Dignitatis Humanae

Abstract

International declarations, covenants, and treaties guaranteeing the right to religious freedom, not only for individuals, but also for groups, marked the second half of the twentieth century. The right usually includes a number of elements, such as the right to have a religion, the right to adopt a religion, the right to change one’s religion, the right to religious education, the right to worship and practice, the right to preach, and others. Civil authorities guarantee these rights. But what about the various religions? How do religious institutes themselves see religious liberty and the role of the state? An appositional illustration of the dialectics of religion in the sense of binding people to absolute and eternal truth is the opinion of Theodore Beza, Calvin’s successor, whereupon tolerating other religions was a diabolical idea “because it means everyone should be left to go to hell in his own way” ( Robertson 2005,39). This chapter shall examine particularly the view of the Roman Catholic Church on the right to religious liberty or religious freedom, as expressed in various documents and especially in the Declaration Dignitatis humanae of Vatican II.