistola ad Arelatensem Archiepiscopum," X.,
III, 42, 3: Friedberg, col. 646.
8. Cf. CIC, c. 1351- Pius XII, allocution to prelate auditors and other
officials and administrators of the tribune of the Holy Roman Rota,
Oct. 6, 1946: AAS 38 (1946), p. 394; idem. Encycl. "Mystici Corporis,"
June 29, 1943: AAS (1943) p. 243.
9. Cf. Eph. 1:5.
10. Cf. John 6:44.
11. Cf. John 13:13.
12. Cf. Matt. 11:29.
13. Cf. Matt. 11:28-30; John 6:67-68.
14. Cf. Matt. 9:28-29; Mark 9:23-24; 6:5-6; Paul VI, encycl. "Ecclesiam
Suam," Aug. 6, 1964: AAS 56 (1964), pp. 642-643.
15. Cf. Matt. 11:20-24; Rom. 12:19-20; 2 Thess. 1:8.
16. Cf. Matt. 13:30 and 40-42.
17. Cf. Matt. 4:8-10; John 6:15.
18. Cf. Is. 42:1-4.
19. Cf. John 18:37.
20. Cf. Matt. 26:51-53; John 18:36.
21. Cf. John 12:32.
22. Cf. 1 Cor. 2:3-5; 1 Thess. 2:3-5.
23. Cf. Rom. 14:1-23; 1 Cor. 8:9-13; 10:23-33.
24. Cf. Eph. 6:19-20.
25. Cf. Rom. 1:16.
26. Cf. 2 Cor. 10:4; 1 Thess. 5:8-9.
27. Cf. Eph. 6:11-17.
28. Cf. 2 Cor. 10:3-5.
29. Cf. 1 Pet. 2:13-17.
30. Cf. Acts 4 :19-20.
31. Cf. Leo XIII, letter "Officio Sanctissimo," Dec. 22, 1887: AAS 20
(1887), p. 269; idem, letter "Ex Litteris," April 7, 1887: AAS 19
(1886), p. 465.
32. Cf. Mark 16:15; Matt. 28:18-20; Pius XII, encycl. "Summi
Pontificatus," Oct. 20, 1939: AAS 31 (1939). pp. 445-446.
33. Cf. Pius XI, letter "Firmissiman Constantiam," March 28, 1937: AAS 29
(1937), p. 196.
34. Cf. Pius XII, allocution, "Ci Riesce," Dec. 6, 1953: AAS 45 (1953), p.
802.
35. Cf. Pius XII, radio message, March 23, 1952: AAS 44 (1952) pp.
270-278.
36. Cf. Acts 4:29.
37. Cf. John XXIII, encycl. "Pacem in Terris (1963), April 11, 1963:AAS
55pp. 299-300.
38. Cf. John XXIII, encycl. "Pacem in Terris," April 11, 1963: AAS 55
(1963) pp. 295-296.
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