Vatican II on Freedom of Religion, Dignitatis Humanae, and Pacem In Terris by Pope John XXIII

Today we will learn and reflect on the Vatican II Decree of
Religious Freedom. This was a controversial decree, which
surprised me and possibly most Americans, since we view
Freedom of Religion as a core value in Western Culture.
But American history differs from European history, so we
will ponder why this was such a controversial decree that
was debated in multiple Vatican II sessions spanning
several years.

We will show how these Vatican II changes were not forced
from above by liberal Popes but were supported by bishops
from around the world. Many commentators underemphasize
the huge impact the World War II experiences had on the
history of Vatican II, but Vatican II is totally unimaginable
without the vast changes this war against fascism and Naziism
wrought. The Catholic monarchies had been swept away in the
two great wars, but the Catholic Church had mixed and
disastrous experiences with the various fascist regimes of
World War II, and this decree also confronts the question, Is
Democracy a friend or foe of the Catholic Church?

At the end of our talk, we will discuss the sources used
for this video. Please, we welcome interesting questions
in the comments. Let us learn and reflect together!

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Contrary to the impressions of many, Vatican II did
not introduce any theological reforms, Vatican II
sought to share with the world the theology of the
original reform council, the Council of Trent. What
Vatican II changed was the political philosophy of
the Catholic Church. Under Vatican II, the Catholic
Church recognizes that totalitarianism is either the
enemy or a false friend of the Church, and
embraces democracy as the best friend of the
Church.

Vatican II marks a shift in the Church’s attitude towards the
modern secular world. Gone are the anathemas that
condemn those who may disagree with the teachings of
the church, instead Vatican II seeks dialogue with the
modern world in with a pastoral rather than a
condemning attitude. The Vatican II decree on religious
freedom announced that democracy and freedom of
religion and conscience were the friends of the church,
that a totalitarian form of government could never be a
trustworthy friend of the Catholic or Christian Church.

The Vatican II Declaration on Religious Freedom, or Dignitatis Humanae,
teaches us that just governments should not only reluctantly tolerate
religious freedom, but should rather seek to encourage a healthy civil
environment in which religious worship and institutions can thrive,
encouraging the religious and the whole society to live a more moral life.
In the spirit of Vatican II, we should recognize that a striving democracy is
essential to guarantee that the Church can fulfill its mission, and that
believers should never demonize any political party simply because the
church does not agree with all of the planks in their platform. We should
especially not demonize a political party that enthusiastically champions
the doctrine of social justice, the doctrine of social justice that is central
to so many papal decrees and encyclicals since Rerum Novarum issued
over a century ago, as was reaffirmed in Pope Francis’ recent decree.

Second Vatican Council, and Pope John XXIII, who called the council.

We will first discuss PACEM IN TERRIS, the decree that helped pave the way for the
Vatican II decree on Religious Liberty.
Pacem In Terris summarized the Catholic teaching on Religious Liberty , known also
by its English title of Establishing Universal Peace in Truth, Justice, Charity, and
Liberty. This was the last papal encyclical by Pope John XXIII, the pope who opened
the windows of the Church by calling the Vatican II church council. This was the first
papal encyclical to be published in full by the New York Times, radically influencing
Catholic social teaching up to the present, leading to a UN council on social justice
attended by theologians and statesmen from around the world. Pacem In Terris
teaches us that the rights modern man can demand from their governments, such
as freedom of religion, are inseparable rights, all of which are guaranteed only if the
government is ruling justly, proactively seeking to guarantee that all citizens, no
matter how humble, can look forward to a life of adequate opportunity free from
tyranny.

Pacem in Terris was written in the long
tradition of Catholic teachings on social justice,
starting with Rerum Novarum, the papal
pronouncement on the need to provide a living
wage and safe working conditions to the
working poor, and was an influence on the
policies of the New Deal during the Great
Depression of the 1930’s. The decree starts
with the ringing declaration, “Peace on Earth—
which man throughout the ages has so longed
for and sought after—can never be established,
never guaranteed, except by the diligent
observance of the divinely established order.”

Church doctrine does not change, church
teaching does not change, but political
systems do change, and technology continues
to advance with remarkable inventions and
processes. Pacem in Terris celebrates “that a
marvelous order predominates in the world of
living beings and in the forces of nature, which
is the plain lesson which the progress of
modern research and the discoveries of
technology teach us. And it is part of the
greatness of man that he can appreciate that
order,” and harness those forces to benefit
mankind. What had not changed, but which
modern man often forgets, is that man was
created in the image of God, entrusted to be
the lord of creation.

What has also not changed is the fact that the moral laws apply to all
people, no matter their rank in society. Many modern men are deluded
into believing that the moral law only binds individual men to behave
properly to one another, but Pacem in Terris reaffirms that the moral law
also applies to relationships between men and the state, and to
international disputes and behavior between states, and between states
and international institutions like the UN and the World Bank and the IMF.

Also affirmed by Pacem In Terris, “man has a
right to live,” he has a right to live with
dignity, with sufficient “food, clothing, shelter,
medical care, rest, and necessary social
services,” to be cared for when he is sick,
disabled, widowed, elderly, or when he
cannot earn a living through no fault of his
own. Man should be guaranteed freedom
from harassment, freedom of speech, and be
enabled to get a good education and realize
his potential regardless of his class or wealth.
The right of freedom of religion is not seen as
a freedom in isolation, it is listed among a
series of many other freedoms. Man has the
right “to worship God according to the right
dictates of his own conscience, and to profess
his religion both in private and in public.”

“Hence, too, Pope Leo XIII,” who issued the encyclical, Rerum
Novarum, “declared that ‘true freedom, freedom worthy of
the sons of God, is that freedom which most truly safeguards
the dignity of the human person. It is stronger than any
violence or injustice. Such is the freedom which has always
been desired by the Church, and which she holds most dear. It
is the sort of freedom which the Apostles resolutely claimed
for themselves. The apologists defended it in their writings;
thousands of martyrs consecrated it with their
blood.’” Worker rights championed by Rerum Novarum are
reiterated, workers should be paid a living wage and labor
under safe and humane conditions, and just as important,
private property rights should not be violated, but with these
property rights come a social obligation to treat the workers
and the poor fairly.

Pacem in Terris teaches us that men should be guaranteed most
of the rights in the American Bill of Rights and the Four Freedoms,
FDR’s New Deal declaration that every man should be granted
the freedom of speech and expression, the freedom to worship
God in his own way, the freedom from want and the freedom
from fear. Also, men should be guaranteed the right to emigrate
and immigrate when there are just reasons for it, and refugees
should be treated with kindness, since we are all citizens of the
world-wide community of men. With these rights come the
responsibility to protect these rights for others, treating all with
dignity.

The Four Freedoms
Freedom of Speech Freedom of Worship

The Four Freedoms
Freedom from Want Freedom from Fear

Dignitatis Humanae was one of the most controversial
decrees of Vatican II, discussed in several sessions, the
first five drafts were rejected as inadequate or
incomplete, over five hundred comments were
submitted by bishops or other interested Catholic
parties, the sixth draft was finally approved in the third
session after many, many hours of debate.

In Murray’s words, the final decree denies the concept of a
“double standard, freedom for the Church where Catholics
are a minority, privilege for the Church and intolerance for
others when Catholics are a majority.”
Murray describes freedom of religion as three tiers.
• First, religious liberty is a human
right and a personal freedom and a
collective freedom for the citizenry.
• Second, religious liberty is a political
doctrine on the functions and limits
of government in religious affairs.
• Finally, religious liberty is a
theological doctrine that governs the
relationship between the Church and
the state.
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REFLECTIONS BY POPE BENEDICT XVI and JOHN PAUL II
Cardinal Wojtyla, future Pope John Paul II, because of his experiences
suffering under a persecuted church, emphasizes how the Decree on
Religious Liberty protects not only individuals but also religious
communities. Reluctant toleration that seeks to suffocate the Church is not
religious liberty, a moral society must allow its citizens the freedom to
develop as communities, as man is a social animal. Citizens must be
allowed to honor their God in public worship, practice their religion, and
be allowed to instruct their children, members, and clergy in the
faith. Citizens must not be forced to send their children to public schools
that mock and denigrate religion as happened in most communist
countries.

Cardinal Ratzinger, future Pope
Benedict XVI, summarized the
opposing debates regarding the
Decree on Religious Liberty. The
conservative side, led by the
Spaniards, argued that those who
are in error in their beliefs do not
have the same right as those who
believe in the truth. Also, “religious
liberty was seen as irresponsibility
toward truth.” The deeper
argument is whether the concept of
religious liberty was “based on a
concept of natural law which lacked
sufficient scriptural foundation.” In
other words, does the concept of
religious liberty run counter to the
accepted traditions of the Church?

The opposing arguments is that religious
liberty in now way decreases the
importance of seeking the truth, nor
does it deny the truth of the Gospel and
our salvation gained through Christ’s
Resurrection. Cardinal Ratzinger repeats
Murray’s argument, “A faith which
demands, on the basis of its universality,
universal freedom to preach its message
to all the nations in the midst of their
traditional religions, must also affirm
freedom of belief, otherwise it would
contradict itself.” Double standards are
not honest.

Cardinal Ratzinger remembers the floor
speech by Cardinal Beran, who was
imprisoned for many years for proclaiming
the Catholic faith in communist
Czechoslovakia, who was exiled when he
attended Vatican II. “Beran arose and gave
his unconditional support to the text on
religious liberty, pointing to the history of his
country where violent suppression of the
Hussite movement had inflicted wounds on
the Catholic faith that still have not healed.”

Cardinal Beran was referring to an historical incident that was a root cause for the
radicalism of the Protestant Reformation by Luther. John Huss was summoned to the
Council of Constance to answer to charges of heresy for his proto-protestant beliefs
under a guarantee of personal safety issued by the Holy Roman Emperor. This promise
of safe passage was ignored and John Huss was burned at the stake. A Catholic army
sent to the Czech provinces was defeated, and a settlement was negotiated,
Catholicism was restored, with much bitterness.
You cannot find in Scriptures any direct quotation on freedom of religion because that
was just not an issue in the ancient world. In pagan Rome, the worship of the gods was
a patriotic duty, and after Emperor Constantine the Christian Emperors were the
protectors of Christianity, and the educated bishops and priests ran the state
bureaucracy and judicial system. But religious liberty is implied in the many passages
that teach us that men must be persuaded rather than forced to accept the faith, that
we are saved by choice not force.

Jan Hus at the Council of Constance. 19th-century painting by Karl Friedrich Lessing

Cardinal Ratzinger teaches us that “the New Testament
testifies to God’s weakness in that He chose to approach
man not with legions of angels but solely with the Gospel
of His Word and the testimony of a love ready to die” for
the salvation of man.
The final draft that was approved put more emphasis on
three main points.
• First, “the unchanging claim that the Catholic Church is
the only true religion” is affirmed.
• Second, religious freedom does not compromise the
true faith. “Freedom is a vulnerable privilege, it can
easily destroy itself if used without
restriction.” Freedom should not be abused.
• Finally, the decree “leaves intact the traditional
Catholic doctrine on the moral duty of men and
communities toward the true religion and the only
Church of Christ.”

DIGNITATIS HUMANAE EXCERPTS
These are excerpts from the decree on
the above points:
“The government should create
conditions favorable to the fostering of
religious life, so the people may be
truly enabled to exercise their religious
rights and to fulfill their religious
duties, and so society itself may profit
by the moral qualities of justice and
peace which originate in man’s
faithfulness to God and to His holy
will.”(6)
The decree “leaves untouched
traditional Catholic doctrine on the
moral duty of men and societies toward
the true religion and toward the one
Church of Christ.”(1)

VATCAN II DEBATES ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
For Americans, what is puzzling is why a Declaration of Religious Freedom not be an
obvious right, why would bishops argue over this decree over three sessions of Vatican
II, and why would it need to go through six drafts before being approved? The United
States was the first major country to guarantee the freedom of religion in our founding
documents, and the American bishops led by John Courtney Murray led the Council in
the formulation of the final drafts on religious freedoms.
To understand the controversy over the doctrine of religious liberty we need to review
European history from classical times to modern times.

Signing of the Constitution of the United States, by Howard Chandler Christy, 1940

In the early Roman Empire the worship of the gods was a
civic duty, and after Emperor Constantine converted to
Christianity the Emperor saw himself as the protector and
head of the Church. Following the fall of the western
Roman Empire the Kings of Spain, France, and England,
and the Holy Roman Emperor continued to see
themselves as the protector of the Church and insisted on
the right to appoint bishops and abbots in their territories.

Constantine's Conversion by Peter Paul Rubens, painted 1622

King John III Sobieski Sobieski sending Message
of Victory over Muslim Armies to the Pope, after
the Battle of Vienna, by Jan Matejko, circa 1883

These binding ties between the monarchies and the Catholic
Church were part of the medieval ideal of the three cooperating
classes, the nobles, those who fought; the clerics and monks,
those who prayed; and the serfs and peasants, those who
worked. All of creation was seen as a great chain of being, all of
creation was seen as a hierarchy emanating downward from the
Almighty, to the angels, to the kings then the bishops, to the
princes and nobles, down to the serfs and peasants, and
downward to the rest of creation. The Church was the sole
possessor of the truth of Catholicism, through the authority of the
Scriptures and the writings of the Church Fathers, which only the
Church had the wisdom to properly interpret.

These binding ties
between the monarchies
and the Catholic Church
were part of the medieval
ideal of the three
cooperating classes:
• The nobles, those who
fought;
• The clerics and monks,
those who prayed;
• The serfs and peasants,
those who worked.

PROTESTANT REFORMATION
Luther tore down the first pillar of medieval society when
he denied the legitimacy of papal authority and
challenged the validity of many long-standing church
doctrines. To a certain extent his hand was forced when
he was ordered to simply recant his beliefs without
debate, recant he would not, with his famous “Here I
stand, I cannot do otherwise” declaration.

Luther at the Diet of Worms in 1521, by Anton von Werner, painted 1877

Luther was able to keep a lid on the tensions between rulers, but after his death the
Thirty Years Wars erupted first as wars of religion and evolved in wars of conquest,
causing widespread casualties and suffering in Germany. These incessant wars and
theological conflicts between Catholics and Protestants, each side claiming to be the
sole guardian of the truth, also led to the separation of theology and philosophy, giving
rise to the Enlightenment, where the philosophers were the enlightened ones, not the
squabbling theologians and clerics. The Treaty of Westphalia which ended these
endless cycles of wars with the diplomatic solution that the king or prince would
determine the religion of his own state.
After the Reformation various political settlements of disputes between Catholics and
Protestants developed the concept of religious freedom. The Anabaptists and later the
Baptists were early proponents of religious freedom. The Edict of Nantes guaranteeing
the rights of Protestants in Catholic France was a major step forward.
Dr Wikipedia has a good discussion of the development of religious
freedom: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_religion#Religious_intolerance

Travellers
attacked by
soldiers, Vrancx,
1647. Note
devastated
landscape in
background; by
the 1640s,
shortage of
supplies and
forage for horses
drastically limited
military
campaigns

Immaneual Kant and Friends at Table, by Emil Doerstling, circa 1893

Anabaptist Jan
van Leiden
baptizes a girl,
by Johann Karl
Bahr, circa 1840

FRENCH REVOLUTION AND NAPOLEON
These binding ties between the Catholic Church and the French
monarch Louis XIV proved deadly in the French Revolution. The
king and all the nobility all lived idle extravagant lives in the
Palace of Versailles, the top one percent were taking way too
much from the other ninety-nine percent, many of whom were
trapped in lives of perpetual poverty and misery. Some peasant
priests escaped the carnage, church properties were seized by
the state never to be returned, and many priest who refused
allegiance to the revolution were executed, and many of those
who did not were later executed anyway.

The Storming
of the Bastille,
14 July 1789

The Battle of Valmy,
September 20th, 1792, by
Horace Vernet, painted 1826.
This was the first military
victory of the French
Revolutionary armies.

The madness ended somewhat when Napoleon seized power
and signed a Concordat with the captive Pope, once again
recognizing the role of the Church in society, calling a truce
between believers and unbelievers. The Napoleonic Codes
enshrined the principles of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, and
provided a common legal framework across continental Europe,
protecting the legal rights of all classes.
What were the long-term consequences for Europe? The
Catholic Church was seen as the guardian of monarchical
privileges, while the revolutionaries were seen as the guardians of
the lower and middle classes. The French Revolution accelerated
the anti-clerical attitudes of many French and Europeans.

In the coronation of Charlemagne,
the pope crowned the emperor, in
the coronation of Napoleon,
Napoleon seized the crown from
the pope and crowned himself.
Coronation of Napoleon, Jacques-Louis David and Georges Rouget, painted 1807

The Popes were sympathetic to monarchs and monarchy because until
the Risorgimento, the unification of Italy in modern times, the Pope was a
monarch himself of the Papal States in the middle of the Italy. This was
an historical necessity. In the eighth century the Byzantine army was not
able to protect Rome from the sack of the barbarian armies, so the Pope
requested protection from the Frankish kings. But the Frankish court was
north of the Alps while Rome was south of the Alps, so Pepin, the first
Frankish King, donated the former possessions of the Lombards, whom
he defeated, to the Pope so he could field an army that could help
protect Rome from the barbarians and other enemies.

The Donation of
Pepin the Short,
father of
Charlemagne, to
Pope Stephen II,
in Treaty of
Quierzy in 754,
creates the Papal
States.

The rise of the modern secular state made the old hotly
contested issue of investiture disappear. Investiture was
the debate over who would appoint powerful bishops and
abbots, the state or the church. The reunification of Italy
deprived the Catholic Church of her jurisdiction over the
papal states, which meant that the Pope was no longer a
worldly monarch.

Capture of Rome, Battaglia Museum
Detail of fresco depicting Major Pagliari, shot by the Papal
army, on September 20, 1870, while leading assault on Rome

Proclamation
of the
Kingdom of
Italy and the
first Italian
Parliament,
Induno,
painted 1861

The Lateran Treaty of 1927 between the Vatican and
Mussolini’s Italy permanently resolved that the Papal
States belonged to Italy, and that Vatican City would be a
small independent city-state existing within the Italian
state.

Mussolini, Cardinal Gaspari,
and Vatican delegation prior
to signing the Lateran Treaty

World War I swept away many of the monarchies
remaining in Europe.
The response of the Catholic and Protestant Churches to
fascism and the murderous anti-Semitism culminating with
World War II was mixed. Before Hitler the Church’s enemy
was communism. The Spanish Civil War, which was a
practice run for the Battle of Stalingrad, saw bloody
massacres on both sides, but the communists were the
ones who massacred the priests.

France, Western Front in World War I

September 1939 Hitler invades
Poland.
The long bloody war that all
Europe expected finally
commenced. In September
1939 the Nazis invaded Poland,
imprisoning and murdering
many Polish Catholic priests.
Franco declares Spain to be a
neutral country in WWII, and
does not persecute the Jews.
Hitler invades Poland

The Nazis in Germany were a mass movement, and Hitler
was every bit as popular then as Trump is today. Among
the Protestants only about a fifth of the churches were
Confessing Churches protesting against Nazism, while a
fifth were German Christian Churches who denied the
authority of the Old Testament, denied that Jesus was a
Jew, and supported the persecution of the Jews. The rest
were like tepid dishwater, they did not want to take a
“political” stand against Naziism. The same sort of split
occurred in the Catholic Church in Germany.

Nazi Corruption: German Christian Rally, 1933

Pope Pius XII was pope before and during World War II, many scholars
accuse him of being too cautious in his dealings with Hitler, but he faced a
dilemma, if he spoke out too forcefully Hitler would simply murder more
priests along with the Jews. Many priests were martyred in the death
camps, one famous martyr is St Maximillian Kolbe. Officially the Vatican
was neutral, but during the war he had many German Catholic priests
deliver a protest sermon on Easter Sunday against the brutality of the
Fascist regime. Multiple encyclicals were issued protesting against
totalitarianism, and the Vatican officials covertly saved the lives of many
thousands of Jews. Hitler planned to execute the Pope and his bishops
after he won the war.

The memories of World War II are key to understanding the teachings of Vatican II and
the Catholic Catechism. During the war years there were many brave bishops in
Germany and France, and the Pope, who took public and private stands pushing back
on the horrors of the Holocaust and Nazi brutalities. However, the attitudes of the
clergy reflect the attitudes of the political culture in general, most supported the
political status quo, many lived quiet lives of passive resistance, a precious minority
actively resisted the horrors of Nazi terror.
In contrast, in the early interwar years most Christians were tolerant of fascist regimes
because the fascists were the sworn enemies of communism, and communism was the
sworn enemy of the church. After Lenin seized power in Soviet Russia, his communists
murdered tens of thousands of priests and millions of Orthodox believers. Likewise, the
communists in the Spanish Civil War copied the Russian communists by torturing and
murdering thousands of priests, monks and nuns. Historical memories of the terrors
inflicted on the church by French Revolutionaries caused many in Europe to distrust
democracy.

The response of the French Catholics to fascism was more
problematic. When France fell the leftist republican government officials
fled to form a government in exile, leaving behind the religiously
conservative French officials who formed the Vichy wartime government
that collaborated with the Nazis. In contrast, most of the leadership and
membership of the French Resistance were communists. The Vichy
government was led by a virulent anti-Semite, the hero of World War I,
General Petain. The French Revolution slogan of liberty, equality, and
fraternity were replaced with the Vichy slogan of work, family, and
fatherland. The foundations of the Vichy government were simultaneously
pro-Catholic, pro-life, pro-fascist, and anti-communist. Vichy officials often
eagerly hunted down the Jews and helped the Nazis pack them on the
death trains headed for the concentration camps, which did not help the
reputation of the Catholic Church.

The government of Fascist Italy was nominally a constitutional monarchy,
and Mussolini, although he was not a good Catholic, was every bit the
friend of the Catholic Church that the old Catholic monarchs were,
ensuring that Italy was a Catholic state. BUT, on the eve of World War II
Mussolini went full-Nazi and started persecuting the Jews, which was quite
a shock and a betrayal of Pope Pius XII.
After the war, King Victor Emmanuel III, who tolerated Mussolini up to the
very end, abdicated, and Italy became a secular republic.

Summarizing the emotions of many
European Catholics after World War II
who opposed religious liberty:
• Religious liberty was associated with
Protestants, not Catholics.
• Religious liberty was associated with
democracy.
• Democracy was associated with
French Revolution & anti-clericalism.
• Communism persecuted and
martyred Christians, and resembled
the French Revolution.
• Many Catholics preferred
monarchies and authoritarians to
protect the Catholic faith.
• The church and the state, not the
laymen, should make the rules.
• The faith should not change.

VATICAN II OPENS THE WINDOWS OF THE CHURCH
We must not forget the dates when the Vatican II councils were
held, 1962-1965, were only twenty years after end of World War
II, many attending bishops suffered through the war
years. Cardinal Wojtyla, later Pope John Paul II, luckily escaped
death by working as a laborer in Poland. Cardinal Ratzinger, later
Pope Benedict XVI, was forced into the Hitler Youth in the ending
days of the war, and quickly left his post. Yves Congar served in
the French Army and was a POW in Germany, attempting escape
many times.

John Paul II (second
from right) in
Baudienst work crew
circa 1941
Ratzinger was
involuntarily
conscripted into Hitler
Youth, pictures from
Wikipedia of common
Hitler Youth tasks
during WWII

When Pope John XXIII decided to throw open the windows of the
church to let in the fresh air from the modern world, he was
enthusiastically supported by many bishops around the
world. World War II had changed the world forever. The old
Catholic monarchies were long gone, and now the progressive
states of Europe were all democracies.
Pope John XXIII wanted Vatican II to be a council of all Catholics,
including both the traditional Catholics and the new reforming
Catholics, those reforming Catholics who so often had been
silenced in the years preceding Vatican II. The original schemas
for Vatican II were mostly drafted by the traditional cardinals and
bishops of the Curia in Rome. The Pope and the Church sought
consensus and overwhelming majorities for all the Vatican II
constitutions and decrees.

The original Vatican II schema on Ecumenism included a
chapter on religious liberty. Cardinal Bea and many
bishops knew if the Catholic Church wanted to be
included in the ecumenical discussions between the
churches, it would have to affirm the rights of Christians to
practice their faith. In his opening speech to the Council,
Pope John XXIII distinguished between ancient doctrine
and how it was presented, the former never changed, the
latter evolved according to changing political realities.

The Vatican II schema on Ecumenicism made one major break from the Catholic past,
missing was the call for the other Christian communities “to return” to the mother
Catholic Church. The Council Fathers felt that the Catholic Church needed to be less
polemic and more ecumenical when reaching out to their fellow Christian
brethren. The Catholic doctrine on matters like ecumenicism and religious liberty was
not fundamental to the core moral and theological beliefs of the Church, and indeed
the Church was sometimes at fault when overly polemic fervor overwhelmed the
underlying Christian message of the Good News of the Gospel.
(REPEAT) Religious liberty was a controversial topic, religious liberty was either
comforting or threatening to the faith, depending on the region.
In America, religious freedom was a guaranteed constitutional right that helped
Christianity thrive. In Latin American, aggressively polemic American evangelicals were
eager to poach the Catholic faithful. In the communist Eastern bloc, the persecuted
Church dreamed of guaranteed rights to religious liberty so the Church could thrive. In
continental Europe, many Catholics equated religious liberty with the ideas of the
French Revolution and its hatred of all things religious. In Italy and Spain the Catholic
Church was granted preferential treatment by the state, would a new emphasis on
religious liberty lead to a loss of faith in these countries?

Religious Liberty
• In America, religious freedom is a
guaranteed constitutional right.
• In Latin American, American evangelicals
were poaching the Catholic faithful.
• In the communist Eastern bloc, the
persecuted Church dreamed of guaranteed
rights to religious liberty.
• In continental Europe, many Catholics
equated religious liberty with the ideas of
the French Revolution and anti-clericalism.
• In Italy and Spain, the Catholic Church was
granted preferential treatment by the state,
would religious liberty lead to a loss of faith?

During the debate Ruffini, an opponent,
summed up five points that at that time
were listed in every seminary textbook:
1. “Christ founded only one church, the
Roman Catholic Church.”
2. “Faults cannot be attributed to the
church as such but only to its
members.”
3. “To leave the church because of its
sinful members is itself a sin.”
4. “The one true church fervently hopes
for the return of the Protestants.”
5. “Dialogue with non-Catholics is good
only if done according to the guidelines
published by the Holy See.”

Pope John XXIII had published his encyclical, Pacem In Terris,
which would be the foundation of the finished decree on
Religious Liberty, Dignitas Humanae. He also appointed the
American bishop, John Courtney Murray, as peretis or theological
advisor on Religious Liberty.
Like many theologians who led the debates of Vatican II, Murray
had been silenced by the Vatican for his teachings and writings
on religious liberty. We like to read the books that heavily
influenced Vatican II, but although Murray’s book, “We Hold These
Truths,” is an important book historically that defends the
American Proposition of religious liberty, the book does not add
to what is learned in any good American history course.

Murray emphasizes Lincoln’s assertion that all men are
created equal. Murray explains the main difference
between American and Europe, in America “pluralism was
the native condition of American society,” while in Europe
pluralism was caused by the decay of Catholic unity. Also,
American political philosophy was influenced by the more
conservative British legal tradition that respects the
sovereignty of God, the American experience is very
different from the radical Jacobin laicist tradition that
became hostile to religious influence of any sort.

.”
Emancipation Proclamation, AA Lamb, painted 1864

There is a difference between freedom in the American sense,
freedom from tyranny, freedom from governmental interference,
freedom to what I wish as long as I do not harm others. In the
Catholic view freedom comes with responsibility, the
responsibility to work for the good, to live a godly life. As Pope
Benedict teaches, freedom is not so much concerned with I want,
but rather freedom concerns itself with what God wants.
Religious liberty is not absolute, neither in America nor in
Europe. In America you cannot shield the practice of polygamy
nor can you smoke peyote or indulge in other psychotic drug as
an exercise of religious liberty. Likewise, in Europe you are not
allowed to deny the reality of the Holocaust.

VATICAN II DEBATE ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY CONTINUES
The debate continued in the third session of Vatican II in
1964. (REPEAT) Arguing for the decree on Religious Liberty, De
Smedt argued that the human dignity granted by the redemption
of Christ means that all men are called to seek their conscience to
seek and follow the will of God in their lives, and that it has always
been the teaching of the Church, reaching back to the teachings
of the ancient Church Fathers, that genuine faith must be free and
sincere and cannot be coerced. Governments should honor this
religious freedom so religious organizations are not only simply
tolerated but are encouraged to grow and thrive.
Arguing against religious liberty, Ruffini argued that since there is
only one true religion, it does not admit freedom of choice. We
are only truly free if we embrace the true teaching of the Church.

Arguing for the decree on Religious Liberty, De Smedt argued that human dignity
granted by the redemption of Christ means that all men are called to seek their
conscience to seek and follow the will of God in their lives, and that it has always
been the teaching of the Church, reaching back to the teachings of the ancient
Church Fathers, that genuine faith must be free and sincere and cannot be coerced.
Governments should honor this religious
freedom so religious organizations are
not only simply tolerated but are
encouraged to grow and thrive.

Arguing against religious liberty, Ruffini argued that since there is
only one true religion, it does not admit freedom of choice. We are
only truly free if we embrace the true teaching of the Church.

(REPEAT) Cardinal Ottaviani clarified the opposition, “I do
not understand why a person who errs is worthy of
honor. I understand that the person is worthy of
consideration, of tolerance, of cordiality, of charity. But I
do not understand why he is worthy of
honor.” Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre of France, who later
would leave the Church rather than support the Vatican II
decrees, predicted ruin for the Church if this decree were
adopted.

Cardinal Ottaviani clarified the opposition, “I do not understand why
a person who errs is worthy of honor. I understand that the person
is worthy of consideration, of tolerance, of cordiality, of charity. But
I do not understand why he is worthy of honor.”

Murray contributed to the further revisions of Dignitas
Humanae, it was once again debated at the Fourth Period
of Vatican II in 1965. The Canadian and American bishops
were enthusiastically supportive, while the Spanish
bishops were nearly unanimous in their opposition. The
Spaniard bishops argued that only the Catholic Church
had the right to preach the Gospel, the proselytizing
Catholics was illicit and should be forbidden by both
church and state.

Cardinal Arriba Y Castro added, “let the council take care
not to declare the ruin of the Catholic Church in nations
where Catholicism is the only religion practiced.” Marcel
Lefebvre was also adamantly opposed.
The speech by the unrelated Joseph Lefebvre helped
sway many bishops to support the decree. His argument
as summarized by O’Malley:
• “First, the decree would not foster subjectivism and
religious indifference;
• Second, it would not mean that the council abdicated
the position that the Catholic Church was the only
church of Jesus Christ;
• Third, it would not have a bad effect because of the
dissemination of error;
• Fourth, it would not diminish missionary spirit;
• Fifth, it does not exalt human beings at God’s expense;
• Sixth, it does not contradict church tradition.”

Finally, a vote was taken on the revised Dignitas Humanae,
the Pope wanted a strong majority to vote for Religious
Liberty, Pope Paul IV felt he would be embarrassed if it
barely passed when he would soon be speaking before
the United Nations. The vote on the schema passed by a
healthy majority of ninety percent. Controversially, the
final vote was delayed until the fifth session, where the
revised and final decree, Dignitatis Humanae passed by
an overwhelming majority.

A procession of
Cardinals enters St.
Peter's in Rome,
opening the Second
Vatican Council.
Painting by Franklin
McMahon

AFTER VATICAN II
Many years later Cardinal Ratzinger would comment
on the status of missions in Africa, that though
Vatican II introduced necessary changes in its
affirmation of religious liberty, that the effect of this
decree and the broader decree on ecumenism did
lead to a lessening of missionary zeal.

Cardinal Ratzinger observes that “hand in
hand with the weakening of the necessity of
baptism, went the overemphasis on the
values of the non-Christian religions, which
many theologians saw not as extraordinary
paths of salvation but precisely ordinary
ones. Naturally, hypotheses of this kind
caused the missional zeal of many to
slacken. Many began to wonder, ‘Why
should we disturb non-Christians, urging
them to accept baptism and faith in Christ, if
their religion is their way to salvation in their
culture, in their part of the world?” The risk
is we lose the link between the truth of the
Gospel and salvation.

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre balked at signing this decree, and
with some followers left the church to found the Society of St Pius
X rather than agree to the decrees of Vatican II. They could not
accept the decrees on Religious Liberty, the new openness to
non-Christian religions, and the reform of the liturgy. After
ordaining bishops without papal authorization, Marcel Lefebvre
was formally excommunicated from the Catholic Church. In the
years following Lefebvre’s death Pope Benedict lifted the
excommunication. Dr Wikipedia lists legal status of the Society of
St Pius X as “canonically irregular, with some recognition from
Vatican.” Pope Benedict was embarrassed when one of their
bishops was convicted by a German court of denying the
holocaust.

Many influential Catholics were no doubt disappointed
that Bishop Lefebvre would cause a schism in the church
mostly over the issue of religious liberty. This schism
sowed seeds of weeds and tares which grow amongst the
wheat of the faithful up to the current day. Could this
rebellion against the overwhelming majority consensus of
the Church Fathers of Vatican II be considered a rebellion
against the truth set forth by the Church? Definitely these
unpleasant memories of this schism were on the mind of
the bishops drafting the Catholic Catechism.

SOURCES: The major sources for are John O’Malley’s books and lectures on What
Happened at Trent, and What Happened at Vatican II, and my recommendation is to
both read and listen his books and lectures, IMHO you cannot form a true picture of
Catholicism in the modern world without reading his books.
When I read John Courtney Murray’s book on Religious Freedom it sounded like a
repetition of what I learned in multiple civics and history lectures, as indeed it is,
with just a little bit of Catholic explanation.
We are going to have a book review video on our Vatican II library sometime in
March 2022 so we are not repetitive.
In early 2022 we will have a video on Vatican II, for which John O’Malley’s What
Happened at Vatican is a primary source and is a delight to read.
And please view our video on the Catholic Catechism, which is basically a
restatement of many of the Trent and Vatican II decrees, plus a balance of teachings
from the Western and Eastern Church Fathers.

We recorded a video discussing the many books we will consult on the history
and moral teachingss of Vatican II and its decrees, to avoid being repetitive in our
videos.
The Catechism directly references the decree on religious liberty in many places,
including the commandments, Do Not Slander, and the first commandment, to
Love God and the truth with a genuine and dedicated love. What does religious
liberty have to do with the commandment, Do Not Slander? We will investigate
this in a companion video.

To find the source of any direct
quotes in this blog, please type in
the phrase to the search box in
my blog to see the referenced
footnote.
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Vatican II on Freedom of Religion, Dignitatis Humanae, and Pacem In Terris by Pope John XXIII

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Vatican II on Freedom of Religion, Dignitatis Humanae, and Pacem In Terris by Pope John XXIII